Mises University 2004 (Second Session)

AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS

Rooted in the tradition of Carl Menger and Ludwig von Mises, as well as Murray Rothbard and F.A. Hayek, the Austrian School offers a rigorous and logical approach to economics that gives free markets their due and takes full account of the reality of human choice.

More than a field within economics, the Austrian School is an entirely different approach that dissents from the mainstream on method, theory, and policy. It views economic actors as unique, conscious, and freely choosing individuals, not as undifferentiated data to be manipulated mathematically or politically.

THE PROGRAM

The Mises University is the world’s leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics. Since 1986, it has been the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

The program offers courses, seminars, and reading groups on the whole range of the discipline. A core curriculum presents economic foundations, and more than fifty elective classes explore the entire range of economics, in all levels of advancement. The program ends with a Mündliche Prüfung, an optional exam for an honors certificate.

Subject areas cover market behavior, competition, value and utility, money and banking, business cycles, industrial organization, method, economic history, the philosophy of science, financial economics, and more. You attend what most suits your interests and level of advancement.

Classes are interspersed with reading groups, discussion seminars, faculty panels, and plenary lectures. There are special sessions on economic history, economics and ethics, and political philosophy. Nightly social hours allow time to meet and discuss it all with faculty and other students. There’s a primer on surviving graduate school, library hours and meals, films in the amphitheater, and even a sing along.

All students must be familiar with the Required Readings prior to attending.

THE FACULTY

• Walter Block (Loyola University, New Orleans)
• Thomas DiLorenzo (Loyola College, Baltimore)
• Roger Garrison (Auburn University)
• David Gordon (Mises Review)
• Jeffrey M. Herbener (Grove City College)
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
• Jörg Guido Hülsmann (Mises Institute)
• Peter Klein (University of Missouri)
• Roderick T. Long (Auburn University)
• Joseph T. Salerno (Pace University)
• Joseph Stromberg (Mises Institute)
• Mark Thornton (Ludwig von Mises Institute)

Schedule

SUNDAY, August 1, 2004

5:00-7:00pm Registration at Mises Institute (bus between dorm and Mises Institute every half hour 5-8)  

7:00pm Dinner at the Mises Institute  

8:00pm Welcoming remarks, faculty introductions. Thornton.  Condon Lecture Hall

8:15pm Mises and the Foundation of Austrian Scholarship. Hülsmann

9:00 Social Hour  

10:00pm shuttle departs Mises Institute for dorm

MONDAY, June 7  

7:30-8:30am breakfast at Commons Dorm

8:30am shuttle departs dorm for Mises Institute

9:00-10:00am  The Marginalist Revolution. Salerno.  Condon Lecture Hall

10:15-11:00am Value, Utility, and Price. Herbener. Condon Lecture Hall

11:15am-12:30pm  Praxeology: The Austrian Method. Hoppe. Condon Lecture Hall

12:30pm Group photo in Hogan Amphitheater

12:45-1:30pm Lunch                 

1:30-2:30pm Time Preference and Interest. Herbener. Condon Lecture Hall                 

2:45-3:45pm The Theory of the Firm. Klein. Condon Lecture Hall

4:00-5:00pm   Calculation and Price Theory. Salerno. Condon Lecture Hall

5:00pm  Dinner    

6:00pm The Future of Austrian Economics: A Video with Murray Rothbard. Condon Lecture Hall         

7:00pm The Mises Circle: Informal Talk. Block. Condon Lecture Hall

8:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm

8:00-10:00pm Film (Minority Report) Hogan Amphitheater

10:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm  

TUESDAY, June 8

7:30-8:30am breakfast at dorm

8:30am shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute

• 9:00-10:00am Money and Banking. Hoppe. Condon Lecture Halll
• 10:15-11:15am Capital. Murphy. Condon Lecture Hall
• 11:30-12:30pm Interventionism (rent control, wage laws, drugs, unions). Block.  Condon Lecture Hall                

12:1:30pm Lunch 

• 1:30-2:30pm Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle. Murphy. Condon Lecture Hall
• 2:45-3:45pm   Monopoly and Competition. DiLorenzo. Condon Lecture Hall

4:00-5:00pm   The Theory of the Firm. Klein. Condon Lecture Hall

5:00-6:00pm Dinner    

7:00pm: The Mises Circle: Informal Talk by Robert Murphy. Hogan Amphitheater

8:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm

8:00pm Film (Meet John Doe) Hogan Amphitheater 

10:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm  

WEDNESDAY, June 9  

• 7:30-8:30am  breakfast at dorm
• 8:30am shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute
• 9:00-10:00am Concurrent Sessions
  • Theory of the Profit, Loss, and Entrepreneurship. Salerno. Condon Lecture Hall
  • Epistemological Problems of Economics. Gordon. Massey Library

10:15-:11:15am Concurrent Sessions      

• Economics of the Public and Semi-Public Sector. DiLorenzo. Condon Lecture Hall
• Economics of Risk and Insurance. Hoppe. Massey Library

11:30-12:30pm Concurrent Sessions    

• Public Spending and Public Goods. DiLorenzo. Condon Lecture Hall
• Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle II. Murphy. Massey Library
• International Law and the Economic Relations Between States. Stromberg. Schlarbaum Room 

12:30-1:30pm Lunch                               

1:30-2:30pm Concurrent Sessions   

• The Chicago vs Austrian view of Property and Capitalism. Block. Condon Lecture Hall
• Problems in Cycle Theory. Hülsmann. Massey Library 

2:45-3:45pm Concurrent Sessions

• Economics of F.A. Hayek. Klein. Condon Lecture Hall
• Law and Economics. Hoppe.  Massey Library 

