History of the Austrian School of Economics

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 20 July 2015.

It's been a light season for hurricanes and tropical storms in North America, and contrary to what many economics "experts" may think, that's a good thing. After all, natural disasters are extremely costly in terms of opportunity costs and capital.

Mises had diagnosed these problems long before they became apparent.  In a series of essays written between the two World Wars—but also in Omnipotent Government published in 1944—, Mises showed that in a world where governments interfere in their domestic markets, and with the monetary system, and where (economic) nationalism prevails, it is pointless to hope for any political and economic resolution from supranational organizations. The best these institutions can do is prolong the disastrous effects of government policies, and postpone—though loans and bailouts—their inevitable collapse.

Frédéric Bastiat would have turned 214 today. Although primarily remembered for The Law, Bastiat's book Economic Sophisms, filled with Bastiat's unique wit, and his ability to destroy bad economic theories, is as timely as ever.

Former Mises Institute Fellow Jingjing Wang discusses how she discovered Austrian economics in China, and her plans for the future as an Austrian economist.

In this interview, Jing Jin, Associate Dean at the China Economics and Management Academy in Beijing, discusses how Mises and Rothbard have affected her academic work, and how Austrian economics is gaining traction in China today.

In their new book The Next Generation of Austrian Economics, editors Per Bylund and David Howden bring together a thirteen young Austrian scholars into a new volume of scholarly commentary on money, banking, capital, risk, entrepreneurship, and more.

Jonathan Newman reports from this year's Austrian Economics Research Conference at the Mises Institute. As usual, this year's conference brought together some of the finest Austrian-school faculty and students from around the globe.

Today would have been the 89th birthday of Murray Rothbard. In this 1988 essay, Ron Paul explores Murray Rothbard's importance in Paul's own political career and the importance of education and scholarship in changing political realities. 

In this informative interview, Mark Thornton details how Carl Menger started the Austrian school of economics, and the possible Greek and Roman phi