Hayek Program Podcast

On the second episode of The Hayekian Triangle, Virgil Storr, Peter Boettke, and Chris Coyne examine James Buchanan’s views on human nature and self-government. They place Buchanan’s essays “Natural and Artifactual Man” and “Afraid to Be Free” in conversation, exploring the tension between human beings’ capacity for self-creation and their desire for protection from uncertainty and responsibility. The discussion considers education as a transformative process, the relationship between freedom and accountability, the dangers of state paternalism, the role of civil society, and the challenge classical liberals face in offering a compelling alternative to dependence on the state. The trio also reflect on Buchanan’s intellectual legacy, the importance of lifelong learning, and the conditions necessary for a self-governing society.**This episode was recorded on July 31, 2026**If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, A

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke sits down with Brianne Wolf to explore Adam Smith’s enduring relevance for liberalism, political economy, and contemporary debates about markets and democracy. Wolf discusses her forthcoming book, Beyond Rights and Price: Liberalism with Taste, and explains how thinkers including Smith, Hume, Rousseau, and Tocqueville illuminate the role of taste, judgment, sympathy, and persuasion in sustaining a liberal society. Their conversation ranges from changing student attitudes toward inequality, expertise, and democracy to Smith’s concern for the least advantaged, the relationship between the Scottish Enlightenment and the American founding, and the challenge classical liberals face in responding to critiques of capitalism. Boettke and Wolf also consider cosmopolitanism, the importance of local ties and civil society, and what the renewed attention surrounding the 250th anniversary of The Wealth of Nations can teach us about the liberal tradition.Dr. Brian

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke sits down with Kristen Collins for a wide-ranging conversation on Adam Smith's moral philosophy and its intersection with theories of justice, sympathy, and political power. The conversation moves through the relationship between sympathy, moral imagination, and the origins of our sense of justice, drawing on Michelle Schwarze's work on sympathetic resentment, before turning to why economists have historically misread Smith as indifferent to the poor and powerless — despite Smith's own repeated siding with the weak against the powerful. Boettke and Collins also explore Smith's "man of system" passages as a caution against imposing utopian visions by force, discuss Judith Shklar's "liberalism of fear" in relation to Hayek, and close with an extended look at Collins's research on Jeremy Bentham's little-known Sotomion — a proposed institution designed to protect unmarried pregnant women from social shame while preserving their social connections, offer

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke sits down with Don Boudreaux to mark the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Boudreaux reflects on his many years teaching a graduate seminar on Smith at George Mason University, the layers of insight he continues to discover on each re-read, and why so few professional economists ever read the book cover to cover despite its enduring relevance to questions of monopoly power, trade, taxation, and public debt. The conversation traces the relationship between The Wealth of Nations and Smith's earlier The Theory of Moral Sentiments, dismantling the old "Adam Smith Problem" and explaining why markets need both bourgeois virtue and hard institutional discipline to function. Boudreaux and Boettke also celebrate George Mason's distinctive culture as a "books department" shaped by mentors such as Roger Garrison, Walter Williams, and James Buchanan. Dr. Donald J. Boudreaux is a Senior Fellow with t

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Paul Dragos Aligica delivers a keynote lecture at the 2024 Markets & Society conference on resilience as a research frontier in mainline political economy. He traces how resilience has been largely absent from comparative economic systems scholarship, only to explode as a topic in the last decade, mostly imported from ecology and complexity theory rather than economics.He maps how three traditions at the core of the Mercatus research program—Austrian economics, public choice, and Ostromian institutionalism—each shape our understanding of resilience. Aligica also addresses claims that resilience thinking is merely a proxy for neoliberalism, closing with reflections on the normative stakes of self-governing societies.Dr. Paul Dragos Aligica is a Senior Research Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, KPMG Professor of Governance at the University of Bucharest

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Bobbi Herzberg delivers a keynote lecture at the 2025 Markets & Society conference on Vincent Ostrom’s understanding of democracy and self-governance. Reflecting on Ostrom’s life, scholarship, and enduring influence, Herzberg explores four central themes in his work: the emergence of social order through shared beliefs and norms, the capacity of individuals to govern themselves, the importance of polycentric systems of governance, and the fragility of democratic institutions. Drawing on Ostrom’s collaborations with his wife, Elinor Ostrom, and his engagement with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville, Herzberg argues that democracy is not a mechanism imposed from above but an ongoing practice of cooperation, deliberation, and mutual responsibility. She concludes by emphasizing Ostrom’s vision of democracy as a living experiment in self-government that must be renewed and sustained by each generation. Dr. Roberta Herzberg is a Distinguished Senior Fellow and a

