Austrian Economics Overview

Carl Menger, from his classic treatise, on the origins of the means of payment.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

We live in extremely dangerous times. The enemies of liberty are on the march, but they do not go unchallenged.

Recycling happens naturally when there is market demand for waste items like plastic, paper, metal or glass, but mandated recycling does more harm than good. When do you know that recycling is worthy? You know when some person or business asks to buy your particular waste from you, not when some authority forces you to recycle.

Money originates by free markets via barter and gold and silver, not by governments via fiat. A story of Halloween candy demonstrates this.  The double coincidence of wants is solved by money. Money that will last will be six things: generally marketable, divisible, high value per unit weight (portable), durable, recognizable, and homogeneous.

Free market capitalism coordinates every stage of every production desired by consumers as if by magic. Knowing Austrian economics will allow you to see which public policies are disastrous to this productivity. Unintended consequences, opportunity cost, and pricing theory are fundamental concepts to explain human action.

Producers really are slaves to their consumers. Destruction & Production can be called Power & Market. Technology like the printing press was initially feared. It would put scribes out of business. Technology describes each generation in our human-built world.

Understanding economics helps you see history better. American workers, although only lightly unionized, were more productive than others. All high standards of living are due to free markets. Governments destroy this.

Stolyarov reviews Robert P. Murphy’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (2009).

Recorded at the Mises Circle in Newport Beach, California, on November 14th, 2009. Sponsored by Louis E. Carabini.