
Advertise on podcast: The Human Action Podcast
Rating
4.8from
This podcast has
152 episodes
Language
EnglishPublisher
Mises InstituteExplicit
No
Date created
2014/05/30
Latest episode
2026/04/21
Average duration
-
Release period
8 days
Description
The Human Action Podcast features in-depth interviews on current topics in economics through an Austro libertarian lens.
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Podcast episodes
Check latest episodes from The Human Action Podcast podcast
Luke Gromen on the Strait of Hormuz and Supply Chain Collapse
2026/04/21
Bob sits down with macro researcher Luke Gromen of Forest for the Trees to discuss the cascading supply chain consequences of a closed Strait of Hormuz. They also touch on why gold is already supplanting the dollar as the world's premier reserve asset, and what the surge in U.S. gold exports over the past five months tells us about where the global monetary order is heading.
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Bob Responds to Randall Wray on Sectoral Balances
2026/04/10
After his recent Zero Hedge debate with MMT co-founder Randall Wray, Bob takes a deep dive into the sectoral balance approach. He explains why the MMT argument is technically a tautology, how it's deeply misleading, and why the private sector doesn't need government deficits to save, invest, and accumulate real wealth.
Related:
Is Paying Down Government Debt Bad for the Economy?: Mises.org/HAP545aBob's Article, "Does History Show Government Debt Paydown Causes a Crash?": Mises.org/HAP545bThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Cantillon Effects and the Politics of Money Creation
2026/04/02
This week, Bob explains Cantillon effects: the insight that new money doesn't raise all prices equally or simultaneously, but flows through the economy in a sequence that benefits early recipients at the expense of everyone else. Then, he shows why this phenomenon is the foundation on which the entire Austrian theory of the business cycle is built.
Related:
Richard Cantillon, An Essay on Economic Theory: Mises.org/HAP544aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Can AI Solve the Socialist Calculation Problem?
2026/03/27
Bob untangles two arguments that even Austrian economists sometimes conflate: Mises' calculation problem and Hayek's knowledge problem. Then, he explains why the distinction matters, especially in light of recent claims that AI and modern computing could finally make central planning viable.
Related:
Bob's Article, "Socialism: The Calculation Problem Is Not the Knowledge Problem": Mises.org/HAP543aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Visualizing The Boom-Bust Cycle with Roger Garrison
2026/03/21
In memory of Roger Garrison, Bob walks through Garrison's famous capital-based macroeconomics diagrams, showing how they translate the Mises-Hayek theory of the boom-bust cycle into the language of modern macroeconomics.
Related:
Roger Garrison, The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle: Mises.org/HAP542aRoger Garrison, Austrian Macroeconomics: A Diagrammatical Exposition: Mises.org/HAP542bThe Diagrams Referenced in the Podcast: Mises.org/HAP542cDr. Garrison's PowerPoints: Mises.org/HAP542dThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Rothbard at 100: Five Economic Insights That Still Matter
2026/03/13
In commemoration of Murray Rothbard’s 100th birthday, Bob shares five “greatest hits” from Rothbard’s economics, covering deficits vs. inflation, monopoly theory, excess capacity, the time structure of production, and his reconstruction of utility and welfare economics.
Related:
Rothbard, Making Economic Sense: Mises.org/HAP541aRothbard, "Toward a Reconstruction of Utility and Welfare Economics": Mises.org/HAP541bRothbard, Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market: Mises.org/HAP541cBob's Study Guide to Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market: Mises.org/HAP541dJoin the Mises Institute on Saturday, April 25 in San Diego, CA to discuss California's fall from grace. Today, it's known for high taxes, bureaucrats, and leftwing billionaires. Is this a warning to the rest of America? Register now at Mises.org/CAHAP
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Banning Congress, Not Markets: The Insider Trading Dilemma
2026/03/03
Bob uses Trump’s call to ban congressional insider trading as a springboard to explain why, from an Austro-libertarian perspective, insider trading and speculation could help markets work, while still justifying special rules for government employees.
