The Liberty Exchange

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Libertarianism.org

21 episodes

4 months ago

Puzzling through the theories, history, and practice of liberty.

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Puzzling through the theories, history, and practice of liberty.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes (20/21)

The Liberty Exchange

Talking Liberty and Milton Friedman: A Conversation with Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network

Jonathan Fortier talks with Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network, about a network of over 500 liberty-advancing think tanks around the world. Their conversation explores the necessity of decentralized knowledge and local efforts as essential elements in promoting free societies in different cultures with unique circumstances. Jonathan and Brad discuss the recent issue of the Atlas magazine, “Freedom’s Champion”, in which Brad celebrates the legacy of Milton Friedman, his close to connection to Atlas, and his many contributions to promoting liberty around the world.

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4 months ago

42 minutes 52 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

The Capitalist Manifesto with Johan Norberg

Jonathan Fortier talks with Johan Norberg, author of The Capitalist Manifesto: Why the Global Free Market Will Save the World. The conversation explores how a simple coffee shop can illustrate the complexity of international trade, why capitalism is a "double thank you" system in which we may all get what we need more efficiently, and much more. Norberg delves into everyday examples that help us appreciate this economic system that has brought us unprecedented prosperity.

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5 months ago

49 minutes 10 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Modern Libertarianism with Brian Doherty

Jonathan Fortier talks with Brian Doherty, author of Modern Libertarianism: A Brief History of Classical Liberalism in the United States. The conversation explores some of the main themes in Doherty’s book, including figures like Mises and Hayek, Ayn Rand, Leonard E. Read and many others. Doherty muses on the nature of the libertarian movement and the many strains of thought animated by fractious individuals.

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8 months ago

38 minutes 44 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Open Borders: A Conversation about Immigration with Bryan Caplan

Jonathan Fortier and Bryan Caplan discuss the reissue of Open Borders a graphic non-fiction novel published by Libertarianism.org. Caplan argues for the tremendous power of open migration to unleash economic potential and generate much greater overall human flourishing. The episode explores some of the common objections to immigration, considering both the American and European context, and concludes with some speculation about how best to modify current regulation to facilitate the movement of people looking for opportunity in the United States.

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9 months ago

48 minutes 10 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

The Freedom Convoy: The Case of the Canadian Truckers with Bruce Pardy

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier and Bruce Pardy discuss some of the ways that the government response to COVID (both in Canada and abroad) revealed the fragility of individual freedom in the face of political power and explore the various reasons that political, legal and civic institutions failed to protect individual liberty in a time of apparent crisis. The conversation explores aspects of the Canadian trucker protest as, in a sense, representative of the wider international and democratic opposition to authoritarian governments. Jonathan and Bruce conclude with some reflections on the centuries-long tendency to “move power around” from one place of authority to another, without questioning the legitimacy of exercising power over others. The conversation concludes with some thoughts about the administrative state, and the manner in which it stands in opposition to accountable government and a robust individual freedom.

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9 months ago

47 minutes 29 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Creative Destruction: A Conversation with John Dalton

Jonathan talks with John Dalton, Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, about his book, Creative Destruction, published by Libertarianism.org in 2024. Jonathan and John discuss the work of Joseph Schumpeter, an Austrian economist who popularized the idea of creative destruction, and the important ways that Vienna served as a stimulating backdrop for early theorizing about market dynamism and cultural change. The conversation touches on many important themes central to free societies and competitive markets. They conclude with a consideration of case studies that help to illustrate the concept of creative destruction.

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11 months ago

51 minutes 22 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hayek’s Nobel Prize: A Conversation with Don Boudreaux

Jonathan Fortier talks with Don Boudreaux, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, about the legacy of F.A. Hayek. Don provides a quick overview of the background and context of Hayek’s Nobel Prize, the intellectual rivalry with Keynes, and a general survey of Hayek’s important insights and their ramifications for understanding free societies.

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1 year ago

46 minutes 42 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

The Individualists: A Conversation with Matt Zwolinski about the history of Libertarianism

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Matt Zwolinski about his recent book, The Individualists: Radicals, Reactionaries, and the Struggle for the Soul of Libertarianism (co-authored with John Tomasi, Princeton, 2023). They discuss various approaches to understanding the foundational principles of libertarianism, dominant historical differences in the evolution of libertarian thought, and some future challenges to liberty.

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1 year ago

55 minutes 18 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Sustaining and Revitalizing Democracies: A Conversation with Brook Manville and Josiah Ober

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Brook Manville and Josiah Ober about their recent book, The Civic Bargain: How Democracy Survives (Princeton, 2023). Manville and Ober identify essential qualities for robust democracies, and explore how Ancient Athens, Republican Rome, Parliamentary Britain and the American Founding each struggled to develop and maintain key practices and institutions to preserve their political orders.

