Bob and Tom discuss the work of Bob's favorite economist, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk. Böhm-Bawerk refuted many an economic fallacy in his day, including Marxism itself. We discuss the arguments he made as well as how he made them.
Krugman surprises us by writing about economics. He tells us that in the wake of the financial crisis, the public and even other economists have drawn the wrong lessons. Contrary to what you've heard, says Krugman, the Keynesian macro model did great during the crisis, while microeconomics is overrated. Well yes, we agree that Krugman's model did great...if we overlook all the times it blew up in his face.
This week's column, which makes hysterical claims about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, is a combination of baseless assertion and historical ignorance. Joining us for this week's dismantling is special guest and James Madison biographer Kevin Gutzman, professor of history at Western Connecticut State University.
We take a listener question -- early-bird registrants for the Contra Cruise got this as a bonus -- about what would happen if one country went completely stateless, but the rest of the world stayed the same. Lots of potential consequences here, and we do our best to sort them out! Plus the usual fun.
The Cato Institute recently issued a ranking of economic freedom in the 50 U.S. states. Krugman thinks they're defining freedom too narrowly, for surely workers in New York, where they have many protections, feel freer than workers elsewhere. He further suggests a positive correlation between economic freedom and infant mortality. These and other Krugman claims are ground into sausage.