Hi everyone. I’ve been studying Austrian economics since the spring. Friedman videos on YouTube first sparked my interest, and then I quickly moved onto reading Mises, Bastiat, Bohm-Bawerk, and Rothbard. I really had zero interest in economics prior to this, but now it is like I can’t get enough!
My university offers a variety of econ courses and I was thinking of pursuing an econ minor. (I’m a kinesiology major, in case anyone is wondering.) However, my university is very “progressive” and I wonder if it is worthwhile to spend the money on econ courses. I suspect they will have a strong Keynesian slant. Would I better off spending that money on literature to read on my own, or could basic university economics classes (even if “progressive”) be helpful in expanding my understanding?
Think of all the economic illiterates that universities produce.. If they classes were decent, how come they all turn out believing total nonsense (spending drives the economy, market failure, regulation, etc)?
Yes, but remember that your professors will know more than you, and they do have something to teach you. Don’t go into your classes expecting to educate the teachers and the students. It’s simply not a good idea. Additionally, economics courses interesting (even though a lot of the stuff you will learn, especially in macroeconomics, is wrong). I can honestly say that my degree in economics taught me a lot and gave me a better understanding of Austrian economics.
Haha, oh, I 've already learned the hard way about trying to bring anything contradictory to the professor’s views to the table. I damn near failed a midterm in my Health Care Systems class for discussing the problems of corporatism, protectionism, monpoly of licensure, etc. I now parrot my profs like a good student.
Econ is not my major, just something I have a large interest in because I see how it applies to pretty much everything. Hmmm… perhaps I’d be better of saving the money and focusing on my major. It is a lot cheaper to buy Mises books than to take university courses.
Yes, but remember that your professors will know more than you, and they do have something to teach you. Don’t go into your classes expecting to educate the teachers and the students. It’s simply not a good idea. Additionally, economics courses interesting (even though a lot of the stuff you will learn, especially in macroeconomics, is wrong). I can honestly say that my degree in economics taught me a lot and gave me a better understanding of Austrian economics.
Story of my life. All I think about is libertarianism and Austrian economics now, no matter what the subject. I looked into taking an economics class at my college, but one of the classes I looked at had a required textbook by Krugman, so I decided to skip it. But I’m talking to a professor right now about teaching my own introductory class to anarcho-capitalism, so we’ll see how that works out. I’d recommend studying on your own with the resources on this website
I appreciate all the input guys. Basically, I ran a degree audit and realized I’ve already taken waaay too many electives. I need to focus on finishing my degree program and not taking on any more debt beyond that haha. I will continue to read, watch, and listen to the resources offered on the site. I was also very happy to find my school library carries a ton of Mises. The Rothbard selection was unfortunately pretty slim. I did manage to pick up The Machinery of Freedom by Andrew Friedman though. Look forward to reading that after finals week is over with.
Friedman’s ideas about minimal government intervention into the the marketplace and our personal lives (providing we’re not posing a threat to 3rd parties) led me to libertarianism, which led me to the Austrian School. Once I started realizing how often government policy has unintended consequences, or even consequences opposite of their intentions, my faith in the state started to shrink. I also began to see how anti-freedom many laws were.
Having read more, I no longer like Friedman’s views on the Federal Reserve or how it should operate, school vouchers, etc. but he does a good job articulating basic libertarian ideas. He was a charming guy, I think. Anyway, once the seed was planted I found myself drawn to the more “radical” authors. If not for the stepping stone of Friedman though, I don’t know if I would have been so keen on any of it. To be fair, I also started watching Ron Paul videos on YouTube around the same time, so he deserves some credit for helping to convert me also haha.
I have attended quite a few schools and have been pleasantly surprised in the amount of professors who are at least knowledgeable or somewhat sympathetic to Austrian Economics. What school if you dont mind my asking?
I’m at Portland State in Oregon. Turns out we do actually have a couple libertarian profs, but they aren’t part of the econ staff. I decided to focus on my required courses and put money toward books and some online courses offered through LvMI. It will save me a lot of money and grief haha.
I damn near failed a midterm in my Health Care Systems class for discussing the problems of corporatism, protectionism, monpoly of licensure, etc. I now parrot my profs like a good student. 