In 2022, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used political favors and government grants to maneuver thousands of workers into jobs producing electric trucks. But consumers aren’t interested.

Narrated by Millian Quinteros.

Audio Mises Wire

How Governor Whitmer Doomed Detroit Autoworkers | Connor O'Keeffe

Joshua Mawhorter joins us to talk about how the fiat-money theories of Modern Monetary Theory and chartalism aren’t supported by the historical facts. 

Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at https://Mises.org/RadioRothbard

Radio Rothbard mugs are available at the Mises Store. Get yours at https://Mises.org/RothMug 
PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off

Fiat Money and Chartalism: Why MMT Is Wrong

On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton dives into Murray Rothbard’s theory of interventionism. Mark explores how Rothbard sharply delineates the line between voluntary action in the free market and coercive government intervention. He deconstructs Rothbard’s typology—autistic, binary, and triangular interventions—and explains why only free markets improve utility for everyone, while intervention creates winners and losers. It’s a wake-up call for anyone who still thinks regulation and taxation are harmless.

Additional Resources

"The Economics of Violent Intervention in the Market" by Murray N. Rothbard (Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market, Chapter 12): https://mises.org/MES

"The Greatness of Man, Economy, and State" by Lew Rockwell: https://mises.org/MI_124_A

Register for the 2025 Mises Institute Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, October 16–18: https://mises.org/ss25

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

The Theory of Interventionism

On this episode of Power and Market, the group discusses the fallout from Israel’s strikes on Iran and the Trump Administration’s (changing?) position on immigration enforcement.

For more information and to subscribe, visit https://Mises.org/P&MPod

Israel, Iran, and Immigration

Bob hosts economist Daniel Lacalle to analyze the controversial Big Beautiful Bill. Daniel explains why, despite its imperfections, the bill represents a vital first step toward curbing government spending and protecting private-sector prosperity from excessive state intervention.

Daniel's Article, "The Big Beautiful Bill Is Much Better Than You Think": https://Mises.org/HAP504a
Thomas Massie's X Exchange on the Hidden Costs of the BBB: https://Mises.org/HAP504b

The Debate Over the Big Beautiful Bill

In this welcome lecture to the 2025 Rothbard Graduate Seminar, Joseph Salerno dismantles the myth that Murray Rothbard was an outsider to mainstream economics. 

Drawing on Rothbard’s deep academic training and early career, Salerno reveals how Rothbard was a thoroughly trained neoclassical economist before his conversion to Austrian economics. The talk highlights Rothbard’s engagement with institutionalism, positivism, and Keynesianism, and how his discovery of Mises and praxeology transformed his outlook—ultimately forging one of the most original and radical economists of the 20th century.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on Sunday, June 8, 2025.

The Young Rothbard: An Uncomfortable Neoclassical Economist

The United States is dangerously close to entering yet another war in the Middle East. But this one has the potential to be a lot costlier for the American people while remaining just as unlikely to bring about peace and stability in the region.

Read the article here: https://mises.org/mises-wire/war-iran-not-interest-american-people

The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Murray Rothbard’s, What Has Government Done to Our Money? Get your free copy at https://mises.org/gabfreebook

Be sure to follow the Guns and Butter podcast at https://Mises.org/GB

War with Iran Is Not in the Interest of the American People

In this classic 1963 essay, Murray Rothbard argues that the state is inherently hostile to peace because war enhances its power, prestige, and control. While individuals benefit from peace and voluntary exchange, governments thrive on conflict, using war as a tool to centralize authority and suppress liberty. Rothbard challenges the moral legitimacy of state warfare and calls for a truly libertarian stance—non-intervention and individualism.

War, Peace, and the State

Real estate investor and Mises Institute contributor Artis Shepherd joins us to talk about how our stagnating economy is affecting multifamily housing and other commercial real estate. Banks and investors are using “extend and pretend” tactics to cover up the true state of the industry. 

Be sure to follow Radio Rothbard at https://Mises.org/RadioRothbard

Radio Rothbard mugs are available at the Mises Store. Get yours at https://Mises.org/RothMug 
PROMO CODE: RothPod for 20% off

Commercial Real Estate Is in Trouble

On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton unpacks the unfolding economic crisis through the lens of Ludwig von Mises’s “crack-up boom.” With inflation accelerating, deficits ballooning, and the Fed’s credibility fading, Mark outlines how reckless monetary policy and unsustainable government spending are setting the stage for stagflation—or worse. From gold’s surge to the dollar’s decline, he connects today’s market signals to Mises’s dire warnings about monetary collapse, offering a sobering look at what may lie ahead for the US economy.

Additional Resources

"Trump (Again) Demands More Easy Money To Help Fund Even Bigger Deficits" by Ryan McMaken: https://mises.org/MI_125_A

"Interest Rates Rise Again as Treasury Auction Comes Up Short" by Ryan McMaken: https://mises.org/MI_125_B

"Powell, Trump, and the Austrian Business Cycle Time Bomb" (Minor Issues, Ep. 118): https://mises.org/MI_118 

"Prospects for Hyperinflation" (Minor Issues, Ep. 116):  https://mises.org/MI_116

"Are Economic Crises and Crashes Inevitable?" (Minor Issues, Ep. 112): https://mises.org/MI_112

"The Precarious State of the American Economy" (Minor Issues, Ep. 111, with Scott Horton): https://mises.org/MI_111

How Inflation Destroys Civilization by Guido Hülsmann: https://mises.org/InflationDestroys

Ludwig von Mises on Money and Inflation, edited by Bettina Bien Greaves: https://mises.org/MI_125_C

The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It by Henry Hazlitt: https://mises.org/MI_125_D

Register for the 2025 Mises Institute Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, October 16–18: https://mises.org/ss25

The Coming Crack Up Boom

Bob is joined by author George Ford Smith for a detailed examination into the life and legacy of Thomas Paine. They discuss how Paine’s writings, especially Common Sense and the American Crisis essays, mustered colonial support for independence and even influenced the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Smith explains Paine's life, from early setbacks and struggles in England to becoming a pivotal figure in America’s founding, and why his views ultimately sidelined his historical reputation.

George's Mises Wire Article, "The Failure to Stop Thomas Paine": https://Mises.org/HAP505a
George's Mises Wire Article, "Thomas Paine, Liberty's Hated Torchbearer": https://Mises.org/HAP505a

Thomas Paine: The American Revolution's Unlikely Hero

The Mises Institute, founded in 1982, is an educational institution devoted to advancing Austrian economics, freedom, and peace in the classical-liberal tradition. Our website offers many thousands of free books and thousands of hours of audio and video, along with the full run of rare journals, biographies, and bibliographies of great economists.

How Governor Whitmer Doomed Detroit Autoworkers | Connor O'Keeffe

Mises Institute

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