Study of the means that human beings use to satisfy their individually desired ends
See also: FreedomPedia
Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behavior and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers and sellers. Macroeconomics analyzes the entire economy (meaning aggregated production, consumption, savings and investment) and issues affecting it, including unemployment of resources (labor, capital and land), inflation, economic growth, and the public policies that address these issues (monetary, fiscal and other policies).
Featured Topics
- Money - The most commonly used medium of exchange
- Taxation - Compulsory contributions demanded by governments from individuals and other entities
Notable Topics
- Banking - The business of accepting deposits and lending money
- Comparative Advantage, Law of - Economic tenet formulated by David Ricardo, also Law of Association
- Economic Fallacies - Popular mistakes in reasoning about economic concepts
- Economic Resources - Natural, human and man-made factors used in the production of goods and services
- Economics, Austrian - The school of economic thought founded by Carl Menger
- Economics Books - Books on economics subjects
- Economic Systems - Economic, social and political forms of societal organization
- Economists - Students and teachers of economics
- Inflation - Popularly, a rise in prices of goods and services; in economics, monetary expansion
- Monopoly - Exclusive control by someone or some group of the means of producing or selling a good or service
- No Free Lunch - TANSTAAFL - There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
- Prices - Convey information between buyers and sellers
Related Groups
Reference
The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics, by David R. Henderson (editor), 15 Dec 2001
Encyclopedia, edited by David Henderson, first published in 1993 (as The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics) and since 2002 online at the Library of Economics and Liberty (EconLib.org)
Encyclopedia, edited by David Henderson, first published in 1993 (as The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics) and since 2002 online at the Library of Economics and Liberty (EconLib.org)
This highly acclaimed economics encyclopedia was first published in 1993 under the title The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics. It features easy-to-read articles by over 150 top economists, including Nobel Prize winners, over 80 biographies of famous economists, and many tables and charts illustrating economics in action. With David R. Henderson’s permission and encouragement, the Econlib edition of this work includes links, additions, and corrections.
Bibliography
Economics - Online Library of Liberty
Over 500 titles, including works by Adam Smith, Condillac, J. B. Say, Frédéric Bastiat, Richard Cobden, David Ricardo, J. S. Mill, Lysander Spooner, Gustave de Molinari, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, F. A. Hayek, James Buchanan and Israel Kirzner
Over 500 titles, including works by Adam Smith, Condillac, J. B. Say, Frédéric Bastiat, Richard Cobden, David Ricardo, J. S. Mill, Lysander Spooner, Gustave de Molinari, Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, F. A. Hayek, James Buchanan and Israel Kirzner
Classic works in the discipline are joined by explorations of how economic reasoning applies to political science and other social sciences, as well as the relevance of economics as moral philosophy. A consistent theme is the view that economics is the study of human choice and its consequences, both intended and unintended.
Articles
The Affordable Care Act Doesn't Go That Way, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 1 Nov 2013
Examines the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from the perspective of basic economics and its unintended consequences
Examines the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act from the perspective of basic economics and its unintended consequences
The laws of economics and politics thwart the best intentions. Sheer will is not enough to overcome [the unmovable] obstacles [to making government policy], because they are implicit in the logical structure of human action ... Frédéric Bastiat taught us that thinking like an economist means looking for secondary unseen consequences. What will not happen because of the politicians' impositions? ... [T]he laws of economics say that government cannot subsidize demand for services and respect freedom of choice and fulfill its promise to "bend the cost curve downward."
Anarcho-Communism, by Murray N. Rothbard, The Libertarian Forum, 1 Jan 1970
Critique of anarcho-communism, examining its presumed voluntary nature, and its philosophical and economics orientation
Critique of anarcho-communism, examining its presumed voluntary nature, and its philosophical and economics orientation
It is no accident that it was precisely the economists in the Communist countries who led the rush away from communism, socialism, and central planning, and toward free markets. It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a "dismal science". But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. Yet this sort of aggressive ignorance is inherent in the creed of anarcho-communism.
Areopagitica: Milton's Influence on Classical and Modern Political and Economic Thought, by Isaac M. Morehouse, 15 Dec 2009
Discusses the four sections of Milton's 1644 pamphlet, the reasons for which and the environment in which it was published, and various lessons or parallels that can be made from an economic and political philosophy perspective
Discusses the four sections of Milton's 1644 pamphlet, the reasons for which and the environment in which it was published, and various lessons or parallels that can be made from an economic and political philosophy perspective
Free speech is a precondition to good economics. On a more abstract level, economists cannot isolate "economic" behavior and policy from "social" behavior and policy, and a robust study of economic relations requires an understanding of all human relations ... Milton's work has something to teach economists, not only in its content, but in its style and strategy. Milton did not restrict his theories on free speech to scholarly journals ... Economists who lament the lack of economic knowledge of the "man on the street," and the preponderance of antigrowth economic policy which results, have much to learn from Milton.
