History of the Austrian School of Economics

Presented at the 2012 Mises Institute Supporters Summit. Recorded at Callaway Gardens, Georgia, on 27 October 2012.

Paul Krugman, relying on the claims of anonymous bloggers, asserts that Mises couldn’t explain the origins of the Great Depression.

Mary Sennholz, wife of Austrian economist Hans Sennholz and friend of Margit and Ludwig von Mises, recently spoke about her long career as a writer and editor, and as a friend and colleague of many other giants of the Austrian School. We hope her next project is a biography of her husband, Hans.

Mises said the causes of freedom and Austrian economics had to be advanced by a dual program: scholarly work in the defense of freedom and educating business and professional leaders with the compelling case for the Austrian School. Mises would be proud of what you have helped the Mises Institute accomplish.

Austrian economics teaches that understanding the “economy” can only be undertaken with the aid of economic theory. There is no formula or equation for understanding the economy. It cannot be measured in any meaningful scientific way. Only the logical construction of cause and effect aid us.

Jason Brennan has in posts at Bleeding Heart Libertarians rendered a great service to supporters of a priori economics in the style of Mises and Ro

It was Mises's misfortune that during his life his economic and political ideas were so out of fashion. But, his legacy is lasting and strong.

Austrian economists have a long record of spotting bubbles in the economy.

Libertarian populism isn’t and can’t be a <em>political</em> movement; the purest libertarian populism is an enemy of politics and an uncompromising foe of the state.

In terms of difficulty level and subject matter, the following program makes sense.