This weekend we welcome Eric Peters, an automotive fanatic who reviews new cars for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, and Investors Business Daily. But Eric is no ordinary car guy, he's a dedicated anarcho-capitalist and founder of EricPetersAutoes.com which blends car and bike talk with his high-octane defense of liberty.  Stay tuned. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Mises Weekend. We're very pleased to be joined by Eric Peters from EricPetersAutoes.com. Eric, how are you today? I'm good. We gave listeners a little introduction and biographical sketch of you in the intro. So let me just throw this out as kind of a general idea. From my perspective, the state, the status, they hate individual autonomy. And as a result, I think they have always had a distaste for or been suspicious of the combustion engine and the individual actor driving where he wants to go in his own car. It seems like the state hates cars. Oh, certainly. I think you can go back through the years and find multiple things in support of that contention. And after all, what could be more horrifying to a status than somebody being able to go where they like, when they like, and in particular at whatever speed they deem appropriate. God help us all. Well, it also ties into their urban planning schemes, right? They want to force us into cities and onto public transportation. That too. They'd like that because it's regimented.  You stand at the platform and wait for the train or you wait for the bus. And the bus goes at its own pace and it takes you in its own sweet time and your autonomy is greatly diminished there by, you know, the chaos to the status of people just electing to go, come and go as they please, again, is horrifying. That's the word that I use. They seem to have a real psychological problem with just, you know, atomized individuals being able to go where they please when they, when they please. There is sort of one type of car that status like, and that is of course electric cars. I'm reading the other day how depending on how you tweak the gap accounting rules, Tesla may or may not be profitable for the first quarter of 2014. But I'm reading about their, their much-vaunted Model S and this car has a 300 mile range, which seems preposterously small to me. Well, 300 miles is grossly optimistic. You know, they have to, you have to put that into context. Theoretically, I suppose it could go 300 miles if you get along at about 45 to 50 miles an hour on a nice warm summer day and did not use the accessories. The Tesla is, the Tesla S is very quick a couple of times and very briefly. If you, if you use its performance, the battery will very quickly be depleted. And even with the supercharger, which goes into a 240 volt recharging system, it still takes about 45 minutes to juice the thing back up. And if you haven't got access to the supercharger, a supercharging system, you're looking at, you know, 10 hours or so to recharge the thing. The analogy that I draw, it's like, it's similar to owning a BMW M5 with a gas tank that holds half a gallon of gas and that you have to refill with a syringe. The other interesting thing I noticed was that their putative profitability was based in part on their ability to sell this California scheme of zero emission vehicle credits to other car manufacturers who make gasoline cars. Exactly. And there are also myriad subsidies at federal and state level both to the company and to the individual. I think the current tax rebate per car at the retail level to the individual is, I think, $7,500. And I know that in California, they've also got a state tax credit. Mind you, this is a car with a base price of $70,000, that's the base price. And it goes up from there to over six figures. So your tax dollars are going to help somebody, like to put help in quotes, who can already afford a $70,000 car, sensibly in the name of, you know, efficient transportation. Wow, $70,000. It's crazy. Well, I had an interesting experience over the weekend. I had the good fortune to rent an Infiniti Q50. And I will say that this car was absolutely phenomenal, eight up the road. You know, I took a look at the MSRP after I reluctantly turned it back into the rental car place. And it's about $40,000 with decent options. And I was thinking to myself, you know, if we had honest money, if we didn't have the Fed in this country, in other words, if people had to either write a check for $40,000 or they had to borrow $40,000 at natural interest rates, you know, can you imagine what cars might look like in America today? Oh, absolutely. You know, in fact, if you, I often complain about the add-on cost of government. If you took away just the mandates relating to the safety equipment that cars have to have, probably the, you know, you'd be able to go out and buy a brand new car, a really nice car for around $89,000. In fact, they have such cars in export overseas market. Yeah, I've noticed that, especially in India, there's some very sort of affordable Econobox cars. And of course, you've pointed out on your own website, you know, if you want a car that gets 40 or 50 miles to the gallon, well, we already used to have that. It was, it was a, a light way to Econobox like the Honda CRX. Right. Or you can go back far better. You know, the much maligned K car of the early 80s, it was a simple little car and it had, by today's standards, very primitive and