Aristotle Understood the Importance of Property, by Richard M. Ebeling, 27 Sep 2016
Discusses Aristotle's views on private property and property rights (contrasting them with those of Plato), the "ends" of human life, economics ("household management"), wealth acquisition, prices, money and related topics
Discusses Aristotle's views on private property and property rights (contrasting them with those of Plato), the "ends" of human life, economics ("household management"), wealth acquisition, prices, money and related topics
Wealth, therefore, in Aristotle's view, is a legitimate subject for study as an essential means to the proper ends of man. Thus, we find in Aristotle a subject matter called oikonomik, or "household management." ... Aristotle classified "Economics," or "household-management," as a "natural" pursuit in that it is conduct proper and essential to human existence and the fulfillment of man's nature in developing his inherent potential for "good" as a human being. It incorporates both the production and consumption of wealth in attaining those "higher" ends.
The Austrian Economists, by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Jan 1891
Explains some of the major tenets of the Austrian school -just two decades after publication of its seminal treatise, contrasting them with the views of classical economics and the historical school; paper solicited by the editors of the magazine
Explains some of the major tenets of the Austrian school -just two decades after publication of its seminal treatise, contrasting them with the views of classical economics and the historical school; paper solicited by the editors of the magazine
To explain the modern economic order there is, apparently, need of two processes: 1st, ... we must understand the relation of our interests to external goods; 2d, we must seek to understand the laws, according to which we pursue our interests when they are entangled with the interests of others. No one has ever been deluded into thinking that this second process is not difficult and involved—not even the classical economists. But ... they fatally underrated the difficulties of the first process ... The two processes of explanation must fit together like the two cogwheels of a machine.
Book Note: Rothbard: Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles [PDF], by Manuel S. Klausner, New York University Law Review, Jun 1963
Review of Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State with emphasis on areas of interest to lawyers
Review of Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State with emphasis on areas of interest to lawyers
Because economic issues underlie and permeate much of law and politics today, it is imperative that lawyers study and comprehend economics ... That the content of many of the courses in the legal curriculum deals with government control and regulation of business illustrates the need for a closer association between law and economics. A study of the legal aspects of the antitrust laws, for example, is incomplete without a grasp of the underlying economic principles ... Despite this manifest necessity for economic education ..., such training has been neglected in the curriculum ...
Complex Societies Need Simple Laws, by John Stossel, 15 Mar 2012
Reflects on the "uncountable" number of laws and regulations in the United States as well as Britain, and elicits the views of Lǎozǐ, Hayek, Buchanan and Mises in favor of ending "the orgy of rule-making"
Reflects on the "uncountable" number of laws and regulations in the United States as well as Britain, and elicits the views of Lǎozǐ, Hayek, Buchanan and Mises in favor of ending "the orgy of rule-making"
F.A. Hayek wisely said, "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design." Another Nobel laureate, James M. Buchanan, put it this way: "Economics is the art of putting parameters on our utopias." ... "With good men and strong governments everything was considered feasible," the great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises wrote. But with the advent of economics, "it was learned that ... there is something operative which power and force are unable to alter ... in precisely the same way as ... the laws of nature."
Don't Look for Grown-Ups in Government, by Sheldon Richman, 16 Oct 2013
Responds to pundits demanding adult, i.e., responsible, behavior from politicians, in particular with regard to lifting the debt ceiling (which kept the U.S. government partially closed in early Oct 2013)
Responds to pundits demanding adult, i.e., responsible, behavior from politicians, in particular with regard to lifting the debt ceiling (which kept the U.S. government partially closed in early Oct 2013)
[P]eople untrained in the economic way of thinking will have difficulty tracing bad consequences to the politicians' bad decisions. If you're an unemployed unskilled worker, you may not realize that politicians who passed the minimum wage are responsible for pricing you out of a job. Similarly, if you'd like to escape wage employment and work for yourself, you might not realize that politicians have placed a dozen tollgates on the road to self-employment ... Tracing economic effects to their public-policy causes is no easy matter. It requires economic understanding, which most people lack.
The Drug War's Immorality and Abject Failure, by Anthony Gregory, Freedom Daily, Jul 2006
Discusses how drug use differs from criminal, property-rights violations, the justifications for the drug war and the many areas where it has had detrimental effects on society: inner cities, rule of law, foreign relations, etc.
Discusses how drug use differs from criminal, property-rights violations, the justifications for the drug war and the many areas where it has had detrimental effects on society: inner cities, rule of law, foreign relations, etc.
