Value and Exchange

"The free market and the division of labor does not promote hyper-atomized individuals. It creates social harmony and community."

Menger discovered much more than the principle of marginal utility—he created an entire system of economics based on subjective value and individual choice.

Presented at Mises University 2021.

On the fiftieth anniversary of Nixon's gold shock, The Fiat Standard is an amazing explication of how the West fell to its current state. You don't want to miss this show, especially Saifedean's epic takedown of fiat academia at the end!

The goal of the human economy is to gain greater control over the means of satisfying human needs. We start with the most immediate needs, but thanks to saving and investment, we can move onward and upward from there. 

Menger's contribution is famous beyond Austrian economics, because it was one of the fundamental works of the subjective value theory and of marginal analysis. 

Human beings do not have constant value scales, but change their goals constantly as the world around them changes. This habit of changing goals does not make a consumer "irrational."

"Efficiency" has largely been demoted from a useful term of analysis and insight to little more than another warning that the government is about to rip you off with another redistribution scheme. 

Do huge wealth redistribution schemes like Biden's new plan actually make people better off? Some people will get a net benefit. How numerous are they? How many millions will take a net loss? The government has no idea.