Episodes
Richard Epstein reacts to former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ suggestion that the Second Amendment be repealed — and explains why the constitutional arguments about guns may point in a different direction than the policy arguments.
Published 03/29/18
Richard Epstein explains how public pensions came to be a ticking time bomb for states and cities throughout the U.S., what the financial ramifications are, and why the road to reform is so perilous.
Published 03/23/18
Richard Epstein contrasts two recent actions by the Trump Administration — the imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the blocking of a foreign company’s attempts to take over an American tech firm — to demonstrate when national security concerns justify restrictions on trade ... and when they don’t. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe!
Published 03/15/18
Richard Epstein looks at how attempts to suppress conservative speakers on college campuses intersects with the First Amendment, and calls on 50 years of experience as a university professor to diagnose how liberal activism has changed over the years.
Published 03/08/18
Richard Epstein looks at Janus v. AFSCME, a Supreme Court case out of Illinois with the potential to dramatically reduce the power of public sector unions.
Published 03/02/18
In the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, Richard Epstein provides his legal analysis of where Second Amendment jurisprudence went wrong and explains what policy options might actually help to ease gun violence -- and why real solutions are devilishly hard to come by.
Published 02/21/18
Richard Epstein describes a potentially groundbreaking healthcare case out of Idaho, where insurers are looking to give consumers more options than are currently allowed under the Affordable Care Act.
Published 02/15/18
Richard Epstein parses the memo recently released by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, a document that they claim shows impropriety in the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign.
Published 02/08/18
A funny thing happened to America’s libertarian movement – it expected a champion to emerge in the 2016 election; it may or may not have one in Donald Trump. Richard Epstein, the Hoover Institution’s Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and the voice behind “The Libertarian” podcast, grades the Trump presidency from a libertarian vantage. Did you like the show? Please rate, review, and subscribe!
Published 02/07/18
Richard Epstein opines on whether Donald Trump or Barack Obama deserves more credit for the current economic expansion, then tackles the policy agenda the president laid out in his State of the Union address.
Published 02/01/18
Richard Epstein reviews how the new film The Post portrays the Supreme Court's free speech jurisprudence in the Pentagon Papers case.
Published 01/30/18
Richard Epstein analyzes a lawsuit several major cities are bringing against oil companies over climate change, explains the economic and scientific considerations necessary to seriously grapple with the issue, and describes the libertarian approach to environmental harms.
Published 01/19/18
Richard Epstein examines the deregulatory progress being made by the Trump Administration, explains the new tax law's implication for blue states, and imagines the consequences of a world in which the US withdraws from NAFTA.
Published 01/12/18
Richard Epstein explores how land use regulations have led to sky-high housing prices in some of America's largest cities.
Published 12/20/17
Richard Epstein examines Carpenter v. United States, a Supreme Court case testing the limits of the government's ability to engage in digital surveillance, and explains the ideal balance between liberty and security.
Published 12/14/17
Richard Epstein considers what Michael Flynn's recent guilty plea means for President Trump and his administration, rebutting many of the misleading claims that have emerged in recent press coverage.
Published 12/05/17
Richard Epstein looks at the law -- and economics -- of the Justice Department's efforts to block AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner.
Published 11/21/17
Richard Epstein responds to suggestions that the Justice Department may appoint a special prosecutor to probe corruption allegations around Hillary Clinton. Also on the docket: exactly how independent of presidential prerogative should attorneys general be? Is it time for Jeff Sessions to step aside? And are the legal suspicions around both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton evidence of a decline in America's leadership class -- or proof that, for all its flaws, the system still works?
Published 11/15/17
Richard Epstein reacts to the tax plan released by congressional Republicans and explains what steps are most essential for jumpstarting economic growth.
Published 11/09/17
Richard Epstein reacts to the indictments brought against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, as well as to a guilty plea from former Trump aide George Papadopoulos.
Published 11/01/17
Richard Epstein responds to the Trump Administration's proposals for revising NAFTA, answers some frequent criticisms of free trade, and explains whether a legal challenge to a NAFTA withdrawal would hold up in court.
Published 10/30/17
Richard Epstein explains the contents of President Trump's new executive order on healthcare, explores the controversy around a White House proposal to cut subsidies to insurers, and explains why conservatives who fretted about President Obama's use of executive orders shouldn't be bothered by this exercise of executive power.
Published 10/19/17
Richard Epstein grades the Trump Administration's proposal for tax reform, explains the first principles of effective tax systems, and challenges the notion that progressivity is essential to an equitable tax code.
Published 10/11/17
Richard Epstein uses the recent push for independence in Spain's Catalonia region to consider the question of when separatist movements are justified in pursuing independent statehood—and how they should go about it.
Published 10/04/17
Richard Epstein responds to the controversy over an Obama-era policy allowing children brought to the U.S. Illegally to stay in the country and explains why America should embrace a more liberal immigration policy but reject open borders.
Published 09/27/17