The Human Action Podcast

Bob uses three recent controversies–Richard Murphy’s “Christmas all year” claim, Elon Musk’s net worth, and Ron DeSantis on the Great Depression–to clear up common economic fallacies about work, wealth, and wartime spending.The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Bob uses clips from his recent interview with Eric Weinstein to explain why Weinstein thinks gauge theory can fix how economists measure the cost of living, unify competing price indices, and handle changing preferences over time, and why Austrians shouldn’t dismiss him as a crank. He summarizes Eric’s claim that standard mathematical economics relies on the simplest kind of derivative, explaining how much of modern economic modeling is using the wrong math.Related: Bob's Interview with Eric Weinstein on the InFi Podcast: Mises.org/HAP530aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

The podcast dives into the heated debate over Argentina's President Milei and Hoppe's critique on his failure to swiftly close the central bank. Discussion branches into Hülsmann and Bagus's clash about dollarization vs. peso stability. Mises's classifications of money types are explored, including commodity and credit distinctions. The complexities of Argentina’s short-term central bank debt and the implications of ongoing inflation under Milei are also dissected. Ultimately, the conversation reveals the tension between immediate fiscal reforms and gradual economic adjustments.

Bob walks through a recent WIRED video on “the economics behind the Great Depression,” correcting its claims on lax regulation, Hoover’s alleged inaction, the role of the Fed and the gold standard, and the notion that World War II ended the slump.Bob's Article, "The Depression You’ve Never Heard Of: 1920-1921": Mises.org/HAP528aBob's Talk, "Contrasting Views of the Great Depression": Mises.org/HAP528bThe WIRED Video, "Economics Professor Answers Great Depression Questions": Mises.org/HAP528cThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Dive into the intriguing world of capital and interest theory, where traditional notions collide with Austrian views. Discover why the common equation of interest and marginal product of capital only holds in overly simplified models. Explore the nuances of time preference and how it shapes economic debates. Bob offers compelling arguments, including an insightful farmer-tractor example, revealing that raw productivity alone can't explain interest rates. The discussion also introduces an innovative two-good model, reshaping your understanding of economic interactions.

Is economics a hard science? The discussion dives into critiques of mainstream economic practice and defends the Mises-Rothbard perspective of economics as praxeology, focusing on human action rather than lab experiments. Bob examines concepts like opportunity cost, unexpected market crashes, and the implications of the Efficient Markets Hypothesis. He argues that while economics cannot predict crises with precision, qualitative warnings about systemic risks are crucial. Ultimately, he likens economic theory to geometry—rigorous and deductive, rather than empirical.

Dr. Jonathan Newman joins the Human Action Podcast to discuss his recent QJAE article disputing the claim that 'sticky prices' prevent markets from clearing--i.e., when the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded. Dr. Newman applies Mises’s “plain state of rest” to show that each voluntary exchange equates quantities supplied and demanded, so observed “stickiness” doesn’t imply non-clearing markets."There Ain't No Such Thing as a Sticky Price": Mises.org/HAP525aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Is paying down the federal debt a recession trigger? Bob takes on the MMT claim and checks the record, citing US debt payoffs, Canada’s 1990s reforms, and ECB case studies. Conclusion: real wealth beats accounting tricks and paydowns aren’t a mechanical path to recession.Read More on Fiscal Austerity: Mises.org/HAP524aThe Upside-Down World of MMT: Mises.org/HAP524bDo Balanced Budgets Cause Depressions?: Mises.org/HAP524cThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Alex Pollock joins the Human Action Podcast to explain his recent Congressional testimony on the Fed’s growing insolvency and mandate overreach. The Fed now admits to $243 billion in operating losses and nearly $1 trillion in mark-to-market losses, leaving it with negative capital of about $197 billion. Pollock explains how the central bank transformed itself into “the biggest 1980s-style savings and loan in history” — funding short while buying long, and bleeding cash as interest rates rose.Read the Congressional Testimony: Mises.org/HAP523aRead More from Alex Pollock: Mises.org/HAP523bThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

In this episode of the Human Action Podcast, Bob unpacks Lerner’s Symmetry Theorem—the classic result that, under tight conditions, an import tariff is equivalent to an export tax. He applies the framework to recent 100% China‑tariff headlines, explaining why the dollar might strengthen in theory yet sometimes weakens in practice once retaliation and policy signaling are factored in.The Human Action Podcast on Trump's Tariff Strategy: Mises.org/HAP522a The Lerner Symmetry Theorem: Mises.org/HAP522bThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree