Since 1986, Mises University has been the world’s leading academic program advancing Austrian economics. This July, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of our flagship event with students attending from around the world. Students were able to learn directly from leading scholars of our tradition. They connected with colleagues who share their passions and left with memories that will last a lifetime.
The event itself featured not only our foundational topics, such as money, banking, the history of Austrian economics, and the dangers of socialism, but also timely topics such as Cantillon effects and the K-shaped economy, the economics of AI, and critiques of modern monetary theory. Advanced seminars gave returning students and those in graduate programs a special opportunity to deepen their learning.
The opening address, delivered by Dr. Jörg Guido Hülsmann, perhaps best illustrated the importance of Mises U. As he noted, Lew Rockwell founded the Mises Institute at a time when the particular contributions of Ludwig von Mises lacked institutional support. With the legacies of Mises, Rothbard, and the Austrian School of economics as the foundation, Mises University began to flourish, teaching young scholars the importance of sound money, entrepreneurship, the causes of inflation, why prices are necessary, the Austrian business cycle, why interventionism is the root of economic dysfunction, and so much more.
That impact was felt not only in the United States, but worldwide. Dr. Hülsmann particularly focused on the number of European scholars who made the trip to our campus as eager students, dedicated to learning free market economics, and emerged to build their own careers and institutions. The fall of the Soviet Union opened up a new pipeline of talent from Eastern Europe, with a new generation of bright minds desperate for an alternative to the planned economies of socialism that had so devastated their families and homelands. Many of these foreign alumni have gone on to earn prominent positions within universities in their countries, to begin academic journals, and to start their own businesses. Austrian economics and the traditions of Mises and Rothbard have a universal appeal.
Lastly, it is a testament to how special this program is to see how many of this year’s faculty were once Mises University students themselves. As Dr. Joseph Salerno noted in his own opening remarks, this year the Mises faculty was filled with Mises U alumni spanning four decades. Our hope is that the lessons learned this week will inspire a new generation of Mises U faculty and scholars, and many more to come.
The winners of this year’s Mündliche Prüfung final examination were Zachary Wood, who was awarded the Douglas E. French Prize of $2,500 for first place; Ryan Turnipseed, who was awarded the Kenneth Garschina Prize of $1,500 for second place; and Jared Friesen, who was awarded the Kenneth Garschina Prize of $750 for third place. Dr. Jeffery Degner was awarded the Gary G. Schlarbaum Young Scholar’s award.
Mises University is only possible thanks to the support of our loyal donors. It is because of you that the ideas of Mises and Rothbard are globally relevant in ways these two men were never able to see in their own lives.
