The Human Action Podcast

Bob sits down with Harvard Economics Professor Pol Antràs to discuss his new paper applying Böhm-Bawerk's average period of production to international trade, testing whether countries with lower interest rates tend to export goods requiring longer, more roundabout production processes.Related:Professor Antràs' Paper, "An ‘Austrian’ Model of International Specialization": Mises.org/HAP554aBob's Article, "The Reswitching Question": Mises.org/HAP554b

Bob applies Mises’ taxonomy of money and the regression theorem to Bitcoin, asking whether it should be classified as commodity or fiat money and whether Austrian theory really rules out Bitcoin ever becoming money.Related:Mises's The Theory of Money and Credit: Mises.org/HAP536aBob's Study Guide to The Theory of Money and Credit: Mises.org/HAP536bBob's Primer on Bitcoin: Mises.org/HAP536cPoliticians don’t build prosperity. Entrepreneurs do. Join Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell for our first event of 2026: Mises.org/HAHCThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Bob revisits Böhm-Bawerk’s critique of the exploitation theory of interest to answer modern claims that billionaires like Elon Musk must have “stolen” their wealth from workers who supposedly create 100 percent of a firm’s value.Related:Böhm-Bawerk’s Critique of the Exploitation Theory of Interest: Mises.org/HAP534aBöhm-Bawerk’s Karl Marx and the Close of His System: Mises.org/HAP534bPoliticians don’t build prosperity. Entrepreneurs do. Join Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell for our first event of 2026: Mises.org/HAHCThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

This week, Bob talks with macroeconomist Roger Farmer—who places himself “between Keynes and Hayek”—about how twentieth-century macroeconomics evolved. They discuss how overlapping generations and search theory change the story on unemployment and asset prices, and where Professor Farmer thinks both neoclassicals and MMT advocates go wrong. Farmer contrasts the old “rocking horse” vision of the economy with his preferred “windy boat” metaphor, where the economy can drift for long periods, and variables like unemployment behave more like random walks than quick returns to a single steady state.Related:Professor Farmer's Article, "How New Keynesian Economics Betrays Keynes": Mises.org/HAP532aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

Bob uses clips from his recent interview with Eric Weinstein to explain why Weinstein thinks gauge theory can fix how economists measure the cost of living, unify competing price indices, and handle changing preferences over time, and why Austrians shouldn’t dismiss him as a crank. He summarizes Eric’s claim that standard mathematical economics relies on the simplest kind of derivative, explaining how much of modern economic modeling is using the wrong math.Related: Bob's Interview with Eric Weinstein on the InFi Podcast: Mises.org/HAP530aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree