The Bob Murphy Show

In the fall of 2018 three people went public with a long-running hoax in which they’d published fake papers to various feminist, critical studies, etc. journals. Perhaps the most memorable example was an article purporting to catalogue the number of “rapes” that occurred at a dog park. Bob explores the precise reasons for why (or why not) this hoax reflects poorly on the targeted fields. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Economist Tim Terrell explains why the common rankings of "health outcomes" are so often biased against the United States, and why big businesses often support certain environmental regulations. Hint: it's not for reasons progressives will like. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Summarizing insights from Mises, Hume, and La Boetie, Bob Murphy argues that even the worst tyrants ultimately stay in power because people obey them. If the people withdraw their support from a regime, it will fall. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

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. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy 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. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

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. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In Bob Murphy’s interview of Bryan Caplan, they briefly discussed Bryan’s essay criticizing Austrian economics. At listener request, in this episode, Bob presents a more comprehensive analysis of why he remains an Austrian economist, even after seeing top-notch neoclassicals in action during his own time in grad school. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Tareq Haddad was a (recently hired) reporter for Newsweek who was repeatedly rebuffed when trying to cover the emerging story of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) report on Syria. He eventually resigned. Tareq discusses how US authorities pressured the OPCW to change the report to fit their desired narrative, and how powerful groups control the corporate media. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy gives a pragmatic case for pacifism, appealing to Christians who would like to take "The Sermon on the Mount" literally, but are worried it would spell disaster. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy interviews Lindsay Goldwert on her years performing at and organizing stand-up comedy shows in NYC, the interaction between comedy and finance, and her new book, BOW DOWN. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy uses the media coverage of the December Inspector General (IG) report on the FBI to illustrate how the establishment is gaslighting America. Specifically, some of the FBI’s tactics when applying for permission to spy on the Trump campaign are jaw-dropping, and yet the corporate media have used the report to refute Trump’s “conspiracy theories” about an FBI plot against him. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy conducts a friendly but challenging interview of Bryan Caplan, focusing on his new book making the case for open borders. They also discuss Bryan’s essay, “Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist,” and close with some brief remarks on pacifism. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob goes through much more scandalous and corrupt activities from Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, and why Hillary Clinton has a much worse record on self-dealing than Donald Trump. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

