Mises.org disgustingly slandered on Reddit

Miscellaneous General
1

CALUMNIATOR 1:

Of course, the blogs on the Mises institute tend to be oriented towards bragging about how Austrians are so great and everybody else sucks rather than actually educating anyone.

ME:

Right now the Mises blog has, among others… -an article exploring financial statistics with 8 graphs -an article discussing the economic thoughts of Aristotle and Hesiod -an article that actually agrees with Paul Krugman in criticizing Milton Friedman -a review of a book about education

And the site in general offers almost every key work of Rothbard, Mises, Hayek, Bastiat and others in HTML, PDF, and/or audiobook.

They publish a huge number of important, but otherwise lost books, and offer them at a steep discount.

From resources from their site, I’ve learned about Menger’s utility theory, Marx’s value theory, Mises’s epistemology, Bohm-Bawerk’s capital theory, Ricardo’s trade cycle theory, Keynes’s monetary theory, the history of colonial America, the economic thought of the 14th century scholastics, the currency/banking schools controversy surrounding the Bank of England, the entire financial history of the United States, and much, much more.

Yes, they have strong opinions about opposing schools of economics which they sincerely believe is screwing up the world (wouldn’t you?) But those people are all about education.

CALUMNIATOR 2:

Let me also introduce you to the theory that giant green lizards from outer space secretly control the earth. That’s about as useful as the fringe group known as the “Austrian school.”

ME:

Karl Menger, the founder of this “fringe” school of economics, is regarded by the entire economics profession as a key figure in the “Marginal Revolution” which was a sea change in all economics: and which saved economics from the fallacious backwardsness of Adam Smith’s value theory.

Friedrich Hayek, another “fringe” Austrian economist won the Nobel Prize in Economics, in spite of the Nobel committee’s usual statist leanings, because even they couldn’t deny the brilliance of his work.

If you disagree with the school ARGUE against it. Don’t try to dismiss it from the consideration of others by LYING about its position in the world of economic thought.

CALUMNIATOR 3:

Just be aware its not a serious objective economics site, but just libertarian talking points conspiracy theory stuff. If you actually want to learn something for a neutral source, I would avoid it. However, if you wish to indoctrinate yourself to fit in with all the paultards of the Internet I think that mises is a great place to start.

ME:

Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics: a book which helped establish the marginal utility theory of value which almost ALL current economists subscribe to

Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action and Murray N. Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State: two comprehensive treatises on the entirety of Austrian Economics (including theories of method, utility, value, trade, exchange, production, capital, business cycles, money, etc)

Rothbard’s Conceived in Liberty: a four-volume history of colonial America

Sixteen complete works by Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich von Hayek

Do you consider comprehensive treatises to be non-serious, or four-volume histories to be talking points?

2

I’m disgusted, but yet, it is what I have come to expect from the “mainstream press”. They wouldn’t know the difference between rational argumentation and bullshit if it dangled its balls in their mouths.

A very strange way of putting it, I admit, but I’m somewhat disillusioned.

3

Not even the illusion of civil discourse is maintained there, I see…

4

Don’t argue with trash like this (unless it’s for the benefit of others.) He isn’t arguing. He is just regurgitating leftist-socialist-ignoramus talking points. Many economists (often subconsciously) draw upon Austrian theory (even if they are unaware of the complete edifice) and I’ve yet to see any real critique of Austrian theory from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. He’s offered no real understanding of Austrian theory, just the typical lies fed to him by who knows what.

5

I’ve never even seem a critique of Austrian theory that goes beyond superficial attacks to do with “merit goods”, “public goods”, and “the poor” dying in the street.

6

There are some OK ones, like Bryan Caplan’s, which at least make an effort to grapple with the theory… but he’s a libertarian and ex-Austrian to begin with.

7

It’s like when a glorified world champ prizefighter get’s a challenge from an unknown and turns it down because having that fight would not benefit him if he won (big deal – he beat an unknown), and definitely won’t benefit him if he loses.

8

expected. In all my interactions with statists (only the ones around my age, not grown adults most of whom pretend to be polite and intelligent), they reject any reference to the Austrian school with ad hominem and slander. But it’s comforting to present a methodological and persuasive argument on economics, and know the only refutation the Keynsians have are logical fallacies and hysteria.

9

What the hell is Reddit?

10

Reddit is a Digg-like site, where users submit links, up/downvote them, make comments, and then up/downvote each other’s comments. It has a much brainier user base than Digg, and a cadre of Austro-libertarians who argue with the lefties to compete for the hearts and minds of the middle-of-the-roaders. I encourage everybody here to get an account and take part in the struggle. In spite of the trollish responses I pasted here, there are a lot of people genuinely curious about economics there who could use some help recognizing all the fallacies posing as economics out there. My screen name there is sextusempiricus.

11

Social Anarchist central. You can usually find Nitroadict there, trying to fight the good fight for intelligence and reason.

12

I especially like the implicit unbiased is true, biased is untrue assumption -very “logical”. And if they want objectivity, wouldn’t they want to also read mises? I mean, you can’t pretend to objectivity reading marx and krugman all day can you?