160 - David Friedman: What is Anarcho-Capitalism?

David Friedman is Professor Emeritus at the Santa Clara University School of Law. While he was trained as a physicist, David is best known for his work in economics, and particularly his defense of anarcho-capitalism, a political philosophy that advocates for a free-market system unhampered by government. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss some criticisms of current economic systems, the varieties of anarchism, David’s arguments for anarcho-capitalism, and one of his fascinating hobbies, anachronism.

David’s Website: http://www.daviddfriedman.com

David’s Substack: https://daviddfriedman.substack.com

The Machinery of Freedom: https://a.co/d/iKpTQYK

OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:17 Introduction
02:55 Physics to Economics
09:35 What is Anarchism?
16:09 Is Government an Agency of Legitimized Coercion?
27:41 Could Anarchy Be More Efficient than Government?
37:52 What Are Moral Facts?
44:46 Was John Rawls a Quack?
48:44 What Are Moral Facts?
56:07 How Much Should We Trust the Government?
01:02:05 Can Governments Prevent Climate Change?
01:13:18 Could We Privatize Police?
01:30:11 Would Anarchy Lead to Wealth Inequality?
01:40:08 Will the United States Ever Become Anarchic?
01:46:26 Anachronism

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between. 

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