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  Classical Economic Theory and the Modern Economy by Steven Kates Edward Elgar, 2020, 264 pp. Per Bylund (per.bylund@okstate.edu) is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Records-Johnston Professor of Free Enterprise in the School of Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University, a Fellow of the Mises

Friedrich Hayek’s essay “The Use of Knowledge in Society,” published in 1945 in the prestigious American Economic Review , is often hailed as an important contribution to economics. Rightly so, because it provides important “meat” to the price theory “skeleton.” However, Austrian economists often exaggerate its importance in ways that risk

In a recent blog post on the Marginal Revolution blog , Ludwig von Mises is categorized as an underrated thinker . That’s undoubtedly true, especially when considering his many groundbreaking contributions to economics. Mises was also one of the first to be named a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association in 1969. His

Do people have a right to go wherever they want and for whatever reason they like? Certainly not. I have no right to use or occupy your rightful property without your permission. And the same applies for you and everyone with my property. Do people have a right to migrate to whatever part of the world they please? They certainly do. If they don’t

[Chapter 2 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] Like other sciences and fields of study, economics is a body of theory. Theory is a collection of explanations that allows us to understand something. Economic theory allows us to understand how an economy works . It explains the workings of the economy as a whole so

[Chapter 3 of Per Bylund’s new book  How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] Economics is often faulted for being “ideological”—for promoting free markets . This is a misunderstanding. The free market in economics is a model—an analytical tool. It excludes complicating circumstances and influences and allows us to study core economic phenomena

[Chapter 4 of Per Bylund’s new book  How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] To help us understand what is going on in the economy, what is important is not the types and number of goods that sit on store shelves. It is why and how they got there. To answer this question is not simply a matter of pointing out that they arrived by truck last

[Chapter 5 of Per Bylund’s new book  How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] Why do we produce? For the simple reason that nature doesn’t automatically satisfy all of our needs and wants. Wild animals, grains, and berries are not enough to sustain the world population. Computers, airplanes, and hospitals do not grow on trees. In other words,

[Chapter 6 of Per Bylund’s new book  How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] So far, our discussion about the economy has been exclusively from the perspective of value . Value is the ultimate goal of our actions and what motivates our behavior. It is personal— subjective —which means it comes from satisfying a want. If we are hungry, we

[Chapter 7 of Per Bylund’s new book  How to Think about the Economy: A Primer .] Money, as we discussed in the previous chapter, makes lots of exchanges possible that are impractical or impossible under barter trade. We are better off as a result. But money has greater implications that are often overlooked or misunderstood. Chief among these is