4:00-5:00pm Seminars   

• Applications of Austrian Macroeconomic Theory. Murphy, Stromberg. Condon Lecture Hall
• Money and Banking. Block, Salerno. Massey Library
• Firms and Financial Markets. Klein, Thornton. Schlarbaum Seminar Room   

6:00-7:00pm Dinner and Social Hour

7:00pm: The Mises Circle: Informal Talk by Joe Stromberg. Hogan Amphitheater

8:00pm  shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm

8:00pm Film (Red Dawn) Hogan Amphitheater

10:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm 

THURSDAY, June 10

7:30-8:30am breakfast at dorm

8:30am shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute

9:00-10:00am Concurrent Sessions    

• Environmental and Resource Economics. Block. Condon Lecture Hall
• Critique of Keynesian Macroeconomics. Herbener. Massey Library

10:15-11:15am Concurrent Sessions      

• The Microeconomics of Security Services. Murphy. Condon Lecture Hall
• Foundations of Welfare Economics. Hülsmann. Massey Library

11:30-12:30pm Concurrent Sessions

• The Economics of the Gold Standard. Block. Condon Lecture Hall
• Theory and History. Gordon. Massey Library
• Rothbard on Doing Economic History. Stromberg. Schlarbaum Seminar Room 

12:30-1:30pm Lunch

1:30-2:30pm Concurrent Sessions

• Consumer Sovereignty and the Production Process. Murphy. Condon Lecture Hall
• Further Considerations in the Theory of Interest. Hülsmann.  Massey Library     

2:45-3:45pm Concurrent Sessions 

• Economics as a Profession. Klein. Condon Lecture Hall
• Mises and Rothbard in the History of Thought. Salerno. Massey Library   

4:00-5:00pm Concurrent Seminars 

• Theory and History. Hoppe, Hülsmann. Condon Lecture Hall
• Economics and Ethics. Gordon, Long. Massey Library
• A Critique of Public Choice on Government. Thornton, DiLorenzo. Schlarbaum Room
• Common Errors in Economic Theory. Herbener, Klein. Hogan Seminar Room   

5:00pm  Dinner and Social Hour

7:00pm  Awarding of the Rothbard Medal of Freedom

8:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm 

FRIDAY, June 11

Deadline for signing up for Mündliche Prüfung at 5:00pm today

7:30-8:30am breakfast at dorm

8:30am  shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute

9:00-10:00am Concurrent Sessions    

• Medical Economics: The Austrian Point of View. Block.  Condon Lecture Hall
• The Free Market and Shareholder Rights. Klein. Massey Library

10:15-11:15pm Concurrent Sessions      

• Extensions and Applications in Austrian Macroeconomics. Murphy.  Condon Lecture Hall
• International Monetary Systems. Salerno. Massey Library
• Corporativism and the Warfare State. Stromberg. Schlarbaum Seminar Room

11:30-12:30pm Concurrent Sessions 

• Current Topics in Economic Policy (equal pay, discrimination and the glass ceiling) Block.  Condon Lecture Hall
• Economic Reasoning: Principles and Common Fallacies. Gordon. Massey Library    

12:30-1:30pm Lunch

1:30-2:30 Concurrent Sessions

• Trade Barriers, Outsourcing and Economic Development. DiLorenzo. Condon Lecture Hall
• History and New Directions for Austrian Economists. Salerno. Massey Library    

2:45-3:45pm Concurrent Sessions  

• Protection and the Market for Security. Hoppe. Condon Lecture Hall
• Why Economists Should know Logic and Philosophy. Long. Massey Library  

4:00-5:00pm Faculty Panels

• Microeconomics: Klein, DiLorenzo, Gordon, Herbener, Murphy, Stromberg, Thornton. Condon Lecture Hall
• Macroeconomics: Hülsmann, Block, Hoppe, Long, Salerno. Massey Library

5:00-6:00pm Dinner

7:00pm: The Mises Circle: Songs of the Mises Circle. Ward Conservatory

8:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm

8:00pm Film (Three Kings)  Hogan Amphitheater  

10:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm  

SATURDAY, June 12  

7:30-8:30am breakfast at dorm

8:30am shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute

9:00-10:00am Concurrent Sessions    

• The Economics of Information Technology. Klein. Condon Lecture Hall
• The Place of the Equilibrium Construct. Hülsmann. Massey Library
• Business Cycles and Prediction.  Thornton. Schlarbaum Seminar Room

10:15-11:15am Concurrent Sessions 

• Economics of Political Centralization. Hoppe. Condon Lecture Hall
• The Utopianism of Marx and Keynes. Herbener. Massey Library

11:30-12:30pm Concurrent Sessions

• Knowledge and Judgement. Hülsmann. Condon Lecture Hall
• The Case Against All Antitrust Legislation. DiLorenzo. Massey Library     

12:30-1:30pm Lunch   

1:30-2:30pm Concurrent Sessions  

• Recent Books Important to Austrians. Gordon. Condon Lecture Hall
• Apriorism and Positivism in the Social Sciences . Long. Massey Library  
• Recent Monetary Crises. Herbener. Schlarbaum Seminar Room   

2:45-5:00pm Study Time and Mündliche Prüfung (optional exams for honors certificate: Those who would like to have their knowledge tested at the end of the conference may choose to take part in an oral exam (German: Mündliche Prüfung). Other than in the U.S. and many other countries, viva voce examination has always been, and is still, the standard form of exam in Central Europe. A jury composed of three to five professors from our faculty will engage each examinee in a tough 10-15 minutes question-and-answer session. Those who pass will receive a graded certificate (ask your school’s administration whether you can get credit for it).  Testing in Hogan Seminar Room.  

3:00pm shuttle from Mises Institute to dorm

3:00pm Film (Horsefeathers) Condon Lecture Hall

5:00pm shuttle from dorm to Mises Institute

5:30pm Cookout and graduation