Mises Book Club

"Throttling the Railroads" by C. B. Carson (1971)

willybrin — Sun, 27 May 2012 22:26:47 GMT

Calculus of Consent -some questions.

fakename — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:41:24 GMT

If anyone is reading this I just have one question: What does "Uncertainty" mean in this book? (If you're not reading it and want to help, I think econlib has it online.) Anyway, on page 78, or the last section of the "Economic Theory of Constitutions" called "Some Qualifications" the authors state: "essential to the analysis is the presumption that the individual is uncertain as to what his precise role will be in any one of the whole chain of later collective choices that will actually have to be made. For this reason...he cannot predict with any degree of certainty whether he is more likely to be in a winning or a losing coalition on any specific issue. Therefore he will...choose rules that will maximize the utility of an individual in a series of collective decisions with his own preferences on the separate issues being more or less randomly distributed." If they are saying that individuals will choose constitutional rules that will bring greater "happiness" to any arbitrary person, that prefers the same thing as they do and who vary their preferences randomly due to uncertainty; then why would they assume at the chapter's beginning that, "the specific institutional structure through which collective action is to be carried out is exogenously fixed" and that "the choice among the...[constitutional] rules is not independent of the choice as to the method of organization [which I take, to mean the same as "specific institutional structure]." For if this is what they really meant, then wouldn't the choice of constitutions, be already dependent on the institutional structure? and if that is true, then wouldn't the rational individual predict a certain set of outcomes based on this institutional structure and not any random outcome; that is, wouldn't uncertainty be non-existent? Note: in the book the constitution is different from the institutional structure.

Bastiat's ''the law'' audiobook

sami.osei — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:13:35 GMT

Hi Fellas, Here is a link to download the audiobook of Frederic Bastiat's ''The Law''. Hope some of you may be interested. It is free. Credit to Freeaudio.org. Peace. Sami

Mises Book Club

Briggs — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:45:40 GMT

Welcome to the new Mises Book Club!

While still in its infancy, the club already has some content available in the Discussions and Media sections. All members are encouraged to post material in any section and anyone can comment on what has been posted. Hopefully it will become the place where Austrians go to discuss their favorite books and learn about new books. This Club will consist almost entirely of user generated content.

We hope that everyone enjoys the new Mises Book Club and we are always thrilled to receive suggestions from users.

Early Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply

Briggs — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:38:35 GMT

This book was French’s master’s thesis written under the direction of Murray Rothbard examining three of the most famous speculative bubble episodes in history through the lens of Austrian Business Cycle Theory.

This book is the first (and only) book to solve the mystery of the most famous bubble in world history: Tulipmania in 17th century Netherlands. It Is a legendary event but explanations have been lacking. People blame irrational exuberance, free markets, and an unleashed aristocracy.

Douglas French takes a different route: he follows the money, to prove that the bubble resulted from a government intervention that dramatically exploded the money supply and fueled the tulip-price bubble – not altogether different from modern bubbles.

Tulipmania was unique in that it was the sound money policy of the Dutch combined with free coinage laws that led to an acute increase in the supply of money fostering an atmosphere that was ripe for speculation and malinvestment, manifesting itself in the intense trading of tulip bulbs.

The author also examines not only the Mississippi Bubble but the life and monetary theories of its architect, John Law. Professor Joe Salerno calls Law the world’s first macroeconomist who implemented a Keynesian monetary system in France nearly two hundred years before Keynes was born. At the same time across the English Channel, a nearly bankrupt British government looked on with envy at Law’s system, believing that he was working a financial miracle. It was anything but and investors in both countries were devastated.

Although these episodes occurred centuries ago, readers will find the events eerily similar to today’s bubbles and busts: low interest rates, easy credit terms, widespread public participation, bankrupt governments, price inflation, frantic attempts by government to keep the booms going, and government bailouts of companies after the crash.

The Inflation Crisis, and How To Resolve It

Briggs — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:13:53 GMT

The Inflation Crisis and How to Resolve It , is Hazlitt's masterpiece on money. The book reappears just in time: we are in the midst of an inflation crisis even if the effects are not yet fully felt. Hazlitt wrote this book in the midst of the rampant price inflation that occurred in the 1970's but its relevance has not faded. Indeed, it is fair to say that the importance and relevance of this masterpiece has never been greater than it is today. Part of Hazlitt's genius was his singular ability to write in a way that transcends time and is not shackled to the past by changes in political winds or cultural memetic evolution.

