Robert Higgs interview on Book TV

[fletcher]

Book TV recently had an amazing interview with Robert Higgs. Higgs is a master of free market arguments and destroys the typical liberals that call in to attack limited government. The interview is very long at 3 hours, but it is very informative and definitely worth watching.

http://www.booktv.org/watch.aspx?ProgramId=ID-10300

[hotbrownsauce]

Thanks, I just turned it on.

[Chase]

I'm about 15 minutes in... great interview! I also recommend his Crisis and Liberty: The Expansion of Government Power in American History (http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=category&ID=64) 10-part lecture series posted for free by the Mises Institute. I'm about halfway through that and its a very interesting series of talks.

[fletcher]

I'm about 15 minutes in... great interview! I also recommend his Crisis and Liberty: The Expansion of Government Power in American History (http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=category&ID=64) 10-part lecture series posted for free by the Mises Institute. I'm about halfway through that and its a very interesting series of talks.

That lecture series looks good. Thanks.

[fletcher]

I guess being called a fascist for opposing bailouts and a powerful government (wrap your head around that) wasn't enough for the left. It looks like Bob is getting hate mail for this interview.


I had a foreboding that one of these messages might contain, shall we say, a bit of denunciation when I saw that its subject line read "You're a fucking STUPID and VAPID." In the body of the message, the sentence continues:

little insect.

"Everything deregulated..."

Please shoot yourself now and by chance, you haven't bred have you?

Scum sucking maggot, get the fuck off my CSPAN channel and get out of my society.

Although this foul-mouthed lingo is not the kind of language that my mother taught me to use, I understood it well enough to file it under the rubric of "strong disapproval."

Over the past decade or so, my popular articles on the Web have frequently elicited similar expressions of personal contempt and hatred. Had I not been a student of ideology, I might have been somewhat perplexed by such malevolent missives. After all, what do my writings endorse? As a rule, they uphold peace, voluntary cooperation, tolerance, and friendship toward all who do not proclaim themselves to be my sworn enemies. How can such inoffensive views touch a reader's nerves so painfully that he responds by assaulting my character and demanding that I evacuate the country in which my ancestors and I were born?

http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs113.html

[beerista]

I just spent the last three hours watching this interview and I consider it time very well spent. If you have the time, I suggest that watching Dr. Higgs is an education in how to deal with the usual counter-arguments that you will hear any time you mention a libertarian viewpoint. Not only is he eminently knowledgeable, but he handles personal attacks with much more gentlemanliness (as shown in the above letter) than I can usually muster under much less trying circumstances.
I've been familiar with Higgs' work only second hand for a while and have meant to read him, but had never heard him speak. He has earned a lot of respect from me today. Going straight to the top of my "to read" list.
Again, highly recommended.

(And the Book TV interviewer was perfectly gracious the whole time as well and did not insinuate his own opinions. No indication whether he agreed or not. Most other interviewers I've seen could learn a lot about how to conduct an interview.)

[TheConstitutionLives]

I just spent the last three hours watching this interview and I consider it time very well spent. If you have the time, I suggest that watching Dr. Higgs is an education in how to deal with the usual counter-arguments that you will hear any time you mention a libertarian viewpoint. Not only is he eminently knowledgeable, but he handles personal attacks with much more gentlemanliness (as shown in the above letter) than I can usually muster under much less trying circumstances.
I've been familiar with Higgs' work only second hand for a while and have meant to read him, but had never heard him speak. He has earned a lot of respect from me today. Going straight to the top of my "to read" list.
Again, highly recommended.

(And the Book TV interviewer was perfectly gracious the whole time as well and did not insinuate his own opinions. No indication whether he agreed or not. Most other interviewers I've seen could learn a lot about how to conduct an interview.)

I concur. He gives great answers and makes a strong case.