Episodes
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"Profit foes accept the âzero-sumâ fallacy and the myth that factors of production create equal value. Disdain for profit reflects a deeper distrust of its ethical essence â rational self-interest. Profit is crucial to capitalism, but even in our personal (non-commercial) lives, weâre rational and right to maximize the benefits versus the costs of our actions. On economic, ethical, and personal grounds, profit deserves our unabashed allegiance." - Richard Salsman
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Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for our quarterly Morals & Markets webinar to discuss arguments for and against capitalism as proposed by its strongest supporters and opponents.
"A free society depends not only on rational philosophy, capitalist economics, and rights-respecting politics but a psychology of mental health rooted in self-esteem and its corollaries (self-confidence, self-responsibility, self-reliance). Many people are anxious, angry, and even phobic about living in a free, vibrant, dynamic culture. Preferring security to liberty, they lose both."
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Episodes manquant?
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Join Atlas Society Senior Scholar Richard Salsman, Ph.D., for our quarterly Morals & Markets webinar to discuss arguments for and against capitalism as proposed by its strongest supporters and opponents.
âFor the past five years at Duke University, Iâve conducted a popular seminar which assesses both the pros and cons of capitalism. In this session, I recount the seminarâs origins, share the syllabus, review the readings, and convey some student reactions. My introduction reads: âCapitalism is a formidable and durable social system worthy of scientific, objective study. Only three centuries old, it has both proponents and opponents, each wielding strong and weak arguments. In this seminar, we investigate, analyze, and debate the nature of capitalism and assess the validity (or not) of various pro-con claims.ââ
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"A free society welcomes manageable flows of goods, capital, and people over its borders, whether incoming or outgoing. A state is defined as the institution with a monopoly on the legitimate use of retaliatory force within a specific territory â and the last feature requires fixed and protected borders. An indispensable job of a legitimate government includes managing the borders, setting liberal terms, processing the flows, and interdicting dangers (hostile actors, transmissible diseases). Americaâs most capitalist era (1865-1915) coincided with the âEllis Island modelâ and we need that again, instead of the false choice of âopen bordersâ (with no processing) or âclosed bordersâ (with despotic-type walls)." - Dr. Richard Salsman
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Central banking is notâas most economists claimâa benign institution that ensures our economic and financial well-being. It is central planning applied to money and banking and as such it proliferates statist regimes, to the detriment of liberty and prosperity.
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"AI is just a fancy name for automationâwhich is the embodiment of advanced human intelligence in tools and machinesâand like all technology it should be welcomed, not feared, curbed, or banned. History shows that fire, the wheel, the gun, electricity, nuclear power, and many other technologies have been enormously beneficial to humans; that theyâve also been misused by evil actors only means we should prevent evil, not invention."
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Join Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., in fresh episodes of Morals & Markets "From the Vault." These episodes were from early episodes of Morals & Markets from before it became a podcast.
Tune in to this episode from September 2021, in which Dr. Salsman is joined by Senior Fellow Robert Tracinski to discuss "Why America Can't Win Wars Anymore."
"The U.S. won the âCold Warâ but hasnât won a âhotâ war since World War II. Itâs been 0-5 since 1945. Korea. Viet Nam. The Gulf War. Iraq. Afghanistan. Why? The U.S. has had a large, strong economy, the best weaponry, and superb soldiers; yet it loses to far-inferior foes, costing thousands of American lives, trillions in American wealth, and a large measure of national pride. Instead of being guided by national self-interest, U.S. foreign policy embodies the alleged ânobilityâ of self-sacrifice (altruism) and thereby appeases and emboldens enemies. Presidents and military leaders (âtop brassâ) have accepted much of the anti-Americanism preached for years at universities and even in military academies. This can be fixed, but itâll require a moral revolution â a case for both realism and egoism in foreign affairs."
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Join Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., in fresh episodes of Morals & Markets "From the Vault." These episodes were from early episodes of Morals & Markets from before it became a podcast.
