This week the Mises Institute held our annual Rothbard Graduate Seminar, a week-long event where scholars dedicated a week to studying and discussing a great economic treatise. This year’s focus was Human Action, Ludwig von Mises’s masterpiece that built the intellectual foundation for modern Austrian economics. Discussion focused not only on what makes the Misesian framework different from other economic schools of thought, but also applied those ideas to modern day debates on topics such as the proper use of economic modeling, deflation, and NGDP targeting.
As Jeff Deist discussed last week with Dr. Joe Salerno and Karl-Friedrich Israel, Human Action can be intimidating, but the ideas contained inside have never been more important. The same fallacies Mises attempted to combat are still being used to guide public policy.
If you are interested in reading Human Action for yourself, it is available for free, as is the study guide from Dr. Robert Murphy. Also be on the look out for a Human Action class available from Mises Academy coming later this year.
On Mises Weekends, David Gordon joins Jeff to consider the important philosophy — and philosophers — libertarians need to know. Starting with Mises’s influences in Human Action, Dr. Gordon moves through the 20th century with a great discussion on John Rawls and Robert Nozick. He also suggests the books that Austro-libertarians need to read even if they’re primarily interested in politics or economics.
And in case you missed them, here are this weeks Mises Wire articles, covering a wide array of topics including: the Paris Climate Agreement, the solar industry, true liberalism, healthcare, global bubbles, hidden taxes, and memes.
- Withdrawing From Paris Agreement Helps the Most Vulnerable by Blaine Conzatti
- The Medical Marijuana Racket by Laurence M. Vance
- Manchester Liberalism is the Answer to Terrorism by Matthew McCaffrey
- When Will the European Super-Bubble Pop? by Nick Giambruno
- The May-June Issue of The Austrian Is Now Online
- Natural-Law Libertarianism and the Pursuit of Justice by Chris Calton
- Civil Asset Forfeiture: Another Stealth Tax by Ryan McMaken
- The Fed’s Dangerous View of History by Ludwig von Mises
- Are Highly Paid People Just Lucky? by David Gordon
- Will the Crazy Global Debt Bubble Ever End? Charles Hugh Smith
- Ludwig von Mises Understood “Meme Magic” by Tho Bishop
- Las Vegas: An Austrian View of Land Prices by Doug French
- Trump’s Budget: Radical Change or More of the Same? by Ron Paul
- More Solar Jobs Is a Curse, Not a Blessing by Paul Driessen
- Individuals, Reason, and Action by Ludwig von Mises
- Healthcare: “Insurance” Now Just Means Redistribution by Gary Galles
