This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, October 1st, 2012. I'm Caleb Brown.

How would Ein Rand deal with big government? Don Watkins believes he knows.

He's co-author of the new book Free Market Revolution, how

Iran's ideas can end big government. We discuss the moral argument for capitalism, how some

modern fans of Iran sharply differ with the libertarian thinking of Ron Paul

on issues of foreign policy and what Watkins terms

totalitarian Islam.

We spoke following a forum for the book held last week.

Your book and Arthur Brooks new book, The Road to Freedom, both make a moral case for capitalism

arguing that this is more effective than arguments that have been made in recent decades for capitalism.

What are some differences between the arguments that you make?

Sure. I mean, Arthur, I think, really lays out that there is this need for a moral defense,

but he views it more as we have an economic defense and then over here we need an emotional

defense and that really is what a moral defense is it means tapping into people's emotions.

Certainly you need to tap into people's emotions but the way that we view it is

Einran believes that morality are basic ideas of good and bad are actually shaping the in way you think about capitals and the way you think about economics, the what you'll accept

is valid history.

And so we view it as morality as this fundamental issue shaping all these other issues.

And what that results in then is Arthur thinks that our current views of ethics are what people

typically take is right and wrong that's all fine and good we don't need to

challenge that we don't need to rethink any of that that's solid we just need to see

that actually capitalism does serve what we all know to be moral and then on the

...