No matter how much of a utopia one may think would result if drugs were eliminated, it's not going to happen, and certainly not by using government force. The laws of economics, the principles of supply, demand, and human action that undermine socialist systems, also undermine the war on drugs. Millions want to use drugs and no government program will stop them all, or even most, as long as they are willing to pay and a supplier is willing to sell. The more the state ratchets up the drug war, the higher the profits at stake, and the more innovative and determined the dealers become.
Economics 101, by Walter E. Williams, 7 Jun 2000
After describing some basic economics principles, examines worthwhile rationales for public-policy mandates such as setting a 5 mph national speed limit or requiring gun safety-locks to prevent child deaths from gun accidents
After describing some basic economics principles, examines worthwhile rationales for public-policy mandates such as setting a 5 mph national speed limit or requiring gun safety-locks to prevent child deaths from gun accidents
More than anything else, economics is a way of thinking. At the heart of economics are several simple and easily observable characteristics of humans and the world in which we live. The first is that people prefer more of those things that give them satisfaction and fewer of those things that give them dissatisfaction. Second, when the cost of something goes down, people tend to take or do more of it, and when the cost of something increases, people tend to take or do less of it. Finally, having more of one thing requires less of something else.
Related Topics: Children, No Free Lunch
The Economics Behind the U.S. Government's Unwinnable War on Drugs, by Benjamin Powell, 1 Jul 2013
Analyzes the economics of the drug war, including the demand-supply effects of prohibition on both users and distributors, the effects of higher prices and variable quality, comparisons to alcohol prohibition and external effects
Analyzes the economics of the drug war, including the demand-supply effects of prohibition on both users and distributors, the effects of higher prices and variable quality, comparisons to alcohol prohibition and external effects
Economics is a science of means and ends. Thus, the question for economics is whether the means—drug prohibition—is effective in promoting the ends of greater health, safety, and productivity, as well as lower violence and criminal justice costs ... [T]he penalties for distribution ... have always been much harsher than the punishments for possession ... [E]nforcement devoted to interdiction of imports and the breaking up of dealer networks continues. In short, while there are demand-side penalties, the U.S. government's war on drugs is primarily a supply-side war.
Related Topics: War on Drugs, Prohibition, Right Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, Taxation
Economics Is Fun, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., 27 Apr 2007
Review of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (2007) by Robert P. Murphy
Review of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (2007) by Robert P. Murphy
Now the first book someone should read on economics is probably still Henry Hazlitt's little classic Economics in One Lesson, whose short, easy-to-understand text teaches you how to think like an economist. But Robert Murphy’s Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism builds skillfully on that indispensable volume ... Plenty of people carelessly suppose that reading an economics book must be unspeakable drudgery. To the contrary, [Murphy's book] is great fun, written by a scholar with the ability ... to explain difficult concepts in an easy-to-understand way for the general public.
Related Topics: Frédéric Bastiat, Transportation
The Economics Lesson Obama Needs to Learn, by Sheldon Richman, 25 Jul 2013
Explains economics (scarcity, the marketplace, entrepreneurship) in simple terms and contrasts government projects and "services" to those undertaken or provided subject to the market test of the consumers
Explains economics (scarcity, the marketplace, entrepreneurship) in simple terms and contrasts government projects and "services" to those undertaken or provided subject to the market test of the consumers
We live in a world of scarcity. At any given time our ends outnumber the means to achieve them. Hence we economize ... Resources, labor, and time devoted to one purpose can't also be used for other purposes, and the alternative forgone is the true cost of any action. We individually choose among competing ends after assessing the trade-offs, because we don't want inadvertently to give up something we prefer in exchange for something we don't value as much. The marketplace, when it's free of government privilege and regulation, lets us accomplish this to a remarkable degree.
The Economics of Self-Ownership, by Michael Rozeff, Mises Daily, 6 Sep 2005
Explores ten economic arguments in justification of the self-ownership axiom
Explores ten economic arguments in justification of the self-ownership axiom
Economics as a science has a two-fold role. First, it provides the proper logical basis for understanding highly complex social, economic and political phenomena. A good deal of headway can be made by the application of Austrian methods, including a priori knowledge, deduction from basic axioms, a thorough subjective approach, and so on ... Second, economics provides the correct basis for evaluating and interpreting historical data and experience ... One cannot evaluate past causes and effects properly without a firm understanding of economics, among other disciplines.
The Economic Way of Thinking about Health Care, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 20 Feb 2015
Discusses voicing of opinions on public policy, as exemplified by Mike Lupica's comment on "health insurance for all", without having knowledge of economics, the corruption of the meaning of "insurance" and the goal of universal and affordable healthcare
Discusses voicing of opinions on public policy, as exemplified by Mike Lupica's comment on "health insurance for all", without having knowledge of economics, the corruption of the meaning of "insurance" and the goal of universal and affordable healthcare
It's appropriate to begin with this ... reminder from Murray Rothbard:
It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a "dismal science." But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.(By the way, ... economics was dubbed the "dismal science" ... because the British conservative opponents of the 19th-century liberal economists saw the liberating potential of free markets for common people, especially black people ...)