Tune in to this episode from June 2021, in which Dr. Salsman discusses "The Religious Marxism of Critical Race Theory."
âCritical Race Theoryâ(CRT) claims that contemporary America is systemically, institutionally, and structurally racist. In the same vein, President Obama in 2015 told NPR that in America âthe legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and discrimination in almost every institution of our lives is still part of our DNA. We are not cured.â In fact, only Americaâs South was systemically racistâ-and not after the 1960s. CRT is not new but reflects an odd amalgam of false theories: Marxism (âinherent conflictâ), Christianity(âoriginal sinâ), and determinism (âno one can choose to be color blindâ). CRT demands that Americans become more race conscious than they are. Reason and volition are the antidotes to CRT (and racism)."
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Join Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., in fresh episodes of Morals & Markets "From the Vault." These episodes were from early episodes of Morals & Markets from before it became a podcast.
Tune in to this episode from back in May of 2021 in which Dr. Salsman discusses the idea of free college, President Biden's proposal for student debt forgiveness, and what thoughtful students think about it:
âFor decades U.S. public policy has subsidized college tuition and professorsâ research while guaranteeing a burgeoning pile of student loans,â says Salsman. âNow politicians and pundits of every persuasion demand tuition price controls or free tuition plus âforgivenessâ of student debt. Is there a link between the first set of policies (subsidies) and the second set? What are the moral, economic, and political arguments for and against making college âfreeâ and canceling student debt? Is it possible both sets of policies are morally unjust, economically destructive, and politically coercive?â
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Join Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., in fresh episodes of Morals & Markets "From the Vault." These episodes were from early episodes of Morals & Markets from before it became a podcast.
Tune in to this episode from back in April of 2021 in which Dr. Salsman discusses anti-capitalist aspects of the environmental movement:
âInitially called the 'ecology' movement, proponents seemed merely to want cleaner air and water, for the benefit of humans (while denying that capitalism alone delivers it),â explains Salsman. âBefore long, the movement became âenvironmentalism,â with the premise that ânatureâ has intrinsic value (apart from man) and man is non-natural (not part of nature, hence expendable).â
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Join Senior Scholar and Professor of Political Economy, Richard Salsman, Ph.D., in fresh episodes of Morals & Markets "From the Vault." These episodes were from early episodes of Morals & Markets from before it became a podcast.
Tune in to this episode in which Dr. Salsman discusses PPE Programs at Universities:
"Until recently, the social sciences in academic - philosophy, politics, and economics - have existed in narrowly-specialized silos, detached from each other (and from reality). Thankfully, in recent decades an interdisciplinary approach has evolved, in the form of "PPE" programs, with studies that conform far better to the real world. The best and brightest students are drawn tothis integrated, non-paritsan approach and profit by it. In this webinar, Dr. Salsman, who teaches in Duke's PPE program, discusses the origins, content, spread, and future of these programs."
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FTX, an exchange for cryptocurrencies, was fraudulent almost from its start in 2019. Its recent bankruptcy reveals that it robbed millions of people and billions of dollars, then spent most of it on Democrats. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) veiled his fraud with "effective altruism," a pseudo-ethical scheme from academic philosophy, the opposite of egoistic profit-maximization. Altruism is beloved, wrongly, as an ethic of goodwill to others. SBF knew he was perpetuating a fraud - first ethical, then financial: EA, he said, is "this dumb game we woke Westerners play where we say all the right shibboleths, so everyone likes us."
