The Human Action Podcast

You probably haven't read Carl Menger's 'Principles of Economics', but you should: it's a groundbreaking work that created a new theory of value and built a foundation for praxeology. Dr. Joe Salerno joins us for the definitive podcast on the founder of the Austrian school.

Dr. Joe Salerno's brief biography of Menger: https://mises.org/library/biography-carl-menger-founder-austrian-school-1840-1921

Dr. Peter Klein's foreword to Principles of Economics: https://mises.org/library/menger-revolutionary-1

Carl Menger's Principles of Economics online in PDF and ePub formats: https://mises.org/library/biography-carl-menger-founder-austrian-school-1840-1921

Professor Peter Klein (Mises.org/Klein) joins The Human Action Podcast to explain how and why.

This is the last Mises Weekends episode!

But don't despair, Jeff will soon be back with a brand new format: The Human Action Podcast. The new show is not radically different, but focuses more exclusively on Austrian economics, its great books, and its great thinkers–with longer, more in-depth interviews. But don't take our word for it, tune in next week to the first show with David Gordon!

Your RSS-fed platforms like Stitcher and SoundCloud will continue to support the new show, while Mises.org will still host both streaming and downloadable audio files. And your iTunes subscription will redirect you from Mises Weekends to The Human Action Podcast.

This week Jeff takes a hard look at socialism and why it seems to gain greater support in the US and across the West. Do people really understand socialism as Mises did, and do they really want collective ownership of industry? Or do they just want what he termed "pseudo-socialist" economic systems that redistribute wealth? What motivates socialists? And how do they reconcile their moralizing self-regard with the doctrine that socialism is inevitable and inexorable?

Mises's Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis: mises.org/socialism

Jeff Deist on why support for socialism persists: mises.org/power-market/still-fighting-last-war-against-socialism

Dr. Joe Salerno will address the annual Students for Liberty conference (mises.org/LibertyCon19) this week on the topic of his seminal article, "Mises on Nationalism, the Right of Self Determination, and the Problem of Immigration" (mises.org/MisesNationalism). While Mises had plenty to say about nation states and liberalism, his wrote relatively little about immigration per se. Dr. Salerno and Jeff Deist discuss Mises's conception of nation and state, breakaway movements, borders, and self-determination in polyglot societies. Nationalism and immigration are the most contentious political issues today, and Mises's perspectives remain remarkably fresh and relevant.

Jeff Deist joins Australian podcaster Stephan Livera (@StephanLivera) for a in-depth look at money in an era of crazed monetary policy.

They tackle how Austrian economics relates to cryptos, why gold still matters, how deflation and "hoarding" are healthy for an economy, and how any challenge to the central bank cartel could create a political upheaval far beyond banking and economics.

Our great friend Daniel Lacalle (dlacalle.com/en/), author of Escape from the Central Bank Trap, joins the show to discuss the perilous condition facing central banks after a decade of their own malfeasance.

Daniel and Jeff discuss absurd reactions to the Fed's tiny interest rate hikes, the fragility of central bank policy in the face of enormous sovereign, corporate, and household debt, why expansionary monetary policy always hurts poor people, and what the Fed and ECB might do– realistically– under current conditions. This is a must-listen interview with one of the best and most visible central bank critics.

The great comic Dave Smith (ComicDaveSmith.com) is the proud dad of a newborn baby girl. Will she witness fewer American wars in her lifetime than a girl born in 1918?

Dave and Jeff Deist discuss the astounding news from Trump about reducing troops in Syria and Afghanistan, the growing push-back against neoconservative foreign policy from ordinary Americans of all stripes, the impassible rift in Conservatism Inc. caused by Trump, and how Rand Paul may lead a new noninterventionist resurgence.

Professor Carmen Dorobăț (Mises.org/Dorobat) grew up in Romania—too young to remember Ceaușescu, but deeply aware of what socialism did to her country. Fortunately, she discovered Ludwig von Mises during her university years and found her passion for economics. She joins Jeff Deist to discuss how Mises's work and legacy paved the way for her and an entire generation of younger scholars.

Climate Change (née Global Warming) is based on three premises: the earth's atmosphere is warming; humans are responsible for that warming; and warming is inherently bad.

But even if we accept these premises, what economic trade-offs are warranted in response? No more air conditioning or private automobiles? Heavy carbon taxes? Outlawing relatively cheap fossil fuels and mandating expensive renewable sources? Slower economic growth in the developing world? One child policies?

Dr. Robert Murphy (mises.org/murphy) joins Jeff Deist to discuss how the political landscape and media narratives fail to consider obvious choices and trade-offs inherent in the climate change debate.

Former Dallas Fed official Danielle DiMartino Booth (DiMartinoBooth.com) joins the show just as Chairman Jay Powell faces his first major challenge: will he keep raising rates as promised now that autos, housing, employment, and even tech stocks look soft? And if not, will he effectively signal that the US economy is in big trouble?

DiMartino Booth and Jeff Deist discuss Powell's performance to date, the credulity of the financial press, the ugly ticking time bomb of US corporate debt, and whether Austrians and permabears overestimate the Fed's influence on the economy.