Thursday 1 September 2016

Who are the Austrian economists, and why do they matter?

 

EbelingMy very first introduction to Austrian economics was a “reader” edited by Richard Ebeling, which I still own -- and it’s still the best introduction I could recommend.

Mind you, I haven’t yet read his newest ebook, out this week: Austrian Economics & Public Policy: Restoring Freedom and Prosperity. (Buy it on Amazon for just US$4.99.)

This book [he says] is on understanding Austrian Economics and essential economic policy issues. It might be asked, what is Austrian Economics and what makes it important to better understand the economic policy issues we face today?
   In a nutshell, as I attempt to explain in the following chapters, Austrian Economics is the most powerful explanation of why governments, no matter how well-intentioned, lack the knowledge, wisdom and ability to direct the lives of multitudes of people better than those people can do for themselves if left sufficiently at liberty to do so.

To help launch the book and introduce more people to this important school of thought, Ebeling is starting a 9-part video introduction.

In this series of easy-to-understand lectures, economist Richard Ebeling introduces you to the central ideas in Austrian Economics, as well as their importance for us today.

 

 

PS: I have to point out an egregious oversight in the family tree at 15:10, which overlooks the great George Reisman, whom I like to call Ludwig Von Mises’ “Third Student,” not least because Mises’ biographer JG Hulsmann identifies him as “the third important Misesian” from among Mises’s students at NYU, after Sennholz and Kirzner..

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1 comment:

paul scott said...

Mostly new names to me. I see Mathew Ridley is deploring the policies of protection offered by Trump and the evil Clinton. I wrote a letter to the Pope recommending Ridley for Sainthood, but sometimes he seems like a Libertarian, when he is actually supposed to be a Conservative. He need to decide if he wants to be a Saint or not.