Ep. 51 Hannah Cox Tells Conservatives Why They Should Oppose the Death Penalty
Hannah Cox is National Manager of the organization Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty. She is conservative/libertarian on standard policy issues, and is a strong advocate of the 2nd Amendment, but even so–perhaps surprisingly to some–she is also very alarmed with the State’s abuses in the criminal justice system. Mentioned in the Episode and Other…
Ep. 50 Why Roddy Piper Was Too Rowdy in *They Live*
Bob analyzes John Carpenter’s 1988 cult classic, “They Live,” starring Roddy Piper. After making some general observations about the major thematic elements, Bob critiques the main character’s strategy for dealing with an alien takeover of the media and government. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: The Bob Murphy Show episode 14 on…
Ep. 49 Patrick Newman Cracks the Code to Publish a New Rothbard Manuscript
Economist Patrick Newman relays his adventurous tale of deciphering Murray Rothbard’s handwritten manuscript on early American history. Needless to say, Rothbard’s take is not what you learned in school. Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest: Patrick Newman’s QJAE article on Rothbard’s previously unpublished chapter on production theory (intended to be Chapter 5…
Ep. 48 Bob Explains the Highlights of His New QJAE Article on Fractional Reserve Banking
Bob goes solo to explain some of the most important points in his new QJAE article on the fractional reserve banking debate. Bob shows why Mises thought *any* issuance of fiduciary media caused the boom-bust cycle, and he points out a major flaw in George Selgin’s defense of fractional reserve banking. Mentioned in the Episode…
Ep. 47 Economist Ben Powell Reports on His Worldwide Tour of Socialist Countries
Ben Powell, head of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech, discusses his newly released book Socialism Sucks (co-authored with Robert Lawson). Powell and Lawson toured countries around the world to observe firsthand life under ACTUAL socialism–in places like North Korea and Venezuela–versus places that merely have large welfare states (like Sweden). They concluded that, well, socialism…