Bob Murphy Show

In 2009 the Christian philosopher William Lane Craig debated Christopher Hitchens on the existence of God. In this episode Bob evaluates the 20-minute opening statement from Craig.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The debate between Craig and Hitchens.
• Wikipedia entry on fine-tuning argument.
• Tom Woods on classical First Mover argument.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Bob tackles recent tweets by Joe Weisenthal and Elon Musk to clarify the Austrian views on recessions and money.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The Elon tweet and the Joe Weisenthal tweet.
• Bob's book Understanding Money Mechanics.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

As a sequel to a recent Human Action podcast episode where Bob critiques a Warren Mosler interview, Bob here goes deeper into the analysis of how an economy can continue growing even if the government eliminates its budget deficit. Bob relies on both theory and history, citing in particular the fiscal turnaround of Canada in the mid-1990s.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The Human Action podcast episode that is the prequel to this BMS episode.
• Mosler interview on the Forward Guidance podcast.
• Bob's debate with Mosler at Columbia.
• Krugman vs. the ECB list of examples of expansionary austerity. (See Krugman's blog post too.)
• Bob’s EconLib article discussing Canadian fiscal turnaround.
• JP Koning post on why the Treasury can't overdraft since 1981.
• An AEI post showing the Romer-Bernstein Obama stimulus package unemployment prediction vs. reality.
• Bob's critique of David Friedman on housing prices.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Přemysl Bosák encountered the ideas of voluntary law and decided to launch an online dispute resolution system. He gives his background and then explains his vision for Disputio.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The YouTube version of this interview.
• The website for Disputio.
• Bob's pamphlet and lecture on private law.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

This episode is a re-broadcast of Bob's talk given at George Gammon's Rebel Capitalist Live event held in May 2023 in Orlando. He covered the case for reparations, the threat from SuperAI, and investment implications.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The YouTube version of this presentation.
• BMS eps on the economics of slavery (with guests Mark Thornton and Jeffrey Rogers Hummel).
• Why SuperAIs won't steal our jobs or slaughter us, Parts 1 and 2.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Lawrence Ludlow has an MA in medieval studies and gives Bob numerous lines of evidence to suggest that Paul in Romans 13 is referring to spiritual authorities rather than political ones. In this interpretation, there is no tension between the New Testament and standard libertarianism.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• The YouTube version of this interview.
• Norman Horn on the BMS to talk Romans 13.
• Jeff Barr's analysis of "Render unto Caesar."
• A History of the Bible. A book on the transmission of the New Testament.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Bob uses the illustrious Milton Friedman to demonstrate a depressing tendency among economists to overreact in their zeal to defend trade deficits, where they end up arguing that it's necessarily beneficial to live beyond one's means. Although this could be true in certain cases, it's not true in general. Bob then explains that the original mercantilists weren't as dumb as modern economists claim.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• Twitter thread with Friedman clip (and some of Bob's response).
• Bob responding to a similar mistake by the WSJ editors.
• Bob Murphy Show episode on reparations and AI.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Bob uses comparative advantage to to argue that human workers will always find a place in the economy, regardless of how productive super-AI systems may become. He then addresses the fear that superAIs will simply rearrange our molecules for building material.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• Part 1 of this series.
• Eliezer Yudkowski tweets on true threat of AI.
• Bob Murphy Show episode on reparations and AI.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

Bob uses basic economics to argue that human workers will always find a place in the economy, regardless of how productive super-AI systems may become.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• Bob Murphy Show episode on reparations and AI.
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.

For a chapter in Per Bylund's new collection, Bob explained the pure time preference theory (PTPT) of interest, and then offered suggestions for future work on an Austrian theory of interest. He summarizes his chapter in this episode.

Mentioned in the Episode and Other Links of Interest:

• Per Bylund's 2022 edited collection.
• Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 in the series on Capital & Interest in the Austrian tradition (BMS ep. 26 and 28 and 31).
• Bob’s doctoral dissertation, in which the second and third essays elaborate on the main elements of this episode.
• The Bob Murphy Show interview with Jeff Herbener.
• Bob's mises.org article summarizing Bohm-Bawerk's critique of the exploitation theory of interest (and in the article the are links early on to two other BB critiques).
• Help support the Bob Murphy Show.

The audio production for this episode was provided by Podsworth Media.