Podcast Episodes

Ep. 93: Refereeing the Conservative/Libertarian Battle Over the Big Beautiful Bill

Bob breaks down the arguments for and against the so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Proponents like Stephen Miller are correct when they claim it contains record spending and tax cuts, while opponents li…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Ep. 92: George Selgin on Bitcoin as Store of Value or Medium or Exchange, and What Ended the Great Depression?

Economist George Selgin has a new book, False Dawn, from the University of Chicago Press, explaining the latest research on how the New Deal did—and didn't—promote US recovery from the Great Depressi…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Ep. 91: Moody's Was Right to Downgrade the US Treasury

Bob explains what happened with the recent Moody's downgrade of US Treasury bonds, summarizes the precarious US fiscal position, and then critiques the argument that Uncle Sam can't possibly default.…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Ep. 90: Cade Bergman on the Utility of X Spaces and the Future of Crypto

Cade is the Head of Content at @WOLF_Financial, and Co Owner & Host of @WOLF_Crypto_X the Crypto Division. WOLF is a social media marketing firm primarily on X, and hosts the largest financial Spaces…

Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago

Ep. 89: Tom Pyle on Trump's Energy Agenda, and Why the Tech Bros Flipped on Climate Change

Tom Pyle is president of the Institute for Energy Research (where Murphy was Senior Economist for 13 years). He joins Bob for a fast-paced discussion on Trump's energy policies, why major players in …

Published on 3 months ago

Ep. 88: Explaining the LifeNotes Advantage for Split-Dollar Life Insurance Plans

Jay Rogers is Chief Revenue Officer and Steve Baillargeon is VP of Support Services at infineo. They join Bob to explain the LifeNotes Trust solution for institutional owners of split-dollar life ins…

Published on 3 months, 1 week ago

Ep. 87: Oren Cass Challenges Free Traders on American Manufacturing

Oren Cass is one of the leading right-of-center scholars challenging free trade orthodoxy, specifically as it relates to US manufacturing. Bob asks clarifies questions to tease out Oren's views under…

Published on 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Ep. 86: Could the Trump Administration Revalue the Treasury's Gold?

Murphy analyzes a popular video describing proposals to use the Treasury's gold stock to boost the government's finances.

Watch the video version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/mdO39LMRU7Q 

R…

Published on 3 months, 3 weeks ago

Ep. 85: Ricardo's Assumptions Don't Hold, But Trade Still Makes US Richer

Sophisticated critics of free trade argue that David Ricardo's demonstration of "comparative advantage" had valid assumptions in the early 1800s, but those no longer hold in our age of labor and capi…

Published on 4 months ago

Ep. 84: Abe Lincoln and John Carney Are Wrong About Tariffs

Murphy samples from two recent debates on Trump's tariffs to explain why the protectionists are wrong in their view of international trade. Specifically, Murpy rebuts claims made by Abraham Lincoln (…

Published on 4 months, 1 week ago