Austrian Economics Overview

[This speech was delivered at the offices of the Mises Institute, September 14, 1999, the date on which

Profit and loss is the heart of business and economic change. Entrepreneurs drive the market at every level, predicting future wants and taking risks with their property. Earning profits is never guaranteed.

The Gilded Age ushered in industrial leaders in capitalistic achievement. Success in the world of commerce reflected certain characteristics.

Instead of each person doing all of the work creating what he needs and wants, dividing the labor amongst all of us into specialties is clearly superior by increasing the productivity of labor.

Austrian economists differ from mainstream economists mainly in this way: they do not rely on mathematical models, but on understanding what causes success or failure in the real world. Opportunity costs determine the choices people make.

Recorded at the Ludwig von Mises Institute; Auburn, Alabama; 8 October 2010.

Recorded at FreedomFest, 10 July 2010. Includes an introduction by Douglas E. French.

Includes remarks and presentations by Douglas French, Joseph Salerno, Jörg Guido Hülsmann, and Dario Fernandez.

Recorded at Mises University 2010.

In defense of tax loopholes and other things that horrify “mainstream” economists. Recorded at Mises University 2010.