Interviews

Interviewed by Marina Dzhashi on the Agree or Disagree radio program, Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute and Vladimir Rojankovsky, head of research at Nord Capital, debate China’s purchasing power.

Recent events surrounding Ferguson, Missouri and the choking death of Eric Garner have brought police misconduct to the forefront. Libertarians rightfully point out that police (unlike private actors) are largely immune from criminal prosecution, civil liability, or even losing their jobs. And because police forces obviously are not subject to market discipline, the incentives are all wrong: the worse crime gets, the more their budgets grow. But the mainstream media fail to understand that police are merely the visible business end of the state: it’s the state itself that’s out of control, and abusive police are but one symptom of this larger problem.

Since neither Left nor Right have a serious answer to police malfeasance, we asked the inimitable Bob Murphy to join us and make sense of how private defense agencies might work in an anarcho-capitalist society.

What do Rothbard and Hoppe have to say about this? How would an insurance model compare to the state’s growth model? And how do we overcome common objections by those who insist that government must have a monopoly over the use of force?

Interviewed by Mo Dawoud of the Wall St for Main St podcast, Mark Thornton explains his prediction of the housing bubble in 2004. They also discuss the 'Skyscraper Curse'.

Interviewed by Emil Franzi and Bruce Ash on AM 1030 KVOI in Tuscon, Mark Thornton offers an Austrian perspective on several issues such as Obamacare, the state of the US economy and the dollar, government success in innovation (or lack there of), and the ruling class.