crude technology. It did not have fuel injection. It did not have an overdrive transmission. It did not have low rolling resistance tires, bearings and so on, and notwithstanding all of that, the things still got more than 40 miles per gallon. And if you could imagine taking a platform like that, the basic car and making a few key upgrades, giving it fuel injection, for example, giving it a modern overdrive transmission, probably that car would be capable of getting 65 miles per gallon on the highway. Well, I just wonder when we talk about how much cars cost today, whether people realize that some of the things we now take for granted, add a lot of weight to the car and cost to the car and reduce mileage, things like airbags. And I noticed that the Infiniti are rented like most new cars today has the rear backup camera. Yeah, that's been mandated now. I think people think of these things as options or accoutrements that evolved as result of consumer preferences and they don't necessarily see the role that the state played in forcing all these on us, whether we want to or not, especially if we're a person who's perhaps less affluent. Well, it's worse than that. The premise of it isn't even questioned anymore. It's assumed that it's the right and proper role of the federal government to dictate the equivalent of the potential purchase in their cars. At least in the past, there was some debate about that and there was some input from the market and from consumers, but that's completely gone by the wayside now. You know, there are people within the DOT and MTSA and some of the lobbying groups, the backup cameras and simply state, well, we are getting unto themselves the right to speak for everybody else and well, boom, it gets mandated and we all have to pay for it. And one of the things about these cameras I'd like to mention is that while the initial cost may not be huge, but down the road cost might very well be and you'll be forced to pay for it because since it's a mandated piece of the vehicle safety equipment in most states that have an annual or biannual safety inspection, you have to have all of the factory original equipment on the vehicle intact and operational and if not, you can't get your plates removed. And that might entail having to have that flat screen, the display thing in the car replaced or other components replaced and the cost could be very considerable. I just wonder what's going to happen when especially younger drivers just use those exclusively and no longer look over their shoulder when they're backing up and the thing malfunctions and someone's killed behind them. It seems like we are creating a new generation of sort of helpless drivers. Well, there's that, but if it is, you know, you often hear this, the refrain, if it saves even one life, it's worth it, right? Well, the other side of the safety devices is that indeed sometimes they do result in injury and death airbags being a good example. It's a fact that airbags have killed people. It's a fact that airbags continue to injure people, but apparently the deaths and injuries of those people don't matter. The same is true of seat belts. There are accidents where if you're wearing a seat belt, you might be killed whereas you might not have been killed and granted, you know, it's a question of relative risk, but the key point as I see it is it's your life that ought to be up to you to delay those risks and make the decision that you're comfortable with rather than having somebody you don't even know dictating these choices to you. Well, it's interesting how as we move further down the road with some form of state controlled medicine, the Obamacare bill being the latest example of that, that as we devolve into this mentality, well, hey, we're all in this together. We all share healthcare costs.  Right. There's no limit to that. You know, once that premise has been accepted, I wrote an article about this recently. If that premise is accepted, then it goes way beyond things like wearing a seat belt or wearing a helmet when you ride your motorcycle. You could make the same argument about exercise, for example, and certainly it's a social cost if a person is sedentary and overweight, doesn't exercise carrying 20 pounds of beef around their belly. You know, they might impose additional costs for heart disease or diabetes and what have you. There is no limit, no aspect of your life that could not be subject to micromanagement by government goons based on this idea of social cost. It's incredibly dangerous. It is dangerous, but I would argue that there is more than just a social cost involved with all the safety equipment and all the added weight on new vehicles. There's also Infinity Q 50 aside, there's sort of Erica depressing sameness to cars today. They're not aspirational. I mean, when I, when I, a Camry looks like an Impala, which looks like a beamer. Is the state somehow part of the reason that cars have become so depressingly uniform? Certainly there is for, for, I guess the term I would use as a template, the, the totality of all of the regulations, for example, having to do with bumper impact, crash wordiness, a rollover and so on. De facto impose constraints on how a car is going to look, you know, you can only design the front clip of a car within certain parameters if you're going to pass the federal standards. So that is why you're seeing this, this, this kind of gloomy pervasive