Bob Murphy Show

Adam Haman, a writer and commentator on natural living, economics, politics, and libertarian ideas, joins Bob Murphy to examine Hayek’s Road to Serfdom through a viral explainer video. They explore dispersed knowledge, why centralized power attracts the worst rulers, how freedom can erode incrementally, and how prices coordinate millions of choices. The conversation also contrasts Hayek’s knowledge problem with Mises’ calculation problem.

Adam Haman, a writer and commentator on science, philosophy, and culture, joins Bob to challenge Neil deGrasse Tyson and Robert Sapolsky’s case against free will. They examine hard determinism, the shaky “hungry judge” study, quantum physics, AI analogies, moral responsibility, punishment, and the tension between persuading people and denying their agency.

Adam Haman, writer and HamanNature Substack commentator, returns to discuss economics laureates Robert Hall and Michael Woodford. Bob explains the shift from Keynesian hydraulics to microfoundations, rational expectations, and interest-rate policy. They debate Woodford’s influence on central banking, Hall’s flat-tax and commodity-standard ideas, and the Nobel’s political incentives. Haman also shares a poker story involving Ben Affleck and Kevin Pollak.

Bretigne Shaffer, a former Hong Kong journalist turned children’s fiction author, discusses her new book, Elixir of Fear. She explores how scary stories can teach courage, why fiction changes minds more powerfully than arguments, and the need for compelling liberty-minded tales. She also recalls Hong Kong’s transformation, China’s economic reforms, and Japan’s remarkable culture of trust.

Adam Haman, a writer and commentator covering libertarian ideas, politics, history, and culture, reconnects with Bob Murphy to parse Donald Trump’s views on interest rates and trade deficits. They explore market-driven rates, inflation, Federal Reserve policy, foreign investment, and why trade deficits aren’t business losses. The conversation also examines tariffs, uncertainty, supply chains, and alternative economic strategies.

Dan McCarthy, editor of Modern Age and a commentator on conservatism and political philosophy, discusses his provocative essay on libertarianism’s decline. They explore why the label is losing appeal, populism’s rise, libertarian contradictions, free trade and tariffs, open borders, the missing common good, religion’s role in political hope, and whether libertarians need a more positive vision.

Adam Haman, a writer and commentator on economics, science, technology, and free markets, joins Bob Murphy to challenge Neil deGrasse Tyson’s case for government-funded science. They discuss Bell Labs, the MRI, the myth of “basic science,” private philanthropy, political influence on research, and whether competition can foster scientific innovation without centralized control.

David Beckworth, an economist and monetary-policy scholar, joins Bob to unpack a Calvinism debate between Dinesh D’Souza and Guillaume Bignon. They explore Molinism, free will, divine sovereignty, moral responsibility, providence, the problem of evil, and whether salvation can be wholly gracious yet resistible. Expect theological tensions, thought experiments, and a spirited search for coherence.

Adam Haman, writer and political commentator behind HamanNature, joins Bob to dissect Dave Smith’s ZeroHedge debate with Alan Dershowitz. They examine Dershowitz’s Hitler and D-Day analogies, arguments for regime change in Iran, Israel’s influence on U.S. politics, accusations of antisemitism and dual loyalty, campaign spending against Thomas Massie, and the debate’s sharpest comebacks.

A spirited theological debate tackles Dinesh D’Souza’s objections to Calvinism, from election and damnation to faith, works, and salvation. The discussion explores whether divine sovereignty can coexist with genuine free will and moral responsibility, drawing on Molinism, biblical passages, and imaginative analogies involving fictional worlds, neuroscience, and praxeology.