Recent Podcast Episodes

From An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Volume I. Pages 67-81 in the text. Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach.

From An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Volume I. Pages 150-164 in the text. Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach.

From An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Volume I. Pages 31-47 in the text. Narrated by Jeff Riggenbach.

Carl Menger, from his classic treatise, on the origins of the means of payment.

This audio Mises Daily is narrated by Floy Lilley.

To the individualist Lao Tzu, government, with its “laws and regulations more numerous than the hairs of an ox,” was a vicious oppresso

I think of Ayn’s happiness and expectation, I think of the pain and bitter disillusion that scarred the rest of her life — and something insi

A money-substitute can be embodied either in a banknote or in a demand deposit with a bank subject to check (”checkbook money” or depos

When we disapprove of government support, we are supposed to disapprove of the thing itself whose support is discussed.

Ah, the greens. They’re not just treehuggers anymore.

Although Aristotle, in the Greek tradition, scorned moneymaking and was scarcely a partisan of laissez-faire, he set forth a trenchant argument in

Being ill is not a phenomenon independent of conscious will and of psychic forces working in the subconscious.

The task of the theory of money consists merely in dealing with that component in the valuation of money which is conditioned by its function as a

Understanding economics helps you see history better. American workers, although only lightly unionized, were more productive than others. All high standards of living are due to free markets. Governments destroy this.

Recycling happens naturally when there is market demand for waste items like plastic, paper, metal or glass, but mandated recycling does more harm than good. When do you know that recycling is worthy? You know when some person or business asks to buy your particular waste from you, not when some authority forces you to recycle.

Money originates by free markets via barter and gold and silver, not by governments via fiat. A story of Halloween candy demonstrates this.  The double coincidence of wants is solved by money. Money that will last will be six things: generally marketable, divisible, high value per unit weight (portable), durable, recognizable, and homogeneous.

Free market capitalism coordinates every stage of every production desired by consumers as if by magic. Knowing Austrian economics will allow you to see which public policies are disastrous to this productivity. Unintended consequences, opportunity cost, and pricing theory are fundamental concepts to explain human action.

Producers really are slaves to their consumers. Destruction & Production can be called Power & Market. Technology like the printing press was initially feared. It would put scribes out of business. Technology describes each generation in our human-built world.

Presented to the Auburn University Libertarians; Auburn, Alabama, on 18 November 2009.

Stolyarov reviews Robert P. Murphy’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (2009).