Suggested Readings/Sources:
âThe Do-Gooder Movement that Shielded Sam Bankman-Fried from Scrutiny,â Washington Post (2022.11.17). âProfessor Singer Says FTX Fraud Wonât Stop His Effective Altruism Movement,â CBC News (2022.12.17). âHow Effective Altruism Let Sam Bankman-Fried Happen,â VOX (2022.12.12). Singer, P. âThe Logic of Effective Altruism,â Boston Review (2015.07.01)Want to hear more from Dr. Salsman? Purchase your ticket to meet him & the rest of our Atlas Society Scholar faculty in person in Nasvhille, TN July 27th - 29th for our Galt's Gulch Summit 2023. Check out the details and get your ticket today at: https://www.atlassociety.org/galtsgulchsummit2023
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The GOP received more votes in recent House elections (50MM vs 44MM) but its widely expected âred waveâ didnât materialize. After two years of Democrat incompetence, corruption, and vice â with inflation at a 40-year high, no economic growth, rampant crime, border anarchy, civil liberty assaults, bans on fossil fuels, publicly-subsidized genital mutilation â Republicans won only a bare majority of House seats and have lost a seat in the Senate. Why? Poor GOP candidate quality? No. Election fraud? Not enough. Abortion issue? Possibly. But the simplest explanation might be the best: a majority of American voters prefer irrational, anti-capitalist policies.
Want More Content From The Atlas Society? Visit atlassociety.org/events and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook @atlassociety
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ESG is a fast-spreading policy pathogen deployed by environmentalists and other anti-capitalists to infect every aspect of life, but especially corporate and political governance. ESG prioritizes âenvironmental, social, and governanceâ goals to dilute and pollute positive forms of governance, especially the shareholder model in economics and rights-based constitutionalism in politics. The necessary antidotes to the ESG virus include rationality, justice, the profit motive, and capitalism.
Suggested Readings/Sources LINK: https://global-uploads.webflow.com/5e9494215713f67c21b33cab/6349cf52e5ca70238a1bc28f_1025.ABSTRACT-The%20ESG%20Virus%202022.10.25.pdf
Follow The Atlas Society on social media @atlassociety on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Linkedin and Clubhouse and join Dr. Salsman LIVE on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
REGISTER for next month's interactive session TODAY at: https://atlassociety-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcod-6grzwuEt1f5ZGeL0AjrLVqENi7zwMB
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Cronies who receive political favors include not just corporate âfat catsâ but colleges and college students. President Biden recently decreed a unilateral cancellation of student debt (up to $20,000 per borrower) which would cost roughly $500-750 billion. Aside from the question of whether Biden, Congress or some agency is empowered to cancel debt, is the policy just or unjust? Practical or impractical? What about those who didnât go to college, didnât borrow for it, or have serviced their debt? Why is student debt so high? Why is Washington involved at all? What does Bidenâs policy imply about the national debt? After all, if Washington can unilaterally forego money it is owed, why canât it do likewise for money it owes to others?
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Itâs now commonplace to hear it said that markets âcorrupt our morals.â This sentiment derives from the false premise that the selfish pursuit of our interests, values, possessions, and happiness is low, crude, vulgar, and immoral. The supposed âhigherâ and ânoblerâ things lie beyond our selves and beyond this earth. In fact, markets â whether the construed as the exchange of material or intangible values â count on and reward civilized attitudes and behaviors. Markets are humanizing; they embody rationality and objective values; they enshrine justice; they entail reciprocity; they invite us to present the best within us; they teach us lessons; they also ostracize and penalize those who try to practice the main vices (lying, cheating, mooching, and looting).
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Morals and Markets is a 90-minute webinar held on the fourth Thursday of each month (8:00 PM-9:30 PM ET), by Dr. Richard Salsman who is a Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society as well as a Professor of Economics at Duke University. He began hosting Morals & Markets for alumni of his classes at Duke who wanted to continue to have engaging conversations on contemporary topics that explore the intersection between ethics, politics, economics, and markets. Sessions begin with remarks by Dr. Salsman, followed by Q&A, discussion, and debate. Morals & Markets presents a unique opportunity to engage with a pro-liberty, pro-capitalism professor of Economics who has years of first-hand experience on Wall Street and in the classroom. Dr. Salsman carefully prepares each session on a highly relevant, contemporary topic, discussing how it intersects with philosophy, economics, morals & markets.
