The Bob Murphy Show

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

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

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

Michel Accad practices cardiology and general internal medicine in San Francisco, and holds a part-time clinical faculty appointment at the University of California San Francisco. This episode continues the discussion that Bob had with Dr. Michel Accad back in Episode 43. There, Bob reviewed the development of concepts like “efficiency” and “market failure,” so that now he and Michel (in the current episode) could understand the pioneering 1963 article from Kenneth Arrow on healthcare economics. Specifically, Arrow outlines reasons that (in his mind) a free market in healthcare and health insurance won’t work very well. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Steve Patterson—host of “Patterson in Pursuit”—talks to Bob about one of his recent essays, in which Patterson challenges the standard Misesian/Rothbardian view of economics. Specifically, Patterson claims that you can’t get very far with pure a priori reasoning—even pretty basic economic laws rely on empirical assumptions. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Michel Accad practices cardiology and general internal medicine in San Francisco, and holds a part-time clinical faculty appointment at the University of California San Francisco. This episode reproduces a discussion Bob had on Michel’s podcast, where they discussed the development of “welfare economics” in mainstream theory, in preparation for their subsequent discussion of Kenneth Arrow’s famous paper critiquing free-market healthcare delivery. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Like the Matrix, you cannot be told about a three-hour conversation with Donnie Gebert; you must hear it for yourself. But here’s the blurb from his book, A Direct Republic: The Null Hypothesis of Politics: All members of a direct republic sign… the constitution/social contract. This contract states you will not engage in murder, rape, theft, and basic crimes against humanity. Once signed, the individual becomes their own representative and places social contributions directly into the funding pools for the social projects they approve of. NOTE: Bob Murphy erroneously describes Gebert as an “intelligence officer” in the introductory remarks, but in fact Gebert was a sergeant. The mistake was Murphy’s, not due to Gebert. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy has a friendly discussion and debate with Karl Smith. First, Bob pushes Karl to clarify the conditions under which government deficit spending could, even in theory, help a depressed economy. Then, they switch to the economics of climate change, and Bob’s view that the case for a carbon tax is much weaker than most economists admit. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Tucker Carlson gives unambiguous approval for Elizabeth Warren’s call for “economic nationalism,” saying her proposal sounds like “Trump at his best.” Carlson pillories American companies for outsourcing their operations to other countries, and blames Republican leadership for its dedication to doctrinaire libertarianism and Austrian economics. (Not a joke.) Bob disagrees with this take. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob talks with Stephan Kinsella about the basis of libertarian law, and how we could have justice without a coercive State. They then discuss Stephan’s pathbreaking work making the case that property must be in tangible things, rendering “intellectual property” an incoherent and dangerous concept. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob replays a recent Contra Krugman episode covering a Paul Krugman column on infrastructure spending. In addition to getting the economics wrong (as usual), Krugman also makes a shocking admission about his willingness to harm the country, as long as it denies Trump a political victory. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Keith Smith is an anesthesiologist who founded the Oklahoma Surgery Center and the Free Market Medical Association. He is a medical doctor, but also a student of economics. Bob and Keith discuss the recent FMMA conference in Dallas, and explain how patients and doctors right now can break out of our broken healthcare-insurance system. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy points out a common fallacy among even self-described anarcho-capitalists, when they blame a social problem on “too little government.” For example, in standard arguments over drug prohibition, sometimes libertarians will argue, “A drug dealer can’t call the cops if he gets robbed, so this leads to more violence in the industry.” Bob explains what’s wrong with this way of thinking. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Scott Horton returns to the podcast to share his wealth of knowledge on a variety of topics. Bob first gives Scott the opportunity to express his unhappiness with the recent episode on Ilhan Omar. Then, they discuss the economic crisis in Venezuela, the carnage in the Middle East, the Mueller Report, and finally answer questions from the BMS Secret Facebook Group. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob brings on special guest Avi Loeb, who is the Frank B. Baird Jr., Professor of Science and Chair of the Astronomy Department at Harvard University. Among other positions, Professor Loeb is founding Director of the Black Hole Initiative, and is thus ideally suited to explain the recent images of a massive black hole circulating on social media. Loeb also has been at the center of media discussion concerning the strange object in space named ‘Oumuamua, which has several properties that make Loeb hypothesize that it might not be a strictly natural phenomenon. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob goes solo to explain why the common practice of “offering a plea deal” is a horrible practice, which gives us little reason to trust that those convicted are actually guilty of the crimes to which they confess. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob brings on Mises Institute founder Lew Rockwell to primarily discuss Lew’s article in defense of Lori Loughlin (“Free Lori Loughlin and All Political Prisoners”). Why is the FBI involved in a college admission scandal in the first place? And why is Lori Loughlin’s behavior so much worse than all the other cheating that happens systematically? Bob and Lew then discuss the chilling role of the FBI in American life, as well as various methods by which the CIA takes care of business. Bob also asks Lew questions submitted in the Bob Murphy Show Facebook group. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob finishes his three-part series by first reviewing the contributions of Böhm-Bawerk, Fetter, and Mises to the modern Austrian explanation of interest, namely the “pure time preference theory” (PTPT). Then Bob explains some of the problems for the PTPT, especially for Austrian economists. Instead, Murphy offers a much more straightforward—and Austrian!—approach, which explains interest as the premium placed on present versus future units of money. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob brings on Robbie “The Fire” Bernstein, host of Run Your Mouth and junior host to Dave Smith on the popular libertarian podcast Part of the Problem. Bob and Robbie discuss the NYC stand-up comedy scene, and give a tutorial on jokes using some examples. Bob asks Robbie whether the mocking campaign against AOC might backfire, and then Robbie turns the tables by asking Bob about the coming economic crash. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob Murphy critiques an article by Conor Friedersdorf, in which Friedersdorf mocks the right-wing outrage over Rep. Ilhan Omar's 9/11 remarks as a tempest in a teapot. Why, if someone on the right made a similar slip of the tongue, Friedersdorf would expect the right-winger to be forgiven. This is of course ludicrous nonsense, as Bob explains. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob continues his series on capital and interest theory. In this episode he explains Böhm-Bawerk's​ solution to the problem of interest, namely that present goods are more valuable than future goods. Bob also explains Böhm-Bawerk's​ three separate causes for the higher valuation of present over future goods, including the notorious third cause, which is the higher physical productivity of more roundabout processes. Finally, Bob addresses the criticism of Böhm-Bawerk's theory coming from Keynes, Fisher, Frank Fetter, and Mises. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In this re-broadcast of a recent Lara-Murphy Show episode, Bob Murphy and co-host Carlos Lara discuss the yield curve from an Austrian perspective. Carlos explains why a business owner who practices the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC) would want to retain ownership of the life insurance policy in his or her own name (rather than the company owning it). Their discussion is part of a series, which is tied to the upcoming seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 10, 2019. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob begins his three-part series devoted to Capital and Interest Theory in the tradition of the Austrian School. This is his area of expertise, and the focus of his doctoral dissertation. In this episode, Part 1, Bob explains Böhm-Bawerk's critique of the "naive productivity theory" of interest, and also reconciles it with the standard approach in modern economics models of equating the real rate of interest to the "marginal product of capital." For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob shares an interview he did on C. Jay Engel’s podcast, Austro-Libertarian, where they discussed Doug Henwood’s critique of MMT that ran in the socialist publication, Jacobin magazine. Henwood’s article was an excellent summary of the academic roots of MMT, and thus supplements the pragmatic discussions (from the perspective of Warren Mosler) that have recently been featured on The Bob Murphy Show. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

