Gold and silver are international commodities, and, when not prohibited by government decree, foreign coins are perfectly capable of serving as standard moneys.
One of the most important concepts in economic theory is the quantity of money. However, when going from theory to practical application, things get messy.
The use of mathematics necessarily leads the economist to distort reality by making the theory convenient for mathematical symbolism and manipulation. Mathematics takes over, and the reality of human action loses out.
It was the physiocrats who broke with centuries of sound economic reasoning and contributed to what would become, in the hands of Smith and Ricardo, a reactionary and obscurantist destruction of the correct analysis of value.
The Mises Circle in Houston, Texas. Sponsored by Jeremy S. Davis. Recorded 22 January 2011.
Fifty years ago, Rothbard saw the need for institutions to support scholarship, writing, publishing, and the exchange of ideas in the libertarian tradition. Otherwise, young people will turn to political activism and find themselves drifting left and right rather than staying on the path toward liberty.