By inflation, he didn't mean rising prices. He meant the tendency of government and the central bank to print money in pursuit of prosperity. In this sense, no book could be more directly related to our own times, as Bernanke and Company use and abuse the power of the Fed as never before.

He begins with an overview of what inflation is and covers the abysmal record of government money management. He clearly explains the cause and effect: first comes the printing and then come the business cycles and price increases. He explains that the only real cure for all of the effects is to treat the cause: end the government's power to print. For this reason, Hazlitt favors a gold standard.

The first section is perfect as an introduction to the topic but the second section is enormously valuable for anyone who wants more depth on the topic. He explains what is wrong with monetarism, what is wrong with demand-side management, what is wrong with the Phillips Curve, what is wrong with theories about "unused capacity," what is wrong with government stimulus packages, what is wrong with inflation indexing, why inflation tends to be global now, and he even adds a very thoughtful critique of Hayek's proposal for free choice among currencies: it does go nearly far enough to reform money.

From a readers point of view, Hazlitt's book is pure pleasure. As Mencken said of him, he was the only economist of his generation who could really write. He is clear as a bell, and why? Because he had a passion for explaining economics to every living person. He did not think that economics should be left to the academy or to investment firms. Like Mises, he believe it was the business of everyone.

This book came out in 1978 and it's been thirty years out of print. It was supposed to be a redo of What You Should Know About Inflation, but as Hazlitt said, it turned into a completely new book.

Anyone who has read this incredible, but short, book is encouraged to share her or his thoughts in the comments section below.

Requiem for Marx

Briggs — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:57:58 GMT

After the fall of communism, and certainly after this wide-ranging demolition of Marxism by Austrian scholars, who can possibly defend Marxism? Plenty of people, many of them smart otherwise but uneducated in economics. This book is the antidote, covering the whole history of this nutty and dangerous system of thought.

It begins by an alternatively hilarious and tragic introduction by the editor Yuri Maltsev. He describes in vivid detail life in the Soviet Union, which, he points out contrary to myth, was indeed an attempt to realize Marx's vision. Of course the system moved away from the strict doctrine, lest everyone in the country be reduced to the most primitive possible economic conditions. He describes a society in which nothing works, ethics and morals collapse, and absurdities abound in every aspect of daily life. It is a priceless first-hand account.

Next come sweeping essays by David Gordon and Hans-Hermann Hoppe that get into the guts of the Marxian system and show where it went wrong from both a philosophical and economic perspective. Hoppe in particular here shows how Marx took classical liberal doctrine on the state and misapplied it in ways that contradicted all logic and experience.

Gary North provides a devastating look at Marx the man, while Ralph Raico zeros in on the Marxian doctrine of class. Finally, and as a triumphant finish, Rothbard offers a wholesale revision of the basis of Marxism. It was not economics, he says. It was the longing for a universal upheaval to overthrow all things we know about the world and replace it with a crazed fantasy based secular/religious longings. Rothbard finds all this in the unknown writings of Marx and his post-millennial predecessors in the history of ideas.

If you have read this book please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Economics of Prohibition

Briggs — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:08:56 GMT

This is what the legendary Murray Rothbard thought of Dr. Thornton's book:

"Thornton's book... arrives to fill an enormous gap, and it does so splendidly... The drug prohibition question is... the hottest political topic today, and for the foreseeable future... This is an excellent work making an important contribution to scholarship as well as to the public policy debate."

Download the free PDF or buy a copy in the store for 50% off and let book club members know what you think!

Reassessing the Presidency

Briggs — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:59:10 GMT

The book's nearly 800 pages are broken down into small chapters written by 21 of the greatest Austrians alive today. Sure 800 pages makes it seem like a Herculean task but it truly isn't. The book is cleverly put together in a way that lends itself to be read by even the busiest person who doesn't have time to read a book from start to finish at once. It can easily be read in bits and pieces or used as an excellent reference.

If you have read this book, please comment below. Let others know if you liked it or not and to whom you would recommend this book.