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1 year ago

1 hour 1 minute 41 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

FDR’s War on the Bill of Rights

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier speaks with David T. Beito, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Alabama. Together they discuss his new book The New Deal’s War on the Bill of Rights, particularly focusing on FDR’s use of censorship and the implementation of Japanese internment camps during World War II.

His book is available for order at the Independent Institute or Amazon. Links below.

https://www.independent.org/store/book.asp?id=142

https://www.amazon.com/New-Deals-Bill-Rights-Concentration/dp/159813356X

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1 year ago

55 minutes 51 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Liberty in our Lifetime: A Conversation with Jason Sorens

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Jason Sorens, Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute of Economic Research and Founder of the Free State Project. They discuss the origins and purposes of the Free State Project, the question of secession, the lessons that other American states might learn from the FSP, analogues with other secessionist movements around the world, and then turn to a discussion of the Cato-supported publication, “Freedom in the 50 States.”

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1 year ago

44 minutes 47 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Adventures in Hayek: A Conversation with Bruce Caldwell

In this episode, Jonathan Fortier talks with Professor Bruce Caldwell, the general editor of the Collected Works of F. A. Hayek (University of Chicago Press) and Director of the Center for the Study of the History of Political Economy at Duke University. They discuss the challenges and rewards of editing Hayek, reflect on the perennial significance of Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” and discuss the recent publication of the minutes from the first Mont Pelerin Society meeting in 1947.

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1 year ago

47 minutes 3 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Executive Power: The Cult of the Presidency with Gene Healy

In this episode Jonathan Fortier talks with Gene Healy about the growth in the scope and power of the office of the American President, and some of the ways that this has negative consequences for political accountability and individual liberty. Healy’s book, The Cult of the Presidency, first published in 2008 by the Cato Institute, will be reissued this coming autumn in advance of the American presidential election. The conversation turns partly on what has changed in the intervening 16 years, but also on a number of other topics, such as the delinquency of Congress in the face of Executive over-reach, the growth of the administrative state, the influence of technology in presidential reach, the unintended consequences of the presidential race, and much more. Healy’s research and insights are presented with a unique grace and wit that makes this a compelling account of the changes to the nation’s top political position and associated implications for a free society.

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1 year ago

38 minutes 59 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Liberty in Review: A Conversation with Todd Zywicki

As part of our “Janus Week” in which we look back on 2023 and forward to 2024, Jonathan Fortier and Todd Zywicki discuss the recent high points for liberty and potential threats on the horizon. Zywicki distinguishes between positive wins and defensive moves as they discuss the election of Milei, the rolling back of Covid restrictions, the Supreme Court’s apparent moves to rein in the administrative state, the checks on DEI and ESG and much more. Zywicki encourages us to think more carefully about simplified mental models that libertarians traditionally used to distinguish between public and private violations of individual freedom, and suggests that we are living through a different era, where these two sectors are both more intertwined, but also a period in which, arguably, both the public and private sectors have extremely significant impacts on liberty.

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1 year ago

58 minutes 4 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

Classical Liberalism and the Higher Things

For a philosophy that seeks to allow us the choice in how we pursue our own interests, some argue liberalism leaves us unmoored or adrift. Dan Klein thinks differently. In a wide-ranging conversation with Libertarianism.org Director Jonathan Fortier, they discuss the transcendence of the divine, joy, beauty, community, and virtues such as benevolence and friendship. They also explore the concept of quasi-religious political ideologies and how thinking liberally with “the higher things” in mind can lead to a more equal and just world.

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1 year ago

53 minutes 11 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

America's Founders, Christianity, and the Path to Liberty

As terms like Christian nationalism and Catholic integralism are bandied about regarding their place (or lack thereof) in modern American politics, it becomes important to ask; what role did Christianity play in the founding and early life of the United States of America? To answer this question, Libertarianism.org Director Jonathan Fortier is joined on this episode of The Liberty Exchange by guest Mark David Hall.

Jonathan and Mark discuss the role of Christian belief in the American founding and the early Republic. They highlight the influence of Puritan ideals on the development of democratic institutions and the concept of consent-based political order, as well as the issues of religious liberty and equality, emphasizing the contributions of Christians in advancing religious freedom.

Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land: How Christianity Has Advanced Freedom and Equality for All Americans by Mark David Hall

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1 year ago

45 minutes 42 seconds

The Liberty Exchange

A City Cannot Be a Work of Art: Sanford Ikeda on Jane Jacobs and Spontaneous Complexity

Our Centers of Progress theme this week has revolved around the history and nature of cities, and their role in promoting values central to free societies –including a respect for liberty, individual rights, free speech, and cosmopolitanism. But putting those values into action is much more complicated than it sounds.

Sanford Ikeda, Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York, Purchase College has a deep knowledge of urban planning with a particular expertise in the work of Jane Jacobs, a giant of twentieth-century theory of urban design. In this episode we focus on how thinking about cities offers a particularly good avenue towards economic and social theory. Professor Ikeda’s work explores how different approaches to the design and growth of cities can either enable or be in tension with individual liberty and human flourishing.