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Emily Chamlee-Wright delivers a keynote lecture at the 2025 Markets & Society conference on the precarious state of liberalism and the cultural foundations necessary to sustain a free society. Drawing on the cultural economy framework she developed with Virgil Storr, Chamlee-Wright argues that liberalism faces not only overt constitutional threats but a deeper "soft tissue" problem: the erosion of the values, norms, and habits that make formal institutions work. Once degraded, she warns, no legislative remedy can restore them. She walks through four dimensions of this cultural ecosystem, shared mental models, generalized norms, cultural tools, and social networks, and shows how they can either reinforce liberal resilience or spiral into vicious cycles of decay. She closes with an urgent call to action: liberal intellectuals and scholars must boldly deploy the cultural tools at their disposal, the stories, symbols, and founding ideals of a free society to decis

Welcome to our new series, The Hayekian Triangle. This series will feature a range of conversations between our hosts: Virgil Storr, Chris Coyne, and Peter Boettke. On this episode, the three sit down to mark the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations — and to ask a deceptively simple question: why are we still reading a book written a quarter-millennium ago?From the invisible hand to the division of labor, Smith's ideas have become so embedded in how we think about markets and society that it's easy to forget just how radical they originally were. Virgil, Chris, and Pete dig into what Smith actually said, why the standard takes on laissez-faire and self-interest so often miss the mark, and what a Scottish moral philosopher writing in 1776 still has to teach us about wealth, poverty, and the institutions that make human flourishing possible.Whether you're coming to Smith for the first time or returning to him with fresh eyes, this conversation is a reminder that the greatest works in politica

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke and Liya Palagashvili reflect on her journey from undergraduate student organizer to public intellectual, policy analyst, and Director of the Labor Policy Project. They discuss how Liya has approached her career with a startup mindset — exploring her work on the gig economy and portable benefits to create more dynamic and resilient labor markets. Along the way, they reflect on the importance of mentorship, “failing fast,” and the tension between holding a strong vision while remaining open to new evidence.Dr. Liya Palagashvili is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Labor Policy Project at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship. Her research focuses on labor regulations, the gig economy, and the changing nature of work. She regularly writes for her Substack, Labor Market Matters.**This episode was recorded on March 31, 2026**Show Notes:Mary Catherine Bateson, Composing a Life (Grove Press, 20

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke talks with Bill Easterly about his new book, Violent Saviors: The West’s Conquest of the Rest. Drawing on figures such as Adam Smith, P.T. Bauer, and Amartya Sen, Easterly argues that material progress alone cannot justify the denial of human dignity and consent. The conversation explores the idea of the “benevolent autocrat” and examines how both colonialism and modern development policy have too often treated people as objects of improvement rather than agents of their own lives. Along the way, Boettke and Easterly discuss state capacity, slavery, colonialism, migration, and post-communist transitions, making the case that freedom is not just a means to development but an end in itself.Dr. William Easterly is Professor Emeritus of Economics at New York University and Co-director Emeritus of the NYU Development Research Institute. He is the author of numerous books, including The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chandran Kukathas delivers a keynote lecture at the 2023 Markets & Society conference arguing that an open society is best understood as a regime of toleration—one that can never be perfectly realized because every regime ultimately relies on power. He explores why toleration cannot be neatly limited by moral theory, why appeals to justice often beg the question, and how societies move closer to or further from openness depending on how they handle issues such as immigration and social integration. Along the way, he reflects on liberalism, pluralism, empire, and the challenge of sustaining a society open enough to accommodate different ways of life.Dr. Chandran Kukathas is Lee Kong Chian Chair Professor of Political Science at School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University and a Distinguished Affiliated Fellow at the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center. He is the author of many books

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke talks with former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm and Don Boudreaux about their new book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom, a sweeping challenge to seven persistent myths about American capitalism. The conversation ranges from the Industrial Revolution and the Great Depression to the financial crisis. Along the way, they reflect on why these myths endure, why economic freedom has done more than any other force to improve the lives of ordinary people, and why economists and educators must keep returning to history and basic economic reasoning in an age when old policy errors are constantly resurrected in new forms.Dr. Gramm served six years in the U.S. House of Representatives and eighteen years in the U.S. Senate where he was Chairman of the Banking Committee. Gramm is a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. He was Vice Chairman of UBS Investment Bank and is now Vice Chairman of Lone Star Funds. He taught Economics at Texas A&M University

**Content Warning** This episode includes discussions of sexual assault, which may be distressing for some listeners. Please listen with care.On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, David Schmidtz delivers a keynote lecture at the 2024 Markets & Society conference on the idea of self-governance. Drawing on examples from economics, moral philosophy, and higher education, Schmidtz argues that rational choice is less about optimization and more about choosing the frameworks within which decisions become meaningful. He examines the parallels between individual and corporate self-governance, the role of mission statements as “compasses” rather than formulas, and the dangers of over-specialization in academia. Along the way, he reflects on truth-seeking, academic freedom, moral education, and the human need for purposiveness, ultimately challenging universities to cultivate enduring capacities rather than narrow skill sets.Dr. David Schmidtz is Professor and Presidential Chair of Moral Science at West Vir

