In your opinion, what is the best book for learning and understanding the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle?
de Soto
The de Soto book is a monster, but probably delves deep into ABCT.
Here is a book that is a compilation of essays on ABCT:
It gives a good general overview.
Thanks everyone.
Which one exactly? I’m about to start reading De Soto books, I do not know where to start!
Prices and Production - Hayek
De Soto’s book is too ideological, and he spends countless pages talking about Roman law and the emergence of fractional reserve banking. But, on the bright side, he adds a bunch of goodies (refutations of monetarist, Keynesian, and rational expectations frameworks, and a lot of empirical evidence supporting the ABCT).
I’ve personally found Man, Economy, and State (Rothbard) to be the most helpful. After reading it, I could finally say “I get it.” de Soto’s book has some valuable additional insight but, IMHO, Rothbard’s explaination of the structure of production is clearer. I might be biased, since I already understood the theory by the time de Soto’s book cam out.
The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays is a brief overview, easy to read and digest in a day or in pieces at lunch.
Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles is a longer more in depth work. You’ll need time to get through this or Man, Economy, and State.
Also, on this site and the LRC site there’s the Bail Out Reader which in analyzing the current crises gives a good explanation.