Bob Murphy is a prolific scholar and popular writer and speaker on the Austrian School of economics, so I thought I'd ask him: what if any weaknesses do you find in Austrian Economics, and/or where do we need to do more work?

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Show notes for Ep. 1603

As we kick off Bob Murphy Week with libertarian theorist and Austrian economist Bob Murphy, I ask him if there are areas of libertarianism that could use further work, and/or where the conventional libertarian responses are weak. Oh, yes, he says.

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Show notes for Ep. 1602

Success within the market economy boils down to one thing: the satisfaction of consumer preferences. But this is easier said than done. What are consumer preferences? What do people want? What will they buy? How does the entrepreneur answer these questions? Ryan Levesque, bestselling author of the books Ask and Choose, shows us how we move from the theory of capitalism to the successful real-life capitalist.

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Show notes for Ep. 1601

Amity Shlaes returns to the show to discuss her new book on Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which -- to say the least -- failed to live up to its promises.

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Show notes for Ep. 1600

Last night's Democratic debate was more interesting than some of the others, partly because of the attacks on Bernie and partly because everyone was dying to see whether Bloomberg could recover from his disastrous performance last week. The result is one of my favorite debate analysis episodes of the season. Enjoy!

Show notes for Ep. 1599

Gerard Casey, who taught logic at University College, Dublin, for 30 years, joins us to discuss some common logical fallacies we regularly encounter.

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Show notes for Ep. 1598

I talk about (the horrendous) Mike Bloomberg and what he might have said in the debate, and also cover the Bernie Sanders phenomenon: his struggle against the Democratic establishment, and what's liable to happen if he gets elected.

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Show notes for Ep. 1597

We wrap up Walter Block week with a glance through his enormous list of publications and picking out interesting topics for libertarians: punishment theory, conjoined twins, the death penalty, and more, as well as a sneak preview of Defending the Undefendable 3.

Show notes for Ep. 1596

Walter Block week continues with this episode about Walter's experience suing the New York Times for libel, after they misrepresented his comments in what had to be a deliberate act of journalistic malpractice. But what does libertarian theory have to say about libel law?

Show notes for Ep. 1595

We continue Walter Block week with a discussion of the second Defending the Undefendable book, and cover the corporate raider, the multinational enterpriser, the picket-line crosser, the hatchet man, the human organ merchant, and more.

Show notes for Ep. 1594

Today we discuss Walter's classic work, Defending the Undefendable. The rogues gallery Walter seeks to rehabilitate in this episode includes the middleman, the slumlord, the speculator, and more.

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Show notes for Ep. 1593

Walter Block must be the most prolific living libertarian, with over 600 peer-reviewed articles, more than 30 books, and thousands of popular articles to his credit. In this first episode of Walter Block week, we get into Walter's own history, from his high school years with classmate Bernie Sanders to his conversion to economic liberty by none other than Ayn Rand herself.

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Show notes for Ep. 1592

Scott Horton, the great libertarian foreign-policy expert, returns to the show to discuss the state of the campaign for the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, and the prospects for having a spokesman who knows, loves, and can persuasively defend the ideas of liberty.

Show notes for Ep. 1591

Euro Pacific Capital's Peter Schiff joins me to take listener questions (submitted via my Tom Woods Show Elite private group), including (1) what sectors tend to get hit the hardest or hit the least during downturns, including our next one? (2) what can people who aren't wealthy do to protect the savings they do have? (3) what did you tell those Occupy Wall Street protesters, and would you do such a thing in 2020? (4) what's your evaluation of Trump? ... and more.

Show notes for Ep. 1590

The great Dominic Frisby joins me to discuss how he successfully lampooned the elitists who pushed the Remain cause on the British, and defended the Brexiteers. Plus libertarianism, comedy, and how (if at all) a comedian can come back after bombing.

Show notes for Ep. 1589

Mark Jeftovic, CEO of easyDNS and cryptocurrency enthusiast, says yes, and in his new book and in our conversation today he describes the approach all of us should take, regardless of how obviously inoffensive what you're saying might be.

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Show notes for Ep. 1588

Gene Epstein joins me to discuss the problems associated with protectionism, industrial policy, and the overall package of economic nationalism.

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Show notes for Ep. 1587

Income inequality has been a hot topic in recent years, but nearly everyone gets it wrong. Here are the real facts, and the best way for libertarians -- or anyone -- to think about them.

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Show notes for Ep. 1586

This episode builds on the discussion in episode 1584 about the primary, and devastating, argument against socialism, namely the one developed by Ludwig von Mises that involves the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism. Today I explain why this is the most fundamental argument against socialism, trumping even the problem of dispersed knowledge emphasized by F.A. Hayek.

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Show notes for Ep. 1585

We've heard Greta Thunberg's angry, apocalyptic warnings about the problems arising from climate change. Now economist Paul Krugman says she's closer to the economics than her critics are. What's the right way to think about all this?

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Show notes for Ep. 1584

In 1920 Ludwig von Mises published "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth," an article that demolished the foundations of socialism in its original, no-private-property-in-the-means-of-production form. In this episode I explain Mises' thesis, and then show how the problems he identified in classical socialism persist to some extent under any state of any kind.

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Show notes for Ep. 1583

The demonization of people we disagree with has reached a level of us few of us could have conceived of a generation ago -- or indeed even five years ago. Thinking about this reminded me of several other things I think libertarians (and all people, including myself) could stand to do better.

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Show notes for Ep. 1582

Phil Magness returns to discuss the sound and unsound aspects of the New York Times' 1619 Project. Topics include Lincoln and the colonization of the former slaves, the role of slavery in the American Revolution, and slavery's role in American prosperity.

