Money originates by free markets via barter and gold and silver, not by governments via fiat. A story of Halloween candy demonstrates this. The double coincidence of wants is solved by money. Money that will last will be six things: generally marketable, divisible, high value per unit weight (portable), durable, recognizable, and homogeneous.
Free market capitalism coordinates every stage of every production desired by consumers as if by magic. Knowing Austrian economics will allow you to see which public policies are disastrous to this productivity. Unintended consequences, opportunity cost, and pricing theory are fundamental concepts to explain human action.
Stolyarov reviews Robert P. Murphy’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (2009).
Recorded at the Mises Circle in Newport Beach, California, on November 14th, 2009. Sponsored by Louis E. Carabini.
Pages 877-881. Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach.
