Ep. 100 Even Tyrannical Regimes Ultimately Rest on Public Opinion
Summarizing insights from Mises, Hume, and La Boetie, Bob argues that even the worst tyrants ultimately stay in power because other people obey them. If the people withdraw their support from a regime, it will fall. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Gene Sharp’s book, From Dictatorship to Democracy. #CommissionsEarned (As an…
Ep. 99 Don Boudreaux on Austrians, Public Choice, and Debating Free Trade
Don Boudreaux is an economist at George Mason University who blogs at Cafe Hayek. He has a long history with the Austrian and Public Choice schools, and is in the trenches daily making the case for free trade. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The YouTube video of this interview. Don’s blog,…
Ep. 98 Why Progressives Are Anti-Vaxxers When It Comes to the Alt Right
Bob first explains a standard progressive viewpoint when it comes to dealing with issues like virus outbreaks, underage drinking, and prostitution. Yet when it comes to dealing with people whose views they abhor, the progressives suddenly are “zero tolerance” and ignore the mechanisms they point to for the other issues. Mentioned in the Episode and…
Ep. 97 Lyn Ulbricht on the Absurd Trial and Sentencing in the Silk Road Case
Lyn Ulbricht is the mother of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road website. Contrary to the government’s assertions, Lyn argues that her son was hardly a criminal kingpin menacing society. Even taking the laws on the book at face value, Ross’ trial was a sham, and the government’s behavior was shocking. Mentioned in…
Ep. 96 Why I Am Still an Austrian Economist: My Response to Caplan
In Bob’s interview of Bryan Caplan (in episode #91), they briefly discussed Bryan’s essay criticizing Austrian economics. At listener request, in this episode Bob goes solo to give a much more comprehensive analysis of why he (Bob) remained an Austrian economist, even after seeing top-notch neoclassicals in action during his own time in grad school. Mentioned in the Episode…