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Peter Boettke speaks with historian David T. Beito about his new biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. They discuss FDR’s record on civil liberties, including government surveillance and efforts to police speech; the administration’s approach to refugees and antisemitism; and early-career episodes like the Newport Sex Scandal. The conversation also covers how progressive-era ideas shaped FDR’s political instincts, how New Deal programs like the NRA and AAA cartelized industries, and why key wartime choices, such as unconditional surrender and “rescue through victory,” may have prolonged World War II. They close with lessons for today: the dangers of malleable legal categories and the need for durable institutional guardrails against executive abuse.Dr. David T. Beito is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama. He is the author of many books, including FDR: A New Political Life (Carus Books, 2025), The New Deal

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne talks with Abigail Hall and Jayme Lemke about Kenneth and Elise Boulding’s insights into what it means to build and sustain peace. Drawing on her paper “In Search of Stable Peace,” Hall explores Kenneth Boulding’s framework for understanding peace and war, focusing on the roles of strain and strength and the shifting taboo lines that shape movement between stable and unstable peace. Lemke then turns to Elise Boulding’s vision of peace as an active, everyday practice, emphasizing the often-overlooked forms of peacebuilding embedded in ordinary social relationships and institutions. Together, the conversations emphasize peace as a process shaped by ideas, institutions, and imagination.Dr. Abigail R. Hall is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa and a Senior Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She has published numerous books, including her most recent satirical book, How to Run Wars: A Confidenti

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne delivers a keynote lecture at the 2023 Markets & Society conference on the foundations of peace. He contrasts “top-down” peacemaking driven by elites with “bottom-up” peacemaking that emerges from the everyday practices of ordinary people.Coyne argues that much of the social-scientific and policy conversation treats peace as a public good best supplied through state-intervention. He develops an alternative framework—pax hominem—that treats peace as an emergent, learned, and constantly renewed process. Drawing on mainline political economy and the work of Kenneth Boulding, Coyne shows how peaceful cooperation depends on local knowledge, social norms, and institutions that help people navigate conflict without violence across families, communities, and markets. Together, these insights point toward a research and policy agenda focused less on imposing order and more on creating space for self-governance and the bottom-up cultivation of peace.Dr. Chri

**This episode was recorded September 29, 2025.On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett and Erwin Dekker about how economics shapes our understanding of peace, conflict, and cooperation, drawing on the work of Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan.First, Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett about her upcoming paper, “Addressing Peace in Undergraduate Economics Textbooks.” Crockett examines how peace is often treated as a background assumption in economics education and presents evidence from introductory and upper-level textbooks on how war, conflict, and policy responses are typically framed, highlighting missed opportunities to emphasize bottom-up, cooperative solutions.Coyne then speaks with Erwin Dekker about his paper, “Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan on the Public Function of Economics.” Decker discusses how both thinkers understood economics as shaping the public “image” of social life, emphasizing exchange, moral foundations, and the importance of economists addre

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Mario Small delivers a keynote lecture at the 2024 Markets & Society conference on financial institutions and racial inequality—using payday lenders as a lens to understand how place and institutional context shape economic life.Small begins with a deceptively simple question: how often is it easier to reach a payday lender than a traditional bank—and does that vary by neighborhood racial composition? He shows that racial gaps in access and attitudes persist even after accounting for socioeconomic differences, and argues that proximity, convenience, and institutional experience help shape preferences, even as most Americans hold negative views of payday lenders.Together, these insights offer a nuanced account of how neighborhood context and institutional behavior interact to reproduce inequality, challenging simple explanations rooted in individual choice and highlighting the importance of lived experience in economic decision-making.Dr. Mario L. Small is Quet

On this episode, Chris Coyne speaks with Brigitta Jones, Nathan Goodman, and Karla Segovia about Kenneth Boulding’s insights on war, peace, and the political economy of conflict applied to contemporary questions about military organization and the dynamics of civil conflict.First, Jones discusses her coauthored paper with Coyne, “The Political Economy of Milorg,” which uses Boulding’s concept of Milorg to examine the entanglement of public agencies and private firms in the military sector. She highlights how knowledge problems, incentives, and political processes shape what the military produces and how those decisions affect the broader economy. Goodman and Segovia then join Coyne to discuss their paper, “Unstable Peace in El Salvador,” coauthored with Abby Hall. Drawing on Boulding’s framework, they examine how shifting expectations, beliefs, and “taboo lines” eroded the country’s fragile peace, highlighting how strains such as land concentration, poverty, repression, and escalating violence contributed to

On this episode, Peter Boettke chats with Angus Burgin, Simon Halliday, and Glory Liu to explore their innovative work at the Center for Economy and Society and the creation of a new undergraduate program in Moral and Political Economy. They dive into the revival of political economy as a cross-disciplinary field, the pedagogical innovations shaping the next generation of thinkers, the coming 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, and more.Dr. Angus Burgin is Associate Professor of History and Founding Director of the Program in Moral and Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University. He serves as Co-Executive Editor of the book series, Intellectual History of the Modern Age, and he is the author of The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the Depression (Harvard University Press, 2015).Dr. Simon Halliday is Associate Research Professor and Associate Director in the Center for Economy and Society at Johns Hopkins University. He is the co-author (with Sam Bowles) of an intermediat