Episode 77 Have We Evolved to Reject Free Markets? with Walter Block

Summary:

Reason and the record of history both lead us to the conclusion that protection of private property and free markets result in the best outcomes for society, including dramatic reductions in poverty. Yet, people are still inclined to be suspicious of the market and resistant to the idea that government interventions cause economic distortions, no matter how obvious the cause/effect relationships may be. Dr. Walter Block joins Tom to discuss the results of research Dr. Block has done into why the “anti-capitalist mentality” is so hard to overcome.

Guest Bio:

Walter Edward Block is an American Austrian School economist and anarcho-capitalist theorist. He currently holds the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the School of Business at Loyola University New Orleans and is a senior fellow of the non-profit think-tank Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama.

Dr. Block earned his PhD in Economics at Columbia University. He is an author, editor, and co-editor of many books which include Defending the Undefendable; Lexicon of Economic Thought, Economic Freedom of the World 1975-1995; Rent Control: Myths and Realities; Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Equal Opportunity; Theology, Third Word Development and Economic Justice; Man, Economy, and Liberty: Essays in Honor of Murray N. Rothbard; Religion, Economics, and Social Thought; and Economic Freedom: Toward a Theory of Measurement.

He has also written more than 500 articles for various non-refereed journals, magazines, and newspapers, and is a contributor to such journals as The Review of Austrian Economics, Journal of Libertarian Studies, The Journal of Labor Economics, Cultural Dynamics, and the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He is currently a professor and chair of economics, college of business administration, at Loyola University.

Additional Reading

Defending the Undefendable

Defending the Undefendable II, III

Evolutionary psychology, economic freedom, trade and benevolence

THE FALLACY OF A PRIORI STATISM

Recommended Viewing: The Mouse That Roared

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