Debate: Austrian vs. Chicago Economics

Reason Podcasts

Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein and Chicago school economist David Friedman debate the resolution, "The Austrian economics of Mises and Rothbard contains economic intuitions that are important, correct, and missing from Chicago School economics." Taking the affirmative was Gene Epstein, the director of the Soho Forum and former economics and books editor at Barron's. His last published book was Econospinning: How to Read Between the Lines When the Media Manipulate the Numbers. Epstein has taught economics at the City University of New York and St. John's University, and he has worked as a senior economist for the New York Stock Exchange. Arguing for the negative was David Friedman, an economist, legal scholar, and anarcho-capitalist theorist, as well as author of six non-fiction books and three novels. His most popular book is The Machinery of Freedom: Guide to a Radical Capitalism. The debate occurred on June 19th, 2024 at the Porcupine Freedom Festival in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and was moderated by libertarian writer and Free State Project activist, Dennis Pratt.