By popular demand, Bob explains some of his major disagreements with the views Warren Mosler expressed back in Episode 18 ("Warren Mosler Defends the Essential Insights of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)"). At that time, Bob was just having a friendly discussion, not a debate; but, in this episode, Bob explains where he thinks Mosler went wrong. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Austrian economist Peter Klein talks with Bob about his unusual (for a Rothbardian) career path, including his time working for the Council of Economic Advisors to Bill Clinton. They discuss Klein’s work on entrepreneurship, and how his views differ from those of Israel Kirzner. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Liberty musician Jordan Page discusses the plight of Schaeffer Cox, an Alaska liberty activist and militia leader who is being held by the federal authorities in a high-security prison. There were many irregularities in the case, with the original verdict having been vacated and the case sent to a lower court for re-sentencing. Cox’s supporters argue that he was targeted for his political views. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob goes solo to discuss a particular aspect of outrage mobs on social media, in which people intentionally spread misleading or outright false smears against their opponents. He covers the fate of Scott Alexander (who had to shut down a subreddit thread because of online harassment accusing him of supporting Nazis), Nick Sarwark’s latest (feigned) ignorance of Tom Woods’ views on prostitution, the hatchet job on Bob’s Wikipedia entry, the smears of Jordan Peterson, and—in the interest of fairness—some examples of overreach by “his side” too. Bob wraps up by explaining the harm of this behavior, and how comedians are the only ones left who can speak the truth. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Nelson Nash is the developer of the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC), which uses properly designed whole life insurance policies as a cashflow management vehicle. Although Bob (along with Carlos Lara and David Stearns) has worked closely with Nelson over the years in building the Nelson Nash Institute, this interview focuses on some of Nelson’s charming stories about learning to fly and being mentored by FEE’s founder, Leonard Read. The conversation then turns to the pernicious role that commercial bankers have played in history, and how IBC allows individuals to secede from that evil system. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In order to motivate his upcoming debate on the Contra Cruise against Tom Woods, Bob goes solo in describing his vision of a Rothbardian society. Without taking a stand on the morality involved, Bob simply explains as an economist why he predicts that the major companies and property owners in an anarcho-capitalist framework would quickly adopt policies that minimized violence, even against criminals. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob brings on MMT superstar Warren Mosler to explain—not to debate!—his understanding of Modern Monetary Theory. After summarizing Mosler’s interesting background, the two discuss the assumptions behind MMT and its implications for economic policy. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Alex Tabarrok is a professor of economics at George Mason University and co-author (with Tyler Cowen) of the very popular blog, Marginal Revolution. Bob and Alex cover a wide range of topics, including his early experience with Rothbardians, the brief window when economics blogs were the center of discussion, problems with the FDA, how a kidney market might work, and why Bitcoin is not as secure as some of its fans believe. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Joe Salerno is Academic Vice President of the Mises Institute and one of the world’s leading economists in the Rothbardian tradition. He discusses his intellectual roots, as well as his scholarly work on money and banking. But Bob also asks Joe to recount some of his funny adventures with Murray Rothbard. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

