The Tom Woods Show

People say libertarians aren't interested in good news, and that bad news sells. I'm not sure I buy that, or that that's a specifically libertarian trait. Regardless, I have good news today. Today's episode is a tribute to two partially unsung heroes of liberty. Official Libertarianism pretends they do not exist, which is further evidence of their goodness and importance. Sponsor: Skillshare Show notes for Ep. 1357

In episode 1355 we looked at Einstein's famous essay on socialism. In this episode we drive the final stake through the heart of Einstein's version of socialism: the socialist calculation problem. Show notes for Ep. 1356

Albert Einstein wrote a famous essay for the socialist publication Monthly Review in 1949 called "Why Socialism?" In this episode I note some of the problems, as well as the surprising admissions, in the essay. Sponsor: Away Show notes for Ep. 1355

Last night I asked the folks in the Tom Woods Show Elite, which you can join at SupportingListeners.com, for suggestions for a solo episode I might do. Someone recommended this idea, and I loved it. Enjoy! Sponsor: Harry's Show notes for Ep. 1354

Every schoolboy learns that Franklin Roosevelt cured the Great Depression with his New Deal programs. This is false, as libertarians well know. But it's still taught, year after year. In this episode I take this narrative apart. Show notes for Ep. 1353

I finish my reply to the AlterNet article containing 11 questions that are supposed to demonstrate whether your libertarian friend is a hypocrite or not. Joining me this time is Professor Peter Klein. If the left is going to refute us, it will first need to figure out what we actually believe. Show notes for Ep. 1352

Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, discusses what's really wrong with health care (hint: it isn't a lack of government involvement) and how to fix it. Sponsor: Skillshare Show notes for Ep. 1351

Remember when conservatives used to be antiwar, opposed centralized power, and actually wanted to eliminate government agencies rather than just take them over? Yes, such people once existed. Robert Nisbet, whom you'll never hear mentioned on right-wing radio, but who was one of the great thinkers of that tradition, was one of them. I resurrect him -- not literally, so don't get your hopes up -- in this episode. Show notes for Ep. 1350

Bob Murphy and I discuss the view, apparently now mainstream on the left, that socialism has been unjustly demonized, and that it would be quite all right to have the federal government in direct control of fully one-third of the economy. We’re not so sure this is such a super idea. Show notes for Ep. 1349

An article at AlterNet called "11 Questions You Should Ask Libertarians to See If They're Hypocrites" is just crying out to be discussed and demolished on the Tom Woods Show. Today is your lucky day. Show notes for Ep. 1348

"The rich" are one of the few groups we're supposed to hate. Unfortunately, among the so-called rich we have vanishingly few people capable of launching a full-throated defense of themselves against ignorant criticisms. Most are pathetically apologetic, desperately hoping to be loved. Boo. Stand up for yourselves! Sponsor: Blinkist Show notes for Ep. 1347

Professor Michael Rectenwald, the former Marxist who will deliver the Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture at the Mises Institute's Austrian Economics Research Conference this year, returns for a sneak preview of what he plans to say there about postmodernism, authoritarianism, and "social justice." We also discuss media gullibility, why corporations seem to be jumping on board the SJW bandwagon, and a lot more. Sponsor: Skillshare Show notes for Ep. 1346

Both times I've surveyed my listeners, Michael Malice has been chosen as their favorite guest on the Tom Woods Show. Here I try to uncover what makes him tick. That takes us back to his birth in the Soviet Union, his move to the United States, his experiences in school, his exposure to Ayn Rand, the development of his ideas, and a lot more. Plus, I ask him the question he most likes to ask others. Show notes for Ep. 1345 Sponsor: Curiosity Stream

When you read old -- and I mean old, like nineteenth century old -- American writers on money and banking, something jumps out at you: they understood things with a surprising clarity, and had a proto-Austrian conception of why the economy experienced boom-bust cycles. Suddenly it feels less lonely to believe that artificial credit creation leads to a boom that has to end in a bust. In this episode, therefore, I share some unknown American intellectual history. Show notes for Ep. 1344

Stephen Presser and I go from William Blackstone, whose Commentaries on the Laws of England played such a central role in influencing early American ideas about the law, all the way to the Marxist-inspired Critical Legal Studies movement, the feminist legal critique, and back again to the originalism movement. Sponsor: Policy Genius Show notes for Ep. 1343

How many times has this crisis been chalked up to "greed"? As if people hadn't been greedy three weeks earlier. It's time our amateur moralizers learned a little something, and that's the purpose of this episode. My thanks to the Acton Institute, where I delivered these remarks. Show notes for Ep. 1342

Cliff Maloney, president of Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) -- an organization I have enthusiastically supported for over ten years -- joins me to discuss their strategy for the campuses and society at large. YAL developed out of Students for Ron Paul, and are on the front lines of getting our message to young people who might otherwise never hear a dissenting voice. Sponsor: Skillshare Show notes for Ep. 1341

Ben Lewis and I go back into conservative/libertarian history to discuss the work of Frank Meyer, who thought the conservative and libertarian positions were not so difficult to reconcile. Conservative stalwart Russell Kirk wasn't buying it, and the two feuded vigorously. Murray Rothbard, too, weighed in on the controversy. Show notes for Ep. 1340

Friends and foes of the market alike refer to capitalism as a system of "competition." Is that really its characteristic feature, and is that what distinguishes it from other systems? This is actually a misunderstanding, and one that probably turns plenty of people off to the market. What's the right way to think about and explain it? That's what Antony Sammeroff and I discuss in this episode. Show notes for Ep. 1339

In this episode I explore the history of the idea that society can more or less run itself, that there are certain observable regularities in our relationships with one another, particularly in commerce, that cannot be interfered with without negative consequences, and do not actually need to be interfered with in the first place. Show notes for Ep. 1338