To mark Ludwig von Mises's 145th birthday, Bob reviews the contributions that put him in the running for greatest economist of all time.

This week, Bob talks with professor Matt McCaffrey about a soon-to-be-published, never-before-seen manuscript by Frank A. Fetter, surveying the history of economic thought from Adam Smith to John Stuart Mill. Dr. McCaffrey explains what Fetter saw in Ricardo, the labor theory of value, and the classical economists on the eve of the marginalist revolution, and why this lost book is a rare window into a first-rate Austrian mind.

Related:

• Frank Fetter, Capital, Interest, and Rent: Essays in the Theory of Distribution: Mises.org/HAP564a

Using Randall Wray's classroom "buckaroo" currency, Bob shows how MMT thinks about money, and the claim that a fiat currency's natural rate of interest is zero. He explains why the Austrian view roots interest in subjective time preference rather than the cost of printing money, and why an MMT-style currency would push price inflation higher over time.

Related:

• Warren Mosler, "The Natural Rate of Interest Is Zero": Mises.org/HAP563a
• Randall Wray "How to Implement True, Full Employment": Mises.org/HAP563b
• MMT vs. Austrian School Debate: Mises.org/HAP563c

This week, Bob talks with Dr. Patrick Newman about his new book, Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929, which reviews how big business built the regulatory state, the Fed, and cartels like the AMA, all justified in the name of the "public interest."

Related:

• Cronyism: Rise of the Corporatist State, 1849–1929: Mises.org/HAP562a
• Bob on the Speaker Panel, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?: Mises.org/HAP562b

Bob returns to the fractional reserve banking debate to clarify a point the critics keep missing: in the Mises-Hayek-Rothbard framework, it's fractional reserve banking itself that sets the boom-bust cycle in motion, not merely central banks.

Related:

• Lawrence White, Free Banking in Britain: Mises.org/HAP561a
• Bob's Previous Episode on Rothbard vs Free Bankers: Mises.org/HAP561b
• Bob's Paper on the History of Fractional Reserve Free Banking: Mises.org/HAP561c
• Roger Garrison's Presentations on Capital-Based Macroeconomics: Mises.org/HAP561d

Bob reviews Murray Rothbard's 1988 essay "The Myth of Free Banking in Scotland," his sharp response to Larry White's influential account of Scottish free banking.

Related:

• Rothbard's Article, "The Myth of Free Banking in Scotland": Mises.org/HAP560a
• Bob's Debate with George Selgin on Fractional Reserve Banking: Mises.org/HAP560b
• George Selgin's Article, "Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797–1821": Mises.org/HAP560c
• Joe Salerno's Article on Mises as Currency School Free Banker: Mises.org/HAP560d
• Lawrence White, Free Banking in Britain Mises.org/HAP560e

Bob sits down with the managing editor of the Libertarian Institute, Keith Knight, to sample arguments from his recent four-hour video cataloguing sixty-four problems with democratic socialism.

Related:

• Find More from Keith Here: Mises.org/HAP559a
• 64 Arguments Against Democratic Socialism: Mises.org/HAP559b
• Keith's Domestic Imperialism: Nine Reasons I Left Progressivism: Mises.org/HAP559c

Bob uses U.S. economic history, centering on the greenback era, to work through some subtle but important distinctions in Austrian monetary theory. He also addresses whether free-market economies have a natural tendency toward price deflation under a commodity standard, why the stock-versus-flow distinction matters for understanding gold production and the price level, and how to distinguish "bad" policy-induced monetary deflation from the "good" price deflation that accompanies genuine productivity growth.

Related:

• Patrick Newman, "The Depression of 1873-1879: An Austrian Perspective": Mises.org/HAP558a
• Clarence Long, "The Course of Money Wages during 1860-1890": Mises.org/HAP558b
• Bob's Understanding Money Mechanics: Mises.org/HAP558c
• Bob's Article, "Hayek’s Plan for Private Money": Mises.org/HAP558d
• The Charts Shown in this Episode: Mises.org/HAP558e