Austrian Economics - Where to begin?

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icon124 Posted: Sat, Mar 1 2008 10:23 PM

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I want to learn, in more depth, Austrian economics.  Oh sorry, first let me introduce myself.  This is my first post, and I first learned about Austrian economics through Ron Paul.  Needless to say, I love it.  I'm not a total beginner at this, but I do want to learn this in more detail.  For instance,  I have read Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt, I know all about the Federal Reserve (Creature From Jekyll Island was the first book I read), I know how this Government works when it comes to economics and hiding the real numbers from us,  read the Road to Serfdom, understand that Kaynes sucked at life, and also understand America doesn't know anything about economics what so ever, and of course know a little about Mises and Rothbard (think that's how you spell it).

 Anyway imagine you were going to teach a class in Austrian Economics.  How would you lay everything out for someone who just joined the class.  Recommend as much free stuff as you can lol (I'm a broke college student, who by the way is a finance major and also an economics major...and yes they feed me all kinds of lies).  Thank you ahead of time, and I hope to stick around here learning a lot more!

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ayrnieu replied on Sat, Mar 1 2008 10:45 PM

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I started by randomly listening to lots of the media, and have recommended Robert P. Murphy's Austrian vs. Neoclassical Analytics (mp3, 57:24) as a simultaneous introduction of Austrian economics and mainstream economics, highlighting their differences. But all of this, though perhaps helpful, led me to more knowledge about Austrian economics than knowledge of Austrian economics: that changed as I read Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State.

Try starting with MES. If you find its methods confusing ('action axiom'?!), pause and read through Economic Science and the Austrian Method I have that as a book, actually -- I just saw that it was online!

icon124:

Recommend as much free stuff as you can

Welcome to the gold mine :-) The media again, and the studyguide -- a huge collection of Austro-Libertarian and American Old Right works.

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Mark B. replied on Sat, Mar 1 2008 10:53 PM

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You indicated you have read "Economics in One Lesson"

Make your next book "Economics for Real People" by Gene Callahan.

After that read "Man, Economy and State", by Rothbard.

Then read "What has Government done to our Money?" by Rothbard.

On this board there is a stickied thread entitled "Praxeology:  Reading List"  It has links to numerous Austrian Economic books.  I think they have placed the more significant books in bold face type.  That would be your best bet to look for further reading.

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edward_1313 replied on Sat, Mar 1 2008 11:51 PM

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Inquisitor:

Actually, I'd recommend Menger's Principles before any of the treatises. It's excellently written and will help you understand a lot of the basics.

I agree, that was the first treatise that I read fully through.  It sets the conceptual basis for everything that follows it.  Menger is perhaps one of the most underrated geniuses of all time. 

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Bank Run replied on Sun, Mar 2 2008 5:28 AM

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 Thanks for coming icon.

Take the Test 

If you really want to learn we can rap about stuff. Hopefully we will find disagreements, and both come away with better knowlage. 

What was your favorite lesson in Road to Serdom? Mine was, that we can plan for competition, but always fail in our ends when we use the means of planning against competition.

Good luck with your studies. And, you found the right place for free stuff this place is loaded to the hilt in literature.
 

Oh yeah, if was wealthy I'd hand out copies of Two Essays on the street. Liberty and Property   Middle of the Road Policy Leads to Socialism

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Ron Brown replied on Sun, Mar 2 2008 9:24 PM

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Read the introduction to Hans Hermann-Hoppe's book "Democracy: The God that Failed.  More specifically, read the 4-5 pages near the middle that explain a priori theory and contrast it with positivism.  This should be read before anything else since, as the phrase a priori implies, it is the starting point of Austrian Economics and the best concise explanation of a priori theory I've found.

The introduction can be accessed through Hoppe's web page (I've done it) and I believe the Mises web page also.  

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MVPT replied on Mon, Mar 3 2008 4:37 PM

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As someone who is critical but respects some of Austrian economics, I would have to say

1) Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle  by Hayek

2) Crises and Cycles by William Ropke

3) Theory of Money and Credit by Von Mises

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miksirhc replied on Mon, Mar 3 2008 8:08 PM

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I started with Human Action which gave a really broadphilosophical and epistemological base as wellas an economic base to work off of.  I highly recommend starting withit.  Afterwards, i'd read the Failure of New Economics by Hazlitt, as well as Man, Econ, and the State by Rothbard.

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edward_1313 replied on Tue, Mar 4 2008 4:21 PM

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miksirhc:

I started with Human Action which gave a really broadphilosophical and epistemological base as wellas an economic base to work off of.  I highly recommend starting withit.  Afterwards, i'd read the Failure of New Economics by Hazlitt, as well as Man, Econ, and the State by Rothbard.

I would not recommend reading Human Action first.  If anything, read Man, Econ, & State before you read Human Action.  The way Mises writes is a bit dense and obscure, making it difficult to read through sometimes (this seems to be the case of German writers; they have a different style).  If you aren't familiar with some of the concepts it will take longer than it should to figure out precisely what he's getting at.  Rothbard spells alot the concepts out in plain english.  Once you read that, you'll be ready for Human Action. 

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britainland replied on Tue, Mar 4 2008 5:16 PM

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This is what I recommend, although if you've taken a basic economics course you may be able to skip the first one:

1. Gene Callahan's Economics for Real People: An Introduction to the Austrian School

2. Carl Menger's Principles of Economics in combination with Jeremie Rostan's study guide

3. Ludwig von Mises' Human Action in combination with Robert P. Murphy's study guide ("Study Guide" links by each chapter heading)

4. Murray Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market in combination with Robert P. Murphy's study guide

I've linked you to the Mises store, but the works are also available free in PDF format from the literature section of mises.org. I find it much, much easier to read a book than a monitor personally. Once you've read these you should have a solid knowledge of the Austrian School, which could lead to you investigating more detailed works on capital etc.

edward_1313:

I would not recommend reading Human Action first.  If anything, read Man, Econ, & State before you read Human Action.  The way Mises writes is a bit dense and obscure, making it difficult to read through sometimes (this seems to be the case of German writers; they have a different style).  If you aren't familiar with some of the concepts it will take longer than it should to figure out precisely what he's getting at.  Rothbard spells alot the concepts out in plain english.  Once you read that, you'll be ready for Human Action. 

Perhaps it's just because I generally like to read works in a roughly chronological fashion, so I can trace the development of theories, but I would disagree and recommend him reading Human Action before MES. While the language can be complex, in combination with Murphy's study guide it is much easier to digest.