How Do You Situate Modern Libertarians?

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The libertarian movement has evolved a great deal since the time when you and before that, i in college. I don't devote a lot of attention to libertarians in my book for the simple reason that they are such a small part of the american political landscape. People who are conservative on both social issues and economic issues naturally find a home,. these days in the republican party. But how about the people who are mixed? We call them libertarians typically. And it turns out that group is only about three % of the American electorate.

In episode 162 of The Michael Shermer Show, Michael speaks with one of the nation’s preeminent experts on economic policy, Benjamin Friedman, about his new book Religion and the Rise of Capitalism — a major reassessment of the foundations of modern economic thinking that explores the profound influence of an until-now unrecognized force — religion.

Critics of contemporary economics complain that belief in free markets — among economists as well as many ordinary citizens — is a form of religion. And, it turns out, that in a deeper, more historically grounded sense there is something to that idea. Contrary to the conventional historical view of economics as an entirely secular product of the Enlightenment, Benjamin Friedman demonstrates that religion exerted a powerful influence from the outset.