Bob and Carlos discuss a recent Mercatus Policy Brief that documents how rising interest rates have caused the Fed to lose a trillion dollars in the value of its assets, and is now technically insolvent. Does it matter?

Prompted by an email, Bob and Carlos acknowledge that yes, things look pretty bleak right now, both financially and culturally. But there is still cause for hope. The worst thing to do right now would be to give up.

Bob and Carlos discuss the oddities in the official numbers, which show low unemployment but also low labor participation, and how the statistics don't match their personal observations.

Bob and Carlos discuss a recent article in The Hill, which explains that rising interest rates have rendered the Fed technically insolvent.

Bob asks Carlos to recount his own financial struggles as a young businessman in the late 1970s, when price inflation and interest rates skyrocketed. This painful episode ultimately led Carlos to discover Austrian economics.

Carlos and Bob discuss the views of some prominent economists on whether a recession is baked into the cake. Contrary to even free-market members of the Chicago School, the Austrians know it's not just a matter of money supply growth. During th...

Carlos and Bob discuss inflation and whether it spells the doom of life insurance, and thereby ruins the case for IBC. They conclude that rising interest rates per se don't adversely impact life carriers, because of asset-liability matching. Mo...

Carlos and Bob revisit their September 2016 video presentation in which they lay out a 3-prong strategy to protect your household from economic calamity.

After a long hiatus, the Lara-Murphy Show is back! Bob and Carlos relay what's been happening in their personal lives and the world of IBC, and discuss the spiritual war that is currently ramping up.

In their monthly publication the Lara-Murphy Report, Carlos and Bob have each started a series investigating the history of certain groups operating behind the scenes to influence social and political trends.Mentioned in this episode and other lin...

In the wake of the coronavirus, the Federal Reserve has engaged in unprecedented actions, pumping $2.5 trillion into the financial system in just two months. Many readers ask: Does this make IBC a bad idea? After all, it relies on a dollar-denomin...

Carlos and Bob critically assess the Fed's $1.5 trillion repo operations, allegedly designed to stem market panic over the coronavirus. Bob observes that even Walter Bagehot's famous dictum said central banks should lend freely *at a high rate of ...

Carlos and Bob end their hiatus and return to the airwaves, fresh from the 2020 IBC Think Tank in Birmingham. They summarize the talks they gave at the event, including some exciting news about the Nelson Nash Institute's forthcoming project.Menti...

Bob and Carlos discuss the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act's impact--especially because of the boost in the standard deduction--on incentives to make charitable contributions. Then they discuss Beto O'Rourke's pledge to remove the tax exempt status of c...

As the U.S. authorities once again pivot to begin another round of cheap credit, Carlos and Bob reflect on the deception--both deliberate and unwitting--involved. Part of the problem is that younger investors haven't lived through a crash, but eve...

Bob and Carlos return from their summer hiatus to bring listeners up to speed. Carlos had a medical issue that occurred in June, which he explains in the episode. After describing what happened, Carlos ties his experience to the broader condition ...

While this was an interview Murphy conducted on his own podcast, it is relevant to Lara-Murphy Show listeners. Keith Smith is an anesthesiologist and founder of the Oklahoma Surgery Center and the Free Market Medical Association. His group is doin...

Bob asks Carlos to elaborate on the changing estate tax laws and how that could affect long-term planning, even with the excellent tax advantages of IBC.Mentioned in this episode: The IBC Practitioner Finder.The audio production for this episode w...

Bob asks Carlos to discuss his April 2019 article for the Lara-Murphy Report. Carlos explains how "shadow banking" has become the dominant source of mortgage lending in the United States. He explains this trend and its implications for real estate...

Carlos and Bob finish their 3-part series explaining Austrian economics and IBC specifically for the business owner. The series is tied to the upcoming IBC Business Owner Seminar to be held on May 10, 2019, in Nashville, TN. In this episode, they ...

Carlos and Bob continue with their 3-part series explaining Austrian economics and IBC specifically for the business owner. The series is tied to the upcoming IBC Business Owner Seminar to be held on May 10, 2019, in Nashville, TN. In this episode...

Carlos and Bob begin a 3-part series explaining Austrian economics and IBC specifically for the business owner. The series is tied to the upcoming IBC Business Owner Seminar to be held on May 10, 2019, in Nashville, TN. In this episode, Bob and Ca...

Carlos and Bob discuss the economic outlook for 2019, from the perspective of Austrian business cycle theory. The yield curve is close to inverting, and if it continues we should expect a recession by the end of 2019 or, failing that, almost certa...

Carlos and Bob discuss the Fed's actions with interest rates and its balance sheet, and how they are behind the recent stock market volatility. They also use media reports to get inside the minds of Bernanke, Yellen, and Powell.Mentioned in this e...

Carlos and Bob tackle a friendly bet that two listeners submitted. The controversy concerns two apparently conflicting goals: On the one hand, Nelson Nash says in BYOB that you should pay more against your policy loans than the insurance company r...