REGISTER for our next session via the recurring zoom link and don't forget to add the event to your calendar.
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Join us LIVE on the 4th Thursday of every month to take part in Morals & Markets with Dr. Richard Salsman, presented by The Atlas Society. We only include the first 30-minutes of opening remarks from these seminars in the podcast. Attending live grants you access to another 60-minutes of Q&A and discussion with Dr. Salsman and the other participants!
Register HERE & add future sessions to your calendar: https://atlassociety-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcod-6grzwuEt1f5ZGeL0AjrLVqENi7zwMB
Episode Description From Dr. Salsman:
"Itâs widely but falsely assumed that financial-economic capitalists are necessarily pro-capitalist ideologically. Why is this so? By now, âwokeâ CEOs are widely recognized (and hailed) for being anti-capitalist, including by violating their fiduciary duties to shareholders. The graduate degree of âmasterâs in business administrationâ (MBA), which is on the resume of one-third of Fortune 500 CEOs, is a main cause of the woke CEO trend. In prior sessions weâve discussed the fascistic nature of the âstakeholderâ model of corporate governance; in this session we discuss how and why MBA programs preach this and other ideas that erode capitalism."
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The model of so-called âstakeholder capitalism,â a contradiction in terms, is fast replacing the model of shareholder capitalism (a redundancy). The stakeholder model entails scores of pressure groups (including politicians and regulators) dictating what corporations must do, especially if the doing is less rational, less profitable, and averse to shareholdersâ goals. A related designation, âESG,â is a budding American version of Chinaâs Social Credit System. Whereas capitalism entails both private ownership and control of the means of production, fascism entails private ownership but public control; the latter is the essence of stakeholder-ism.
Register for upcoming Live sessions of Morals & Markets via Zoom HERE: https://atlassociety-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcod-6grzwuEt1f5ZGeL0AjrLVqENi7zwMB
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Many nations recently have imposed economic sanctions on Russia. Is this proper? Effective?
In âThe Roots of Warâ (1966) Ayn Rand argued that âthe essence of capitalismâs foreign policy is free tradeâi.e.,the abolition of trade barriers, of protective tariffs, of special privilegesâthe opening of the worldâs trade routes to free international exchange and competition among the private citizens of all countries dealing directly with one another.â
But she also opposed U.S. trade with Americaâs sworn, mortal enemies (e.g., U.S.S.R.). In this session weâll discuss if/when economic sanctions are justified and their typical effects (for good or ill). Like protectionist measures, sanctions often hurt the imposer more than the imposed.
Sign Up To Attend Morals & Markets Live: https://www.atlassociety.org/atlas-university/morals-and-markets
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Note From Dr. Salsman: Just as rational egoism is the only proper ethic to guide an individualâs life, itâs the only proper ethical guide for a stateâs relations with other states. The essence of America is its liberties, its rights, and its capitalist system; consequently, the self-interest of the United States lies in preserving those values, neither sacrificing nor surrendering them, especially not for so-called âhumanitarianâ (altruistic) motives, merely to help victimized foreigners. The U.S. must rationally identify its allies and enemies, then act accordingly. It must never provide national defense for other nations that mostly pretend to be sovereign. Rational egoism justifies neither pacifism, isolationism, nor imperialism. America cannot preserve her essence or institutions, nor again find a way to fight and win only the right wars, without following the egoistic principle. She must be a moral paragon for the world, but never its policeman.
Checkout our other TAS conversations related to foreign policy and the War between Russia and Ukraine on The Atlas Society's Ukraine-Russia War Page. We lean into intellectual disagreements between our scholars and are updating this page weekly with new content. To get diverse, unbiased, and unfiltered takes on the Russia-Ukraine War, visit the page and join us for future conversations on atlassociety.org/events
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