History of the Austrian School of Economics

You'll find that even stronger than his belief in free markets was Mises's faith in the power of reason.

Economics in One Lesson has convinced me that free-market economics is as beautiful, in its way, as is a prism, a diamond, a sunset, the smile of a baby.

For until Rothbard's work is carefully studied by every advocate of liberty, the value of his contributions to the libertarian system cannot be fully appreciated and, moreover, the unity and true historical context of libertarianism will not even be fully grasped.

One of the most important principles of economics is that decisions are made at the margin, and one of the key problems in classical economics concerned the source of value.

I congratulate the Ludwig von Mises Institute for bringing back into print Hayek's writings on business cycles.

Economic knowledge gets more valuable as the economy worsens; but the economy worsens according to the level of political intervention — which is a function of economic ignorance.

Many laboring in the thriving cottage industry of Hayek biographers, critics and interpreters have commented on the transition from a "Hayek I" to a "Hayek II" that began in the late 1930s, portraying it as almost wholly an intellectual re-orientation and change in research interests. Few, if any, have recognized the radical alteration in analytical procedure and rhetorical style that characterized this transformation.

If the market is left to its own devices, the price will be an accurate reflection of what something is worth at a given point in time. When the government intervenes, it forces the prices to lie: the signals about the costs and benefits of different actions will be distorted.

"No benefit results from the mere expenditure of the money [on public works], nor the employment of the workmen employed on its construction; for, if this money had remained in the hands of the contributors, it would either directly or indirectly have put in activity an equal quantity of industry."

The Frederick L. Maier Lecture, recorded at Mises University 2008.