Why Libertarianism Fragmented, How the Right Became Statist, and Culture Wars

In episode 2, Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg track the fracturing of the Libertarian movement, the culture wars, and which ideas deserve not to die.

We're hiring across the board at Turpentine and for Erik's personal team on other projects he's incubating. He's hiring a Chief of Staff, EA, Head of Special Projects, Investment Associate, and more. For a list of JDs, check out: eriktorenberg.com.

--

Sponsors: GIVEWELL | DAFFY | NETSUITE 

Have you ever wondered where your donation could have the most impact? GiveWell has now spent over 15 years researching charitable organizations and only directs funding to the highest impact opportunities they’ve found in global health and poverty alleviation. Make informed decisions about high-impact giving. If you’ve never donated through GiveWell before, you can have your donation matched up to $100 before the end of the year, or as long as matching funds last. To claim your match, go to givewell.org and pick “Podcast” and enter Econ 102 at checkout. 

Daffy is the most modern and accessible donor-advised fund, making it easier to put money aside for charity. You can make your tax-deductible contributions all at once or set aside a little each week or month. And you don’t just have to donate cash, you can easily contribute stocks, ETFs, or crypto. Plus, you never have to track receipts from your donations again. It’s free to get started and Econ 102 listeners get $25 towards the charity of their choice. Daffy is offering Econ 102 listeners a free $25 for the charity of their choice when they join Daffy https://www.daffy.org/econ102 

NetSuite has 25 years of providing financial software for all your business needs. More than 36,000 businesses have already upgraded to NetSuite by Oracle, gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, eCommerce, and more. If you’re looking for an ERP platform head to NetSuite http://netsuite.com/102 and download your own customized KPI checklist.

--

Econ 102 is a part of the Turpentine podcast network. To learn more: www.turpentine.co

--

TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Episode preview

(12:54) Why did Libertarians lose?

(15:00) Free trade failure in the 2000s

(19:00) Libertarians jumping on the Trump train

(19:45) Evolution to state-capacity libertarian

(22:00) Culture wars vs. getting the economics right

(27:30) Effect of money on politics

(29:00) Urban fragmentation: San Francisco and New York

(30:30) Hot take: Gavin Newsom underrated

(37:00) How the right soured on the free markets and became became statist

(39:00) Can a 'reset' work

(40:20) Which ideas deserve not to die?

--

SPONSOR THIS PODCAST:

We're looking for sponsors to partner with on this show. If you or your business might be interested, send us a note at [email protected]. Find out more here: https://www.turpentine.co/sponsors

--

LINKS MENTIONED:

Where Does Libertarianism Go From Here? https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/where-does-libertarianism-go-from

Tyler Cowen, State-Capacity Libertarianism https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/01/what-libertarianism-has-become-and-will-become-state-capacity-libertarianism.html

--

TWITTER:

@noahpinion (Noah)

@eriktorenberg (Erik)

--

This show is produced by Turpentine: a network of podcasts, newsletters, and more, covering technology, business, and culture — all from the perspective of industry insiders and experts. We’re launching new shows every week, and we’re looking for industry-leading sponsors — if you think that might be you and your company, email us at [email protected].

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.