sameness, this homogeneity that is, is distinctly different from the way cars once were. I'm in my 40s, so I can remember the cars from the 60s and the 70s where they were just, you know, sometimes wildly, wildly different cars from brand to brand and make to make. And that has largely gone out the window. Now, there are some exceptions, but it's very difficult and also very expensive for a manufacturer to go outside that template. And that's why you only see the really interesting lines on cars that are really expensive because they can factor the cost into that and pass it along to the consumer. Given sort of the regulatory environment and the potential price of oil, I'm tempted to go out and buy an eight cylinder, an old eight cylinder and just sort of stick it in my garage to have it while I still can. Not a bad idea or get a bike, you know, I've got five. That's a great way to end run the gas thing and it's also a great way to end run the government, particularly with the older bikes, which are largely free of a lot of the fold roll that new cars are afflicted with. And you don't have to go so far back in the past, you know, with cars on board diagnostics, the in car computers, all of that came online around 1995. So anything that's newer than 1995 is going to have an ECU, electronic brain and all of that stuff. But with motorcycles, they only recently transitioned to fuel injection over the past few years and very few of them to the state have things like anti lock brakes, attraction control, a few of the high end bikes do, but most of them still don't. For now, Eric, I'd like your take on the future of the manual transmission. From my perspective, it was it was an integral part of growing up. All of my first few cars were stick shifts. I intend to teach my own children how to drive a stick shift car, but it seems to be a vanishing skill. And I fear on some level, it's part of the sort of emasculation of America. Well, there certainly has that effect and I would agree with you, but the practical reason for the disappearance of the manual is twofold. The first is the ever-increasing pressure imposed by Washington to eke out a bit more gas mileage out of the vehicle. And ironically, counterintuitively, in a modern car, modern automatics, which are now seven, eight and nine speeds are more fuel efficient, all else being equal than the manual. Just because we can program program them in such a way to optimize the fuel efficiency, it's obviously not that good necessarily for performance. But if you look at the stats and you compare a car, you know, same model, one with and one with one with manual and one with an automatic, you'll find that the automatic version of that car will typically get around three miles or so per gallon better than the stick shift version of that car. And because of the federal cafe fuel economy requirements, that matters, you know, writ large over over their fleet averages. It's extremely important for them to get even a couple miles per gallon better out of a car. So that's the first driver. The second is that, you know, most people live in an urban environment, a suburban environment, and they just don't want to deal with pushing the clutch in, pushing the clutch out, pushing the clutch in. They prefer the automatic. So there's been a big cultural shift away from the manual transmission, which of course used to be called the standard transmission, because typically it was the standard transmission in a car. Now you have to really look around to find a car with a manual, even among sporty cars. Enthusiast people will know that, for example, the high end, high performance cars, for example, of Porsche GT3 911, only comes with their seven speed dual clutch automated manual. Same is true of Lamborghinis and a lot of the other high end cars. As somebody who spent a lot of time in the DC Beltway sitting in traffic, I can certainly relate to this desire and maybe not to be stuck in a stick shift. But you know, Eric, when I was sitting in that traffic, I was surrounded by folks that you have termed clovers. And last week we had the good fortune to talk with Jim Bovard and we discussed Mankin's concept of a buboise amongst the American public. And to me, you've coined this this concept of a clover who is not only a clueless driver, but also sort of an overly credulous status who tends to think government is benevolent and tends to believe what the political class tells us. Yeah. And well, the key element to the third element to that is they're also control freaks. They can't abide anybody doing other than they would do. And they they get very, very, very upset when somebody, for example, drives faster than they deem to be appropriate. And they will be the ones who will screech that there ought to be along. And they're the ones who screech and scream for the state's costumes goons to come in and teach people a lesson if they they don't submit and obey. And it's it's a tragedy. You know, I don't know how old you are, but people in my generation, we grew up washing bugs Bonnie and we grew up with this cultural meme of being suspicious of authority, being suspicious of the state and of showing initiative and being independent. And that seems to just be being being stamped out all across the land. I certainly agree with that.  Check out Eric Peters, Autos.com and Eric, we thank you for your time this weekend. I was certainly happy to do it.


