Category: Series

Last week, President Trump ramped up pressure on two favorite targets: elite universities and Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In the “War on Woke U,” the administration landed a $50 million settlement from Brown—the third Ivy to cut a deal—and added Duke and UCLA to the hit list with new civil rights probes and a funding cutoff. Meanwhile, after the Fed held rates steady, Trump escalated his campaign to oust Powell, denouncing him as a “stubborn MORON” on Truth Social.

In this episode, Cato scholars break down the Art of the Forcible Deal. What risks do Trump’s pressure tactics pose for monetary stability? Will they reform broken institutions—or just deepen their politicization? And is Trump’s strongarm approach an aberration, or a preview of the modern presidency’s future?

Featuring Gene Healy, Ryan Bourne, Emily Ekins, and Jeffrey Miron

Show Notes:

• David Beckworth, “The Consolidated Government Budget Constraint Does Not Care About Your Fed Independence Feelings,” Substack (July 25, 2025)
• Ryan Bourne, “A Case for Federal Deficit Reduction,” Cato Policy Analysis no. 973 (April 18, 2024)
• Michael Chapman, “A Win for Liberty: Congress Defunds CPB, NPR, and PBS,” Cato@Liberty (July 23, 2025)
• Jeffrey A. Miron and Jacob P. Winter, “Giving Up Federal Funds Would Do Harvard Good,” Harvard Crimson (April 30, 2025)
• Norbert Michel and Jai Kedia, “A Check-In on the Fed: Why Politically Motivated Monetary Policy Is Dangerous and Counterproductive,” Cato Video (July 22, 2025)

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How did Europe move from a collection of impoverished city states and kingdoms to a prosperous state of affairs? Europeans learned the value of contracts, private property, and the limited power of the state, and in turn, they flourished.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/european-miracle-how-contractual-politics-and-divided-power-gave-birth-western-prosperity

There is much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair by just about every leader in the West, especially by an almost apoplectic President Trump, over a so-called “sinister threat” by the BRICS.

Original article: https://mises.org/power-market/can-brics-nations-lead-us-better-world

President Trump's new round of tariffs took effect today. It will bring in billions of dollars to the government, in part paid for by U.S. importers who can decide whether to pass that cost onto American families. But are these tariffs legal?

Today on the show, the arguments for and against the president's tariffs and what happens to that tariff revenue if Trump loses.

Related episodes:
Trump's tariff role model
Dealmaker Don v. Tariff Man Trump

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One cannot deny that American institutions have been corrupted by leftist thought, which demonstrates the success of Italian communist Antonio Gramsci's call to bring about socialism in the West by eroding the institutional barriers against it.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/scholars-and-schemers-how-left-ruined-higher-education

Artificial Intelligence is advancing, but people often fear it for the wrong reasons. AI is not a threat in itself, but rather becomes a threat when the state uses it as one more tool to limit individual liberty and to engage in oppressive behavior.

Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/threats-ai-come-state

In June 2022 the United States Supreme Court passed what became known as ‘the Dobbs decision’. In doing so they overturned the long standing constitutional right for women to access abortion in the US. Since then a number of states have banned abortion completely with many others having highly prohibitive rules. You’d expect the numbers of abortions to go down. They haven’t. How is it possible that more people are accessing abortions in a post Dobbs society and why is it not true that states which have total bans have zero abortions per year? Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Production Co-ordinator: Rosie Strawbridge Studio Manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon, Bridget Harney.