David Gordon is a Senior Fellow with the Mises Institute who has a long history in Austrian economics and libertarianism. He talks with Bob Murphy about his personal story, including taking an undergrad class at UCLA with Hayek as his professor. Then they turn to philosophical issues in economics, and end with an analysis of the Strauss/Jaffa critique of libertarianism. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy tackles a common objection from atheist libertarians: Doesn’t Mises (in Human Action) refute the very notion of the Biblical God? Specifically, why wouldn’t an omnipotent, omniscient being remove all uneasiness with one action? For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Dr. Sabine Hossenfelder is a Research Fellow at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, where she heads the “Analog Systems for Gravity Duals” group. Bob first asks her to explain why physicists began using the concepts of “dark matter” and “dark energy” to explain their observations of galaxies. Then they discuss her June New York Times column in which she explained that existing computer models can’t tell us if climate change poses an existential threat or is merely an inconvenience. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Due to listener request, Bob Murphy offers further thoughts on Hoppe’s argumentation ethics, following his discussion with Stephan Kinsella. Bob then discusses Hoppe’s profound essays on praxeology, in which he argues that Mises has solved the famous mind-body problem in philosophy. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Wojciech Kopczuk is a Columbia economics professor who co-authored (in 2004) one of the leading estimates of wealth concentration in the literature, along with current progressive darling Emmanuel Saez. But, ever since Thomas Piketty’s bestselling book on wealth inequality, Saez has published research with Gabriel Zucman showing dramatically different results. Kopczuk explains why economists can disagree on the basic facts of wealth concentration, and why there is controversy about Saez and Zucman’s latest claim that billionaires pay a lower income tax rate than the working class. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Greta, a college student in New York, is working on an honor’s thesis covering libertarian thought in America. In this short interview, she asks Bob what libertarianism is, his perspective on voting, and how he views the American political system. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Along with Carlos Lara, David Stearns, and the late Nelson Nash, Bob Murphy has been heavily involved in educating the public and financial professionals about the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC). This is a process of using a dividend-paying Whole Life policy as a cash management tool, to “become your own banker” (in Nelson’s famous words). Bob gives the quick explanation of how this works. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Jeffrey Rogers Hummel joins Bob Murphy for an in-depth discussion of the economics of slavery, touching on subtleties such as the labor/leisure trade-off, and the recent claims by some historians that slavery was efficient. Bob also asks Hummel to explain the provocative claim in his book, that the Confederacy would have done much better militarily if it had used the same guerrilla warfare tactics that the American colonists had used against the British. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy and Stephan Kinsella debate Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s famous "argumentation ethics" case for libertarianism. Stephan defends Hoppe's claim that any attempt to justify a non-libertarian system would result in a performative contradiction, while Bob clarifies the argument and raises concerns about it. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy evaluates four different campaigns where people pushed-back against the State: The National Opt Out Day in 2010, Free Keene’s “Robin Hood” parking meter approach, the “Taxation Is Theft” approach to tipping, and the “Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself” meme campaign. He then crystallizes his remarks into 7 Lessons for Libertarians. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Rob Bradley is the world’s leading expert in energy economics in the Austrian tradition. His treatise Oil, Gas, and Government is the definitive record of U.S. government intervention in the oil and gas markets. Rob chose Murray Rothbard as the chair for his dissertation in Political Economy. At one point in his career, Rob served as a speechwriter for Ken Lay, CEO of Enron, which afforded Rob a firsthand view of the skullduggery that would later be wrongly blamed on capitalism. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Justin Clark explains the intriguing strategy of a committed group of Texans to restore the sovereignty of their Republic: Like the Baltic states did with respect to the Soviet Union, argue to the UN that Texas has been occupied by a foreign power. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Longtime libertarian journalist Bretigne Shaffer explains the de facto mandatory vaccinations now enforced for school children in California, and the concerned parents who are protesting the policy. She also discusses her fictional books that will appeal to libertarian readers. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Titus Gebel has a PhD in international law, and has written a book, Free Private Cities: Making Governments Compete For You. Bob discusses Titus’ proposal and how it differs from other types of abstract libertarian theorizing. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Dan Sanchez discusses his provocative article for FEE, in which he explained how Jordan Peterson’s message could help the Joker deal with the genuine suffering in his life without turning to destructive outlets. Although seemingly fanciful, the conversation touches on very weighty matters that are of the utmost relevance in today’s charged political climate. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Economic historian Mark Thornton has published several peer-reviewed articles on the economics of slavery in the American South. In this episode, he and Bob Murphy discuss the various ways in which government intervention propped up slavery and masked its inefficiency. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In this whimsical episode, Bob Murphy tells stories about cashiers giving him too much change, as well as the recent time he had somehow convinced himself that the Fed was engaging in the opposite of what everybody was assuming, in the repo markets. He also explains what gave away the troll who wanted AOC to adopt “Eat the babies!” as her campaign slogan, and why the people comparing Trump to the Godfather are misquoting the movie. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Economist Richard Vedder discusses his new book Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America, which diagnoses what’s wrong with higher education and how to fix it. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Jeff Snider is Head of Global Research at Alhambra Investments. He talks with Bob about the recent spike in lending rates in the repo markets, and how the Fed’s attempted solution fails to address the real problem. He then relates the repo problem to the global monetary system, which has suffered from major imbalances going back to 2007 that have yet to be corrected. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In a 2006 journal article, “On Hayekian Triangles,” Walter Block and William Barnett list 14 separate objections to the popular device used (in various forms) by Hayek, Rothbard, and Roger Garrison to illustrate how artificially low interest rates lead to an unsustainable boom. Block concludes that the Hayekian triangle can be salvaged, while Barnett thinks it should be abandoned altogether. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy asks a series of tough (but fair, he hopes) questions for conservatives, ranging from tariffs to impeachment to drug prohibition. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Economist Nicolas Cachanosky specializes in the overlap between capital theory in traditional economics and the capitalization of cash flows in finance. He explains the relevance of these concepts to understanding the business cycle. Then, Nicolas and Bob have a friendly disagreement over Mises’ views on fractional reserve banking. The conversation closes with Nicolas’ view on central banking policy since the financial crisis of 2008. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Online rock artist and music blogger Matthew Bankert walks Bob Murphy through his picks for the Top Ten Libertarian Rock Bands. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob analyses the 2014 film Transcendence, starring Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman. Besides making his case that Depp’s character was in the right, Bob explores some of the economic and even religious elements of the film. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Julie Borowski (LibertyJunkies.com) has a very popular YouTube channel producing funny videos that teach free market economics and libertarian principles. She joins Bob Murphy to discuss her new children’s book, Nobody Knows How to Make a Pizza. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy analyzes Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special, “Sticks & Stones.” Bob applauds one bit and criticizes another, but overall thinks Chappelle has done his duty as the court jester. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy asks a series of tough (but fair, he hopes) questions for progressives, ranging from abortion to the minimum wage to climate change. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Marsha Familaro Enright founded the Council Oak Montessori School in Chicago, and is currently the President of “The Great Connections,” a gap-year program for students also located in Chicago. She has written on how education would work in a free society, and she warns that government voucher programs may backfire and ruin what independence private schools still retain. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy uses some samples from Dan Carlin’s amazing podcast, Hardcore History, to illustrate the flaws with state-provided military services. Bob concludes that minarchists have nothing to fear, and they should embrace the full vision of a voluntary society with no institutional coercion. Mentioned in the episode: Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History series on World War 1. Audio excerpts in this episode came from Parts IV and V in the series. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Robert Anthony Peters is a professional actor as well as a promoter of liberty. His most recognizable film roles were appearances in The Pursuit of Happyness (with Will Smith) and Steve Jobs. His latest creation is the short film Tank Man. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy gives a quick explanation of the Mises-Hayek theory of the boom-bust cycle, and how Bob used it to forecast the financial crisis in 2008 a year ahead of time. He then explains the significance of an "inverted yield curve," and shows how the Austrians can understand its predictive power much better than Keynesians like Paul Krugman can. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Patrick Frey has more than two decades of experience as a Los Angeles prosecutor. Although he is an enthusiastic fan of Austro-libertarianism, Frey comes on the show to challenge Bob’s views on plea deals and AnCap society. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy explains a common rhetorical dodge that he’s encountered from both the progressive Left and the conservative Right. On the issue of slavery and reparations, the Left will argue that modern whites benefited from the institution. When someone like Murphy points out that slavery actually made the average white person poorer, the leftist may object that this isn’t about economics, but about privilege and social hierarchy. Likewise, when Bob pointed out that Tucker Carlson’s “economic nationalism” would hurt the national economy, right-wingers responded that they cared about culture, not just prices at Walmart. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In a fitting act of reciprocity, Tom Woods has Bob Murphy on his show for episode 1307 (which originally ran in December 2018), much like Bob had Tom on his show for episode 1. Bob explains how he got into Austrian economics and libertarianism. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Robby Soave, a writer at Reason, was the first journalist to shatter the original narrative about the Covington Catholic students caught in the infamous face-off with Native American Nathan Phillips. But Soave has also tried to correct the unfair coverage of Ilhan Omar. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

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. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy 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. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.