OK, question one, the White Sox. Will they be the Yankees' biggest challenge this season? I'm saying false, but here's why I'm saying false. I think the Yankees have to worry about getting through the season first, get through the regular season. Could the White Sox somewhere down the line be a team that they have to hurdle? Absolutely, but do you know the team that I'm worried about the most if I'm the Yankees? The Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, they lost Snell. They lost Morton. There are many reasons to doubt them. But here's a little stat for you. And the last two years, when Snell and Morton started games, the Rays won slightly more than 60% of those games. When everyone else started a game, the Rays won slightly more than 60% of those games. And Nancy, as I knew we were doing this segment last night, I'm watching the Tampa Bay Rays against the Marlins. And it was a game where it looked like the Rays were going to lose, and people were doubting them. Joey Wendell, three-run home or ninth inning, Rays win again. Do not doubt that team. Oh, I know it. What a game. Leads perfectly to the next question. Will two AL East teams make the playoffs? I think you know my answer to this one. It's going to be true, because I do think the Yankees are going to win the division, but I absolutely believe that the Rays are going to grab one of those wild cards. I believe the White Sox will get one of those wild cards, too. We'll get to that later. But I do believe that two teams from the East will qualify for the postseason. And I don't want to sleep on the team the Yankees are playing today, the Toronto Blue Jays. These are my predictions. I could be absolutely wrong. But the Blue Jays are going to be a team to be reckoned with in that division, too. People are paying attention. Sounds good. OK, we're going to take a bigger picture again. Will Mike Trout make the playoffs for the first time since 2014? I'm going with a false. As much as I would love to say true on this question, because I would love to see the biggest and greatest star in baseball on the October stage again, I just don't love that Angels rotation. I love the idea of Otani as a two-way player. But I look at the Angels starting rotation, and I'm just not sold on that team winning enough games during the regular season to get Trout over that line and get him to the postseason. I actually hope I'm wrong. I think it would be great to see Mike Trout playing games in October. But on this day, I'm going with that as a false. He was so great on opening day. The game tying single in comes Otani. He's just fantastic. He's the best player in baseball. I know Mookie Betts is right there as well. But it would be great to see Trout get to that point. Jack Curry today is saying no, it's not happening. OK, Jack Curry. Next up, will both New York baseball teams make the playoffs? They will. I've already said that I believe the Yankees are going to be there, and I believe the Mets are going to win their division. I think the Mets had a terrific offseason. We all know about Francisco Lindor, and he can be a franchise-changing player. I think it was very smart of the Mets to get him locked up before the season began. Everyone can smile. That's all Lindor does is smile. You put him at shortstop. You expect that power that he can bring. He's a 40 homer, 40 double guy. And then Nancy, they added McCann behind the plate to give them some stability. Carrasco came over with Lindor. You add him to the rotation. You get a full season of Strowman. And I actually think Edwin Diaz is going to be better for them out of the bullpen. I think the Mets can be the class of the East. Jack, such a tough division. Nationals, Braves, you're going Mets. It is a very tough division. I did think a lot about this one, but I believe that the Mets and the Yankees will both get there. And who knows? Maybe down the line, we can talk about replicating what happened in 2000 with the Subway Series. Nancy, I've covered baseball for 30 years. I've never covered a more exciting and engaging World Series than that one. I kind of have to agree. That was incredible. Will the Dodgers represent the National League in the World Series? Well, I just talked about a Subway Series. So now I'm harpooning that by saying, yes. I think the Dodgers are the class of baseball. You look at what they were able to do last season. And then they go ahead and add Trevor Bauer. And what does Trevor Bauer do in his first start for the Dodgers? He throws six no-hit innings. I was watching some of that game last night, too. And he looked dominant. He ended up getting hit in the seventh inning and gave up four runs. But Nancy, this team is so good that David Price is pitching out of the bullpen for them. I've already mentioned Mets. But in Mets and Bellinger, I think they have two of the best five players in baseball in their outfield alone. So, yes, it would be an upset if the Dodgers aren't there. A little bit of love for the Padres? I think the Padres will get a wild card. And again, you hope for things in the sport that we cover. I absolutely hope that the Padres make it very difficult for the Dodgers. Tetease is so much fun to watch. And the Padres had a lot of good off-season moves as well. OK, don't think you're done. That's just round one. How about some playoff predictions now? On the spot, whatever you think. I hate making predictions, but I did it anyway for the purposes of our show. And Nancy, I've got the Yankees winning their division. I've got the White Sox in the central. I've got the Astros in the west. My wild cards are the Rays and the Twins. In the NL, I've got Mets, Brewers, Dodgers as division winners, Braves and the Padres as the wild cards. I picked a lot of favorites. This is not March Madness. This is not you upset a team as the number 12 seed and you move on. You're picking the teams that you think can do it across the long haul. So those are the teams that I went with. And again, take that videotape, trash it, never look at those predictions again, because I'm only referencing them again, Nancy, if I happen to be right on a few. Too late, Jack. I took a sneaky screenshot. I'm keeping it.


