I’ve been reading Mises.org for the past two months and finally decided to register. I am astounded at the wealth of information available and have been reading the daily articles religiously! My sincerest thanks to the Mises Institute for providing this resource!
My question is this: Do any of you have any ideas/recommendations for pieces of literature I should read or concepts and terms I should begin to learn? I’ve listened to a few of the institute’s audiobooks (The Ethics of Liberty, The Law, parts of A History of Money and Banking, Against Intellectual Property) and have read Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. I have yet to take a formal economics class; however, I think I have a fairly good understanding of the basic principles of Austrian Economics.
I think people will disagree with me here, but I think you should take a formal economics class if you are in school or college (unless you already have enough of an educational burden and a particular specialization, obviously).
I suggest it, because it’s worthwhile to know what other various schools of thought believe.
I also suggest it, because reading Austrian economics after seeing other ideas allows you to re-investigate everything else that you read in a different light and understanding, and see exactly why some commonly held notions are wrong.
Most of all, I suggest it, because no one single person is an authority on any subject. Of course, there are serious methodological and fundamental differences between different schools of thought. But the Austrian School did not exist in isolation. You’ll find plenty of references to French economists, old Christian philosophers, and liberal thinkers like David Hume in books of the Austrian School. Even Alfred Marshall, who differed from Austrians in many respects, is still seen respectfully.
(A word of caution. Do beware of mathematical economics, which are a recent invention of Paul Samuelson, because many such mathematical approaches to human behaviour have backfired in what was traditionally a broad and general philosophical subject.)
Yeah, I originally wanted to, but economics is only offered to high school seniors. I actually got the teacher to bend the rules and let me take a college gov’t class instead of standard american government, but this didn’t work with the college economics class I also wanted to take; he upheld the rule that both economics and college economics are only offered to 12th graders.
I might ask to borrow a textbook and definitely will try to familiarize myself with other schools of thought in my spare time, though.
I’ve read many of those same books as well as some others from mises.org, along with dozens and dozens of articles, and I thought I had good understanding of the basic principles of Austrian economics, too. Then when I finally read Man, Economy and State with Power and Market by Murray N. Rothbard during last June and July, I realized that I did not know nearly as much as I previously thought I did about Austrian economics. Now I am reading Human Action - The Scholar’s Edition by Ludwig von Mises, and gaining an even deeper understanding. Once I finish Human Action, I plan on reading some books primarily focused on the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT) now that I have a much better understanding of Austrian economics and a basic understanding of ABCT.
I’ve also never taken a formal economics class. I don’t consider it necessary, though it may be helpful to learn what is taught as mainstream economics, but at the same time, you can just buy the textbooks and find many online media and papers if you’re really interested in the point of view of a mainstream economist. This is what I intend to do.
Thanks for the recommendations. I’ve heard both are great books and have added them to my reading list. I hope to be “converting” more of my slightly statist friends soon!
Learning wrong things is okay if you are going to be a professionale economist. Pointless otherwise.
If you use the audio lectures try to start with the basics and move on from there. Otherwise you will be baffled very quickly. For example, don’t start with business cycle theory. You will not understand it.
I think some clarification is needed: are you interested in becoming an economist, or are you simply interested in economics and want to learn? Taking an economics class, whether in high school or college (should you go), can be beneficial, but unless you’re seriously intent on using this knowledge in some professional capacity, you may find better uses for your time and effort. Opportunity cost and all that.
Currently, I am interested in the idea of a career in economics. Of course, this is very subject to change with me as I tend to go through different phases of interest. Mostly I am interested in being able to 1: Obtain a deeper understanding of economics in relation to my libertarian convictions and 2: Be able to argue confidently with others whose viewpoints differ (And understand their arguments better than them!). So to sum it up, as of now, my interest is just wanting to learn.
Oh, and yes, I am interested in political theory. As of now I am a minarchist, but this is very subject to change as I have not read alot about anarcho-capitalism and its merits.
Here are two of my favorite essays and a video for your debates. The first is an antidote to your minarchism, and I think the best one around! The second is I, Pencil in case you haven’t read it, it’s a must-read as well. The last is one of Tom Woods’s videos that I found helpful in terms of how to approach debate - anything by Tom Woods is very good.
Welcome, but do be careful about the devious anarchists posting here, we are in the process of debunking their theory in the other thread at the moment.