This episode features an audio essay written by economics professor and Austro-libertarian Walter Block from 1976, and which comprises Chapter 18 of Defending the Undefendable.
Tag: economics
Focus on Presidential Candidate Andrew (I Have a Degree in Economics Too!) Yang. (37m) – Episode 015
Episode 015: Move over AOC, there’s a new “economist” in town! Forget about the Green New Deal, Mr. Yang has a New… New Deal. A deal so progressive and economically untenable it would make FDR proud! Join your host, Jared Nordin as he takes on the daunting, yet humorous task of going through presidential hopeful Yang’s almost endless policy wishlist he hopes to bring to fruition upon his coronation as president of the United States.
Paasche Says Progress
If you don’t remember 1990, the modern world is easy to take for granted. The rest of us, however, know – or at least ought to know – that modernity is a living miracle. Though we don’t own fifty cars each, we still enjoy fabulous luxuries beyond of the budget of the richest residents of 1990. Stagnationists live to belittle these gains, but that’s not science; it’s perspective.
Peter Leeson: Can Anarchy Work? (49m)
This episode features an interview of economics and law professor Peter Leeson from 2017 by Trevor Burrus and Aaron Powell, hosts of the Free Thoughts podcast. They discuss rational choice theory as it applies to self-governance. What happens in the absence of government? They also discuss the difference between government and governance, what it means to be stateless, and how anarchy is perceived in the world today.
David Friedman: Legal Systems Very Different from Our Own (56m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor David Friedman from 2013. Based on a course he teaches and a forthcoming book, he discusses the characteristics of legal systems quite unlike any we’ve known in contemporary Western society. Examples range from historic Imperial China and Periclean Athens to modern gypsies and Amish.
The Dissident Ambassador
Am I saying that professors should teach whatever they feel is true? No; a thousand times no. If you use your “feelings” to form beliefs, you shouldn’t be a professor at all. The first fiduciary duty of every intellectual is to set emotions aside, and calmly and patiently study a wide range of arguments and evidence.
The Peace of Mind in Probabilistic Thinking
It’s very stressful to be confronted with questions and claims about culture, physics, politics, psychology, health, economics, history, ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy and feel the need to have a clear answer. Especially when answers immediately get interpreted as sides and you’ll get lumped in with some tribal collective blob and be associated with whatever bundle of biases they may have, real or imagined. It’s like behind every possibility lurks a mob shouting, “Are you with us or against us?!”
Benjamin Powell: The Economics of Sweatshops (47m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor Benjamin Powell from 2018. He explores what sweatshops are, why they exist, the economic forces that create them, and why they are a necessary and important component of the developing world.
Jeffrey Herbener: Demystifying the Federal Reserve (26m)
This episode features an interview of economics professor and department chairman Jeffrey Herbener from 2016 by Jeff Deist, host of the Human Action podcast. They cover the basics of central bank mechanics: how commercial bank reserves are created, the difference between the monetary base and the money supply, and how the Fed Funds rate impacts lending and the structure of production. They consider how Austrian business cycle theory describes the distortions created by artificially low interest rates, and how interest rates ought to operate as price signals. Finally, they discuss how early recipients of newly created money and credit benefit in ways that ordinary citizens don’t.
Daniel D’Amico: An Economist’s Look at Intellectual Property Law (1h18m)
This episode features a lecture by economics professor Daniel J. D’Amico from 2011 on intellectual property law. He discusses several arguments for and against government enforcement of intellectual property, including trademarks, patents, and copyrights. He explores both moral arguments (deontological) and cost benefit arguments (consequential), dedicating most of his time to consequential arguments. He finds that, in general, intellectual property is difficult to enforce and is inherently an anti-rival good. As a result, he finds no compelling case for government established intellectual property law.