of the circus night sure got me scared scared I mean like they meant it's a bad thing to lose your temperature but did you notice though when Mr. Randall broke them up he didn't lose his temper as a rule didn't count on old Sam Randall to keep a cool head on his shoulder he sure told Jason and Boris what he thought though yes sir any man every word of it both Jason and Boris are mighty important to the circus but he'll fire him on a minutes notice if he finds out they've been fighting again but what would he do without a lion tamer in a big circus like this I don't know he probably doesn't either but he'd fire him first and then worry about how he'd replace them afterwards I believe you're right I know him yep he won't stand for any fighting among any of the people that are working for him and he's right to it well it makes it uncomfortable for everybody yes you better do the flags up let's get going okay what do you think of the new mist top Jerry oh it sure looks keen doesn't it Bob that's not so bad for an old top what do you mean old well that's one of the old tops was back at winter quarters sure looks new to me well that's because it's been bleached and repaired yeah did everything get here yep everything's about set and I'm sure glad that's gonna feel good to be back at work again I'll say if we didn't go to work pretty soon I'd forget my tricks with El Mundo will that never do you can't forget your routine mmm smell that bacon hmm boy it does smell good you bet it does there's nothing like that grand smell you get as you walk to the mist top he gives you an appetite yep hey look bumps there's fancy well sure enough right at a usual place at our table hi you're the first one at our table I got the part of eating by myself I just couldn't wait to be back here in the mist all that you like good company up that's you just bet I do come on down okay I'll tell me all about yourself there's nothing to tell say you'd think you hadn't seen us in an awful long time I guess I am a little excited that does seem like a long time to me that tells all along with all my circus friends around me here comes Boris morning Boris oh I'm so happy to see you and you look so nice thank you for it that was just a down yes yes besides you if you don't mind look here nice new dishes hey they are new yes everything about this whole top is new serving this first meal after the cyclone just like starting the season all over again they are these prunes new too you bet they are even if they do look old rain I was going to pull it yeah I'll beat you to it oh hi Jason come on over here Jason hello good morning morning Jason hello Bunks Jerry oh that's it I'll see you with us again you bet I am glad of it here come to good part I guess meal kind of outdid itself today bacon eggs hot cakes cornbread preserves and all dig in Jerry don't worry I'm not going to waste any time here's a little package for you miss Patsy oh thank you business not from me miss Patsy I'm only deal-diviners open it up back to me down there why so well quiet Jason just tired Bunks I've been a pilot oh what they pretty three the little car but say welcome back to the circus Boris oh Boris they're lovely thank you so much oh it's nothing but they are so pretty oh not half as pretty as you are a stopper Joe make me blush aren't they nice Jerry oh yes they're very pretty they are nice hey I forgot all about it what's the matter Jerry well we forgot this fancy about that about her inheritance golly that's right come on Patsy what's the news I'm glad to ask me I wasn't going to volunteer my good news if none of you were interested but we are you bet we are you know my dear Patsy I have your best interest at heart but it took Jerry to think of asking oh come on over all ears don't keep it waiting did you get it how much was it no minute minute I'll tell you all about will shoot well I did get it 25,000 dollars won't be that much after the taxes are taken out yeah that's right quite a bit of that'll go for tax well what else but it isn't an inheritance it's a gift a gift yes you see my godmother took a ticket on a charity in Ireland and in my name world all that's all right I don't even remember her but you remember me all right I'll say she did I'm to get the money on one provision yes what's that I have to use part of it to take a trip to Ireland to see my godmother when the season ends oh well that's not so bad bad I think it's wonderful I'm so thrilled when will you get the money oh I should have it about a month I signed all the papers and everything and all that has to do is go back to Ireland then I'll get the money well I'm certainly glad for your past it's just great more milk a coffee at this table oh no thanks this mark I think we have enough of everything what you're going to do with all that money passing I haven't given that much thought Jerry attorneys seem to think I'd be