Liberalism: What Does It Even MEAN? | Michael Munger & Kate Wand

Liberty Curious

On this episode of Liberty Curious, Kate Wand sat down with Michael Munger, economist and professor of political economy at Duke University, to discuss the Classical Liberal diaspora.

Diaspora refers to the scattering of liberals ‘of the old type’; the remnant, the libertarians, and the classical liberals, whose message about liberty and limited government gets lost in a sea of tribal left vs. right politics.

They discuss how progressives and conservatives are both convinced that their morality and vision for society is correct, and have no qualms about using the power of the state to impose it upon the rest of us.

They get into details about the classical liberal tradition, how we got to where we are now, and the dangers of wielding the ring of power in our favour.

*** Please note that the opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and her guests. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Institute for Economic Research. The content presented in this show is intended for educational purposes only, and should not be considered as financial advice. ***

0:00 - intro

1:30 - origins of Liberalism

4:00 - Progressivism

7:48 - Classical liberal diaspora

10:16 - Classical Liberalism in Politics

16:30 - The Reagan Administration

19:55 - Post 9-11 shifts

23:29 - Classical Liberals vs Libertarians

27:34 - Where Progressives & Conservatives Collide

30:19 - Limited Government

33:18 - American Erosion

39:02 - The Central Planning Allure

42:00 - Technocracy

45:00 - The Remnant vs. Fusionism

50:00 - The dangers of complacency

54:00 - an opportunity for classical liberalism

58:23 - Last thoughts

Text on the Remnant: https://mises.org/library/isaiahs-job

Michael Munger on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mungowitz

Michael at AIER: https://www.aier.org/people/michael-munger/

aier.org/podcasts