World History

Austrian economics has nothing to do with the economics of Austria. Austrian Economics (AE) began with Carl Menger in 1871. It is based on an analysis of individual action, not aggregates or groups.

The role of the intellectual is a perennial question. Why do they act the way they do? Why are they hostile to the free market? Is the state really virtuous and the market really vicious? Mises thought the anti-capitalist mentality was rooted in envy. He also thought our entire culture was soaked in contempt for money-making.

Robert Higgs critically examines how academic historians have shaped—and often distorted—our understanding of the relationship between the state and individual liberty.

Economic theory is essential for understanding history. It is difficult to interpret data without economic theory. Theory cannot come from data. All states are aggressive. All wars require economic resources. More liberal states will pursue more aggressive policies. The biggest bullies will get away with murder.

Recorded at Mises University 2003.

Recorded at the Mises Institute, May 1994.

Mises was well-versed in history, but many economists are not. History must be understood and revised. Wilson distorted the truth about how America entered WWI. The propaganda was not to be questioned. Wrong lessons are taught. The 1929 depression was displayed as proof that the free market had failed. The Treaty of Versailles continued WWI. That treaty should have been peacefully revised. Understanding history will create your political views. Wartime propaganda becomes history.

With his lack of principles and scruples, Churchill was involved in one way or another in nearly every disaster that befell the 20th century, writes Adam Young. He helped destroy laissez-faire liberalism, he played a role in the Crash of 1929, he helped start WWI, and by bringing in America to help, prolonged the war and created the conditions for the rise of Nazism, prolonged WWII, laid the groundwork for Soviet domination, helped involve America in a cold war with Russia, and pioneered in the development of total war and undermining western civilized standards.

An extraordinary and wide ranging interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe: "The apologists of the central state claim that a proliferation of independent political units would lead to economic disintegration and impoverishment. Today, however, manny small countries are all wealthier than their surroundings. Moreover, theoretical reflection also shows that this claim is just another statist myth."

Presented at the Mises Institute on June 17, 2003.