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Show notes for Ep. 1581

In this episode about episodes, I review nearly the past four years of the Tom Woods Show to find golden nuggets of awesomeness you may have missed.

Show notes for Ep. 1580

Mike Maharrey of the Tenth Amendment Center joins me to discuss what I consider the best short introduction to the real Constitution, as opposed to the one taught in law school and the New York Times.

Show notes for Ep. 1579

David Ramsay Steele discusses the phenomenon of fascism, what it really was, and what's wrong with using it as a generic term of abuse. Plus: vegetarianism and animal welfare, and why economic growth doesn't have to mean the consumption of more and more resources.

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Show notes for Ep. 1578

At FreedomFest 2010, Gene Epstein and I debated Warren Coates and John Fund on whether the Federal Reserve should be abolished. Here is that debate!

Show notes for Ep. 1577

Princeton University Press published my guest's book When All Else Fails, on the subject of whether and under what circumstances it is morally legitimate to resist the state with physical force. Not the kind of topic you might expect from an Ivy League university press, but Brennan makes his case persuasively and provocatively, as indeed he likewise does in today's episode.

Show notes for Ep. 1576

Law professor F.H. Buckley joins me to discuss his new book American Secession, and why breaking up the United States -- or at least implementing one of his lesser proposals -- means a happier outcome for everyone.

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Show notes for Ep. 1575

Antony Sammeroff joins me to discuss his recent Soho Forum debate, in which he argued in the negative, on the resolution: "Robotics will soon lead to widespread joblessness, underemployment, and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few."

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Show notes for Ep. 1574

Legal scholar Mark Pulliam joins me to discuss the commonly believed myths that underlie U.S. labor law.

Show notes for Ep. 1573

In this potpourri solo episode I hit on several issues. First, is it fair to draw conclusions about Bernie Sanders and his campaign on the basis of violent, pro-gulag remarks from one of his field coordinators (as recorded by Project Veritas)? Then I review a recent episode on Twitter in which libertarianism was attacked, and one libertarian group responded in the most self-defeating and grotesque way. Finally, I revisit the controversy over "deplatforming," and respond to libertarians who think they should cheer ("it's a great free-market outcome!") when dissident voices are silenced.

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Show notes for Ep. 1572

Last week a discussion thread in my Supporting Listeners group discussed the pros and cons of traditional employment versus working for oneself, particularly online. Good points were raised all around, so I decided to continue the discussion on this episode, with my guest and me discussing the pros and cons of entrepreneurship, why the Uber version of the gig economy isn't all it's cracked up to be and what people would do much better with instead, and what the best practices are in 2020 for starting a basic but potentially lucrative eCommerce business.

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Show notes for Ep. 1571

Mark Skousen, an author and college professor whose investment newsletter Forecasts & Strategies is celebrating its 40th year, joins me to discuss what he saw at the recent American Economic Association meeting, including some 41 sessions on gender bias and sex discrimination, along with discussion (and criticism) of Modern Monetary Theory. Ben Bernanke told the audience the Fed needed to raise its inflation target. We discuss this and a whole lot more in today's episode.

Show notes for Ep. 1570

The Betrayal of the American Right is a book that appeared more than a decade after the death of its author, Murray N. Rothbard, known in his lifetime as "Mr. Libertarian." I had the privilege of writing the introduction to the book when it was finally released, after having circulated throughout liberty circles for many years in unpublished form. Here is the closest thing we will ever get to a Rothbard memoir, and there's plenty of history of libertarianism and conservatism in here, too.

Show notes for Ep. 1569

The strike that took out Iranian general Qasem Soleimani was cheered by a great many Americans, including some who ordinarily speak out against the U.S. government's foreign interventions. If this wasn't a righteous killing, what would be? Scott Horton joins me for perspective.

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Show notes for Ep. 1568

Jeff and I talk about a much-discussed recent article by George Mason University's Tyler Cowen, which finds merit in the market system but insists we recognize and appreciate the value of the state. Well, we ain't doing it.

Show notes for Ep. 1567

Jeff Deist and I discuss the Trump phenomenon, the U.S. political establishment, and what a post-Trump Republican Party will look like.

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Show notes for Ep. 1566

When people have radically incompatible worldviews, is it sensible or humane to try to govern them all according to the same set of rules? Yet neither progressives nor conservatives stop to consider decentralization, the only approach that can possibly work. They're too busy jamming round holes into square pegs. Jeff Deist and I discuss the decentralist alternative.

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Show notes for Ep. 1565

Jeff Deist week continues with this discussion of the fundamentals of libertarianism, and how it's been transformed into a bizarre mutation of its former self.

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Show notes for Ep. 1564

We kick off Jeff Deist week on the Tom Woods Show with an episode on Ron Paul and what it was like to work in his congressional office, as Jeff himself did as the former congressman's chief of staff. Juicy stuff here, folks.

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Show notes for Ep. 1563

As we wind up what's been a great 2019 for the Tom Woods Show I turn my attention briefly to the "libertarian socialist" phenomenon and the problem of establishment-friendly libertarianism, which consists of people who have no idea what it's like to hold a genuinely unpopular position that will get them hated. To the contrary, these are people who – if the New York Times cared what they had to say – would make darn sure the Times knew how boring and respectable they were, and how edgy and dangerous radical libertarians like me are. But do not despair, folks, because I reveal precisely why these folks burn with such intense hatred for your host here, and one specific thing we can do to make them run home crying to their mothers.

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Show notes for Ep. 1562