This is a momentous year at the Mises Institute. The great Murray Rothbard would have been 100 years old on March 2. We have dedicated this year, the Year of Rothbard, to honoring his memory and championing his lifelong fight for liberty. The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is on July 4. We plan to remember this revolutionary document the right way—the Rothbardian way—reminding people how important it was in fighting for property rights and the right to secession.
But the anniversary I want to focus on here is that of Mises University. This July will be the 40th year. What a milestone! Thank you for believing in this radical program for educating students.
You have heard us say for years that Mises University is our flagship student program. In fact, it is the most important program we do at the Mises Institute. We have welcomed students from all across the world and from all walks of life to our campus to introduce them to the Austrian School’s approach to money and banking, political theory, the history of economics, the business cycle, and more.
The faculty—a large majority of who are Mises U alumni themselves—welcome and encourage questions and discussion. They feed off the enthusiasm of the students just as much as the students feed off the passion the faculty shows in their lectures. Mises U combines the energy of Ludwig von Mises’s New York seminar and the lively camaraderie of Rothbard’s informal libertarian soirees.
The first Mises University was held in 1986, and it was a radical program. No one involved back then could imagine how well it would endure and how important it would become in the fight for truth and ideas on college campuses.
Mises University is not, nor has it ever been, for the faint of heart. Students have learned from hardcore scholars since its inception in 1986. In the early years, Murray Rothbard, our first academic dean, lectured on the Federal Reserve System and the future of Austrian economics. Robert Higgs discussed the New Deal and models of government growth. Richard Vedder talked about wages and statistical malfeasance. Roger Garrison explained the Austrian theory of the trade cycle and macroeconomics. Jeff Herbener taught the theory of value and game theory.
Today, I lecture on calculation and socialism and the founding of the Austrian School, Per Bylund on entrepreneurship and regulation, Peter Klein on competition and monopoly, Jonathan Newman on the division of labor and social order, Bob Murphy on inflation and monetary theory, Timothy Terrell on free market environmentalism solutions, and Patrick Newman on cronyism and Rothbardian analysis of the US Constitution.
As you can see, Mises University’s coursework has never been light and simple. It is for serious students who have discovered they have been bamboozled by government propaganda disguised as education. Because of this, Mises U continues to draw interested students year after year.
Most of these students opt in to the rigorous exam at the end of Mises University. The first part of the exam is a comprehensive written review of coursework covered during the week. And the top students move on to an oral exam directed by Mises U faculty. Again, this is not for the faint of heart.
Many of our senior fellows, fellows, and associated scholars are Mises University alumni. We believe that rearing the next generation of great Austrian scholars—the next Rothbards, Raicos, and Henry Hazlitts—is a crucial purpose of this program. It is our mission to encourage these students to seek the truth and stand up for the ideals of liberty. As Mises said, “Only ideas can overcome ideas.” And at Mises U, we are all about the ideas.
Mises University isn’t just for the traditional student. Anyone can watch online. In 2012, we launched Virtual Mises University, the digital counterpart of the in-person event. Every year, hundreds of Mises supporters and curious people from around the world tune in to our livestream for a week in July.
Mises University is a truly life-changing experience. Our radical curriculum brings students and faculty together—away from their hostile college campuses—to engage in challenging discussions such as subjective value, entrepreneurship, competition and monopoly, and inflation. This happens both inside and outside the classroom. Because of this, we become their intellectual home. This is only possible because of our courageous supporters.
Mises University has been our most important program for 40 years, and we expect it to continue being an antidote to state education for 40 more years.
Warmest regards,
Joe Salerno, Mises University Director and Academic Vice President