David Gornoski is the creator of ANeighborsChoice.com, a media platform that tells the stories of victims of State violence and which provides healthy alternatives to a violence-based society. David hosts the Orlando-based “A Neighbor’s Choice” radio program on WFLA 93.1 FM and 540 AM. Much of his work is an application of René Girard’s mimetic theory. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob gives the context for his children’s book, The Three Lads and the Lizard King. He covers a wide range of related issues, including Jim Carrey’s Illuminati “warning” (?), nonviolence, and the sovereignty of God. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Standup comic and host of Part of the Problem Dave Smith joins Bob to talk about the theory and practice of comedy. They also discuss Dave’s discovery of Austrian economics, hypocritical leftists, the exasperating Tucker Carlson, and how the birth of his daughter led Dave to God. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Gene Epstein, former Barron’s economics editor and founder of the Soho Forum, joins Bob for a lively discussion covering a variety of topics. Gene explains that his mother, a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, had an FBI file and was responsible for Gene’s original position as a democratic socialist. It was only through his reading of Murray Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State that Gene became a free-market libertarian. Gene recounts his experiences teaching economics and working on the New York Stock Exchange, and shares examples of the abuse of economic statistics as detailed in his book Econospinning. Finally, Gene offers Bob some advice for his upcoming debate with Tom Woods. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob provides an introductory framework on how to analyze the economics of immigration, as well as the politics involved in this controversial topic. The point isn't to pick sides, but to sharpen everyone's arguments. For example, make sure your arguments about immigration don't "prove" that having babies makes a country poorer. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob explains what he means when he tells crowds, "Back in the fall of 2008, as the financial crisis hit, the Fed began paying backs to not make loans to their customers." Specifically, Bob explains the new Fed procedure of "paying interest on reserve balances." As of the Fed's December 2018 meeting, the Fed now pays the banks $40.8 billion on an annual basis—to not make loans to their customers. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Norman Horn is the founder and president of the Libertarian Christian Institute. He and Bob have a provocative conversation that will enlighten both believers and skeptics alike. They critically analyze the tendency of American Christians to support war, in its domestic and foreign applications. Norman gives Bob the best, succinct analysis of Romans 13 he has ever encountered. Bob ends (playing devil's advocate) by challenging Norman to explain why the Church isn't just as exploitative as the State. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

