[This talk was delivered on Friday, September 2, 2022, to a student workshop at the Ron Paul Institute conference in northern Virginia.]

We must, therefore, emphasize that “we” are not the government; the government is not “us.” The government does not in any accurate sense “represent” the majority of the people.

Murray Rothbard wrote this in his popular Anatomy of the State. His point still stands to this day. The state cannot be said to represent “us” in any accurate or serious way. It may be even more true today than ever before. However, what is murkier today is who “us” even is. If “we” are not the government, then who are “we?”

[Chapter 9 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer.]

By regulations, we mean restrictions imposed on the economy by government: prohibitions, license requirements, quality or safety standards, price controls, quotas, and subsidies, etc. Although they differ in their specifics and in their stated purposes, they are all implemented to induce a change in the economy.

The Boom-Bust Cycle

The economy’s constant flux is not random change but adjustments to the production apparatus in the pursuit of creating value. Value is a moving target because consumers want change over time and innovations and new opportunities. The constant adjustments mean the market is best understood as a process.

[Chapter 7 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer.]

[Chapter 6 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer.]

So far, our discussion about the economy has been exclusively from the perspective of value. Value is the ultimate goal of our actions and what motivates our behavior. It is personal—subjective—which means it comes from satisfying a want. If we are hungry, we consume food; if we feel lonely, we might visit a friend.

[Chapter 5 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer.]

Why do we produce? For the simple reason that nature doesn’t automatically satisfy all of our needs and wants. Wild animals, grains, and berries are not enough to sustain the world population. Computers, airplanes, and hospitals do not grow on trees.

[Chapter 4 of Per Bylund’s new book How to Think about the Economy: A Primer.]

To help us understand what is going on in the economy, what is important is not the types and number of goods that sit on store shelves. It is why and how they got there.