smart if I took out an annuity that would be the smart thing to do all right you bet it would then you'd be sure to have no I don't know no better when I get it so I'm not going to worry about it now well that's my story and a mighty fine story with a happy ending to see I guess you're just about the luckiest girl in the whole world that's the way I feel about it it is a Jason what's the matter with you haven't hardly eaten a thing don't the food taste good dear oh sure the food's fine that's not hungry he looks twice as age that's not nice what's that nothing you were just remarking you looked all worn out I am been up with that panther mine all night again you have to take better care of yourself Jason who else would take care of the panther if Jason didn't know who else would Jerry it's who else could I guess that's right to does anyone want more cornbread no no thanks for you got enough Jerry Jerry I meant to ask you something here I thought you were going to see me off the other night when I took the train I couldn't show up like you promised why I was too busy he always so much to do we can't attend to social activities isn't that right Jerry why you said that I didn't have but you're all right Jerry yes that's right Jerry hasn't lost any of his showmanship he went through his act without a hit you were all right Jerry but I sure had to keep my wits about all you didn't miss a trick I know what the El Mundo was a big help he seemed to know just what trick was coming there you trying to tell me that El Mundo knows the routine better than you do I guess I'll have to admit it for a second I didn't know what was coming next but when El Mundo got down on his knees I remembered it was a swing I'll answer that person passes he never worked better with that elephant good I'm glad to hear that wish I could have seen it and how did mr. rags work he remember he was just about perfect to I hope I haven't grown stale I feel funny till I get through my first straight order don't tell me a super like you could be affected by a two-day layoff of course not I don't feel a little well I'll be glad to get up there and get the feel of the past season get through my first week you're on next round ago that's the way to talk he's over talking the street the black panther talk to that panther till the last minute I guess it is a problem working with a cat that's out of sorts we do put your two cents in rags hey don't you think you ought to go change out of that costume Jerry yeah I guess I should but oh I don't want to miss Jason Zach I want to see him work with a panther oh please plumps I won't get my costume dirty just standing around here in the padroom all right Jerry but as soon as Jason finishes you get right over to the wagon put your other clothes on hey look plumps Nancy's doing her triple somersault yeah yeah yeah yeah there she goes yeah oh yeah that was pretty I'll say it was I guess if she was even the least bit nervous she's over it now after that trick never mind now rags oh Jason hello Jerry and Bump hey what's the idea calling my dog our dog Jerry our dog all right though it does any good to call him you know he wouldn't leave you how's the panther Jason that's so good Bumps he's just as mean as he can be I can't seem to make up to him at all you're gonna work him sure thing the show's got to go on Jerry you know that I know but well maybe it's dangerous if he's so mean oh that's a good one isn't every part of Jason's act dangerous oh sure but I mean now don't you worry Jerry that panther will go through his faces without a hitch I'll see to that well I got to get my things ready see you later you know Bump I hate to see Jason take chances oh he's not taking any chances Jerry he knows what he's doing well that's he got through all right what about Jason I mean well you know he's been so tired and if the panther is acting up he just well he shouldn't oh no Jerry here he goes now Bumps yes Jerry did you notice how much pants he likes for us no I can't see it ahead oh I guess they're fairly friendly but what fairly friendly they're very friendly well what are you driving at I don't think Jason likes that likes what oh I happen to know that Jason thinks an awful lot of passage and I think since Boris has become so friendly with her well Jason sort of uh taking it to heart uh-huh and I think that's why he acts so funny oh look he's gonna do the firing trick with the panther now doesn't look like the panther's gonna jump through the firing just look at the way that beast is snarling say he is mini oh he just won't jump will he boy he acts like he's afraid of that fire oh but that couldn't be he's been doing that trick so long hey he jumped at Jason no Jason's got him under control yeah but he won't jump through the firing oh why doesn't Jason forget that trick and go to the next oh Jason slipped and the panther's jumping at him Jason Jason