David R. Henderson underwent a personal odyssey in his discovery of free-market economics. David tells Bob the story of his recruitment by Harold Demsetz, and how David ended up at UCLA during its glory days. The conversation turns to David's time on the Council of Economic Advisors to Ronald Reagan, as well as David's unusual position as a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School while he was a columnist for Antiwar.com.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In 1931 Kurt Gödel published his now-famous "incompleteness theorems," which showed the limitations of axiomatic systems of mathematics. Specifically, Gödel showed: (1) there are true statements about numbers that humans will never be able to prove, and (2) a mathematical system that is internally consistent (i.e. doesn't generate contradictions) cannot prove its own consistency. These results have been widely cited not just in mathematics but also philosophy and computer science, as they completely revolutionized our understanding of knowledge itself. It this episode Bob gives an intuitive explanation of what Gödel precisely did and how he did it.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Steve Landsburg went to Chicago to do his graduate work in mathematics but was intrigued by the economics taught by Milton Friedman, George Stigler, Gary Becker, and other luminaries. We discuss the essence of Chicago price theory, the time when Steve was picketed by campus feminists, how Steve can climb aerial silks like Batman (while Bob looked more like the Penguin), and puzzles from his new book.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Antiwar hero and all-around genius Scott Horton joins Bob for a lengthy discussion covering the siege and massacre at Waco, the motivations and perverse logic of the U.S. government's interventions in the Middle East, and how Donald Trump staved off the establishment at the Republican convention and after the general election.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob talks to Jeff Deist, president of the Mises Institute and former chief of staff to Ron Paul. In addition to discussing the prospects for liberty, Bob and Jeff talk about Jeff's past as a tax attorney, and the corrupting role of low interest rates. Jeff also reveals that Congress is a lot more boring than you think.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In this episode, Bob tackles Tucker Carlson's intuitive—yet wrong—claim that Jeff Bezos is unloading his labor costs onto the taxpayer. If anything, food stamps and other government assistance programs cause Amazon to pay its workers higher wages. For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

Bob brings on his other podcast co-host for a lengthy but lively discussion. They discuss Carlos' move from Mexico as a young boy, his story about JFK, his lawsuit against the Marines, his career as a workout consultant, his meeting Nelson Nash, his discovery of Austrian economics, and his PowerPoint presentation for bankers. Bob and Carlos end their discussion with the provocative topic: Who runs the world?For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.

In this inaugural episode, Bob hosts libertarian hero and legend Tom Woods. They discuss nerdiness in junior high, Tom's doctoral dissertation, his conversion to Catholicism, public speaking tips, and much more.For more information, see BobMurphyShow.com. The Bob Murphy Show is also available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and via RSS.