Related:
Bob's Article "Is Insider Trading Really a Crime?": Mises.org/HAP540aThe Social Function of Stock Speculators: Mises.org/HAP540bThe Social Function of Futures Markets: Mises.org/HAP540cThe Social Function of Call and Put Options: Mises.org/HAP540dThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Milei Defends Capitalism and Austrian Economics at the WEF
2026/02/24
This week, Bob walks through Javier Milei’s 2026 address to the World Economic Forum, explaining the Austrian and neoclassical ideas behind Milei’s defense of capitalism—from Rothbard and Kirzner to Pareto efficiency and the welfare theorems.
Related:
Bob's Breakdown of The Intra-Austrian Debate over Milei: Mises.org/HAP539aThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
California’s Billionaire Tax and State-to-State Flight
2026/02/17
Bob lays out California’s proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires, using it to explain why taxes on wealth are especially destructive, how different tax structures change incentives, and what recent migration data says about people voting with their feet.
Related:
Data on 2020–2024 State-to-State Migration: Mises.org/HAP538a"Where Americans Choose to Move and Where They Leave": Mises.org/HAP538bPoliticians 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/OKCHA
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Dr. Keith Smith on the Health Insurance Cartel
2026/02/11
Bob talks with Dr. Keith Smith of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma about how posting cash prices, walking away from government money, and working with self-funded employers created an alternative to the cartel of big hospitals and insurers.
Politicians 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/OKCHA
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Is Bitcoin Fiat Money?
2026/02/05
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/HAHC
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Gold Exports, Trade Deficits, and Tariffs
2026/01/24
Bob responds to James Rickards’ recent tweet on record U.S. gold exports driving an improved trade balance, walking through the official data on non-monetary gold, Trump-era tariff uncertainty, and the broader question of what chronic trade deficits really mean in a post-gold-standard world.
Related:
The Charts Used in this Episode: Mises.org/HAP535aBob's Recent Talk on Trade Deficits: Mises.org/HAP535bBob's Econlib Article on Oil Prices: Mises.org/HAP535cPoliticians 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/HAHC
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Billionaires, Workers, and the Exploitation Theory
2026/01/18
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/HAHC
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Dr. Peter Klein on International Law and “Might Makes Right”
2026/01/15
Bob talks with Dr. Peter Klein about the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela and the social-media backlash against “international law,” using it as a springboard to clarify what law is, how it can exist without a world government, and why Austrians care about polycentric legal orders.
The Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree
Roger Farmer Gives a Tour of Macroeconomics
2026/01/02
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
Podcast reviews
Read The Human Action Podcast podcast reviews
jecc47 2024/07/18
Fav
My favorite podcast. I learn so much. Thanks so much for all you do.
Ricky_Bobby69420 2023/11/22
Amazing podcast
Only thing they should do is make it twice as loud and it would be perfect
pblumel 2024/01/13
Good, but…
Oddly, the guests on this program are not always or even usually announced by name in the podcast. Apparently a listing of the guests and topics are f...
Billy Bermuda 2022/10/21
Beauty in Everything!
Only the sublimely insightful Jeff Deist could have delivered the speech Beauty in Economics. I know he really meant beauty in everything, which is th...
eyecoin 2022/10/02
Fantastic
Jeff is a fantastic analyst and communicator of all of these type of topics.
Jagger_Brady 2022/07/27
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You the man Jeff!
11jcarlson 2022/08/08
Quit smackin your lips, Jeff
I’d love this podcast but can’t listen to Jeff smack his lips when he completes his thought
ETrain7273 2022/04/27
Must Listen
An great podcast with insight on history and economics.
Hank_theTank 2021/12/03
Very underrated
This may be the most underrated podcast in the libertarian space. Jeff Deist is doing a remarkable job of making deep dives into libertarian deep tra...
Rosenrosey 2021/05/06
Incredible
Essential listening. I could listen to Jeff Deist forever
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