Third lecture home study course

The third lecture in the Mises University home study course is called 'Mises in one Lesson - history of Economic Thought' given by Murray Rothbard. Total time is 56:38.

He starts out with a very brief history of the Austrian school, mainly that while the founders of the Austrian school of economics were, very naturally, Austrian, there are not so many now. Most 'Austrian' economists are now of course, from many other countries.

He then talks about Human action. Austrian school is based on individuals doing things, most other schools of thought focus on groups or aggregates.

When Carl Menger was working, the predominant school then was the classical school, Smith, Ricardo, etc. He gives examples of their thinking.

Rothbard then gives an analysis of the main points of Austrian economic thought. (This is not complete, just the points I wanted to remember.)

1. Purpose of production is consumption
2. Start with consumer demand and work backwards to factors of production
3. Make value judgements in marginal units
4. Not quantative, but value is subjective
5. Time preference - we want things now, not later
6. Earlier phase of production = higher order of goods
7. Entrepreneurs are very important

He then talks about Mises Theory of Money and Credit (Note: I have not read this book yet). Again, Rothbard covers the main points of this book.

1. It integrated micro and macro economics
2. applied marginal theory to money and credit
3. only real use of money is exchange
4. fractional reserve banking is basically fraudulent
5. increases in money and credit causes price increases and messes up the capital structure
6. increases in money supply increases interest rates
7. results of recession (a natural process) washes out imbalance between capital and consumer goods
8. necessary liquidation process, if government interferes, this prolongs the recession

These last points are obviously applicable to our current financial situation.

This was another excellent lecture, with a lot of information.

Second Lecture of Home Study Course

I've listened to the second lecture of the home study course. It's called Marginalist Revolution by Joseph Salerno. He starts out with the information that the law of marginal utility was discovered at almost the same time by three men: Carl Menger, an Austrian, an Englishman, William Stanly Jevons and a Swiss, Leon Walras.

Carl Menger is considered by Salerno to be the sole founder of the Austrian School. He then talks about the classical school of economics and it's differences with the Austrians. He spends a large amount of time discussing marginal utility, using the common cow/horse scenarios.

All in all, an interesting lecture. It was obvious he was writing on a board to the audience, which of course you cannot see. I'm looking forward to listening to the next one.

First lecture of Home Study course

I've listened to the first lecture in the Mises Home Study course. It's by Jorg Guido Hulsmann and it is titled "Mises and the Foundation of Austrian Economics". It is 42:29 in length. It's a general overview of Mises' life. It goes over his major works and brings up overviews of his major theoretical contributions. It is a good introduction to Mises' work.

I have been continuing my reading. I'm almost finished with Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, and I have finished The Concise Guide to Economics, both of which I will review shortly.

Man, Economy and State with Power and Market

The title of this post says it all. This is the major work by Murray Rothbard. It is available in Pdf format and an excellent study guide is also available as a Pdf.

This book started out as a textbook on economics. But eventually it turned into a guide to just about all of Austrian economic thought. He takes Mises Human Action and makes it easier to understand (in my opinion) and extends and expands on it. He created an entire theory of economics. It is a masterful work and worth reading carefully and slowly. With this book and Human Action, you will understand the greater part of Austrian economics.

My Plan of Attack

I am a planner and doing this study of Austrian economics is no different. I've found a great resource at mises.org. They have a great deal of their content available both in book/audiobook format but also freely available in Pdf format and easily downloadable mp3s.

My first guide was the Home Study Guide to Austrian Economics. I was able to download the audio lectures here, and was able to find most of the books mentioned available as pdf downloads.

Second, I am reading from The Mises University: Required Readings page. Another very quick read is available online called The Concise Guide to Economics.

I have another long list of readings that I will get to later. Tomorrow, I'll talk about the two BIG books in Austrian economics: Mises Human Action and Rothbard's Man, Economy and State with Power and Market.