I apologize in advance for my use of Keynesian language, but what an impressive multiplier effect our annual cornerstone event, Mises University, has. Last summer, 13 of our 18 faculty members were themselves graduates of Mises University. They all went on to earn their PhDs and have become the next generation of scholars leading the Austrian tradition!
Many of our other Mises U alumni have never stopped educating themselves while pursuing careers in business, the sciences, journalism, finance, engineering, or management. Many write articles for mises.org and other news sites, produce podcasts, and generally fight alongside us in the war of ideas we engage in daily. We need all of these people.
There are now over 4,000 Mises U alumni. But Mises U’s impact reverberates far beyond its actual participants. Virtual Mises University lectures have been viewed more than 2 million times. Those video lectures foster the development of untold numbers of budding advocates of liberty who cannot join us in person.
I have lectured at Mises University for over 30 years, and in that time countless students have told me that they learned more about economics in that one week than they did over their entire economics curriculum in college. Many others have told me that Mises U changed their lives, led them to pursue an academic career, helped them get their dream jobs, and initiated them into the liberty movement.
Mises University is so unique and inspiring that students from all over the world compete for slots in our weeklong seminar held in the middle of the hot and humid Alabama summer. No other organization in the world offers such a rigorous, comprehensive, and radical introduction to the Austrian School of economics.
In our lectures, students acquire the theoretical framework of Austrian economics and learn to apply it to real-world issues. In addition to classroom learning, students have the exciting opportunity to network and discuss everything they learn with other students and with our faculty.
Our program attracts very bright students. Last summer, our guest speaker, Dr. Robert Malone, and his wife, Dr. Jill Malone, raved about the caliber of our students, their unusually strong intellectual curiosity, and just how special they were. The consistently high quality of Mises University’s students is a testament to the powerful ideas of the science of human action and of the extraordinary scholarship produced by Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, and other scholars in the Austrian tradition.
This summer Mises U will open with a lecture by Mises University alumnus Tom Woods entitled “Why Austrian Economics Is as Important as Ever in the Age of Trump.”
Students will learn about subjective value and market prices, money and banking, calculation and socialism, competition and monopoly, capital theory, entrepreneurship, the Austrian business cycle theory, the importance of the international division of labor, and much more. Once a firm foundation is in place, real learning truly begins. With this foundation students can recognize the harmful effects of minimum wage laws, protectionism, lobbying and cronyism, regulation and the deep state, the economics of bureaucracy, and other policies that others are telling them are for the common good.
As always, the week will end with an optional written and oral exam to reveal the most learned students. In fine capitalistic tradition, there will be monetary rewards for those who have excelled.
Thanks to our ever-generous donors, students have always attended Mises University on scholarship. These scholarships covering registration fees, tuition, and room and board have made it possible for thousands of students to learn real economics and become more productive in their continued studies, careers, and chosen paths. We all benefit from their learning.
As the economy continues to worsen because of the government’s inflationary stimulus schemes and runaway spending, students are faced with increasingly high travel expenses to come and study with us. We can’t miss the next Rothbard, Mises, Woods, or Paul because these future stars couldn’t afford to come. That is why this year we will offer travel scholarships of up to $500 to those bright and deserving students to participate in this life-changing, one-of-a-kind experience.
By supporting both our student scholarships and our new travel scholarships you will ensure that the best students are able to join us at the font of knowledge for what has come to be known as the Best Week of the Year.
Please donate as much as you can to make this year’s Mises University the best ever.
Thank you, as always, for your generous support. I hope to see you at our Supporters Summit in lovely Delray Beach, Florida, on October 16–18, at one of our many other events, or on your next visit to the Institute.
