Ep. 140 The Theory and Brief History of the U.S. Gold Standard
Bob explains some of the highlights of his newly released chapter for the Mises Institute book on “Understanding Money Mechanics.” He explains the operation of the classical gold standard, as well as some of the issues of U.S. bimetallism during the 1800s. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Bob’s new essay on the…
Ep. 139 George Reisman on Studying With Mises, Meeting Ayn Rand, and His Contributions to Economic Theory
George Reisman is economics professor emeritus at Pepperdine University. He is one of the few people to get his PhD under Mises. After sharing anecdotes about Mises and Rand, he discusses his contributions to economic theory. In particular, George argues that profits, not wages, are the original form of income. Mentioned in the Episode and Other…
Ep. 138 Why the Left Hates Christianity
Bob first observes that the Left (institutionally) hates Christianity, and that standard explanations, such as its alleged bigotry, don’t explain why the Left gives Islam a pass. Christianity stands in the way of the Leftist agenda. Moreover, if the Devil exists, he would favor not just the “false religion” of environmentalism and Marxism, but also…
Ep. 137 Tom DiLorenzo Explains the Problem With Abe Lincoln
Tom DiLorenzo is a Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute who has written several books critical of Lincoln. His latest is “The Problem With Lincoln.” Bob asks Tom about his early career in economics, and then they discuss the various ways in which Abe Lincoln was actually a horrible president. Mentioned in the Episode and…
Ep. 136 MMT Follow-up: A Framework for Money, Inflation, and Debt
As a follow-up to his discussion on MMT with Rohan Grey (in ep. 130), Bob goes solo to explain the basic cash balance framework for thinking about money, inflation, and debt. Specifically, Bob will explain why he thinks it’s far more important to know how the government finances a deficit rather than knowing what it spends…