The Fable of the Bees Tells the Story of Society, by Richard Ebeling, 15 Nov 2016
Discusses the "moral" of Mandeville's work The Fable of the Bees, that "prosperous, wealthy and great societies only arise from men's self-interested desires"
Discusses the "moral" of Mandeville's work The Fable of the Bees, that "prosperous, wealthy and great societies only arise from men's self-interested desires"
[T]he theory of emergent spontaneous order demonstrated that ... the social order showed coordinating pattern, structure, and self-correcting potential that often was superior in its beneficial effects for promoting a betterment of the human condition than any purposeful creation or direction of social processes by government ... This, more than anything, can be said to be the beginning of the development of a science of economics–a systematic analysis of the processes of interpersonal coordination of multitudes of people's actions within a market-based system of division of labor.
Related Topics: Bernard Mandeville, Society
The Failure of Macroeconomics, by John H. Cochrane, The Wall Street Journal, 2 Jul 2014
Discusses the views of various economists on the slow GDP growth after the 2008 recession, what are the causes and what can be done about it
Discusses the views of various economists on the slow GDP growth after the 2008 recession, what are the causes and what can be done about it
Output per capita fell almost 10 percentage points ... Where macroeconomists differ, sharply, is on the causes of the post-recession slump and which policies might cure it ... Paul Krugman likewise rails against "generations of economists" who are "viewing the world through a haze of equations." Well, maybe they're right. Social sciences can go off the rails for 50 years. I think Keynesian economics did just that. But if economics is as ephemeral as philosophy or literature, then it cannot don the mantle of scientific expertise to demand trillions of public expenditure.
Related Topic: Broken Window Fallacy
A First Analysis of the Category of Action: Ends and Means, by Ludwig von Mises, Human Action, 1949
First section of chapter 4, chosen for its insights into describing what economics is about, contrasting it to other sciences and technologies
First section of chapter 4, chosen for its insights into describing what economics is about, contrasting it to other sciences and technologies
Economics is not about things and tangible material objects; it is about men, their meanings and actions ... It is the task of scientific technology and therapeutics to explode errors in their respective fields. It is the task of economics to expose erroneous doctrines in the field of social action ... Present-day medicine considers ... the therapeutic effects of mandrake as a fable. But as long as people took this fable as truth, mandrake was an economic good ... In dealing with prices economics does not ask what things are in the eyes of other people, but only what they are in the meaning of those intent upon getting them.
Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850): Between the French and Marginalist Revolutions, by Thomas J. DiLorenzo, 2000
Biographical and bibliographical essay which also analyzes Bastiat's ideas in relation to the Austrian School
Biographical and bibliographical essay which also analyzes Bastiat's ideas in relation to the Austrian School
The way in which Bastiat described economics ... is virtually identical to what modern Austrians label the science of human action, or praxeology. Bastiat wrote ... how "The subject of political economy is MAN ... [who is] endowed with the ability to compare, judge, choose, and act.... This faculty ... to work for each other, to transmit their efforts and to exchange their services through time and space ... is precisely what constitutes Economic Science." ... Bastiat viewed economics as "the Theory of Exchange" where the desires of market participants "cannot be weighed or measured ..."
Related Topics: Frédéric Bastiat, Capitalism, Austrian Economics, Free Market, Free trade, Land, Property Rights, Socialism, The State
Frédéric Bastiat and Subjective Marginal Utility, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 2 Aug 2013
After discussing marginal utility as presented by Menger and the Austrian school, examines how Bastiat anticipated many of the same concepts in his writings
After discussing marginal utility as presented by Menger and the Austrian school, examines how Bastiat anticipated many of the same concepts in his writings
In the 1870s economics took a radical turn in what is known as the "marginal revolution." Whereas the classical economists ... cleaved use-value from exchange-value and thought in terms of the total utility and total supplies of goods, Carl Menger, William Stanley Jevons, and Leon Walras realized that people act at the margin. They never choose between all the water and all the diamonds; rather, they act to acquire an additional unit of water or that particular diamond. How one views a unit of a good depends on how many one already has, as well as what one must give up to obtain it.
Frédéric Bastiat: Two Hundred Years On, by Joseph R. Stromberg, 2001
Extensive survey of Bastiat's life and writings; "EH" refers to Economic Harmonies, "Sophisms" to Economic Sophisms, "Essays" to Selected Essays in Political Economy (all three translations from FEE, 1964)
Extensive survey of Bastiat's life and writings; "EH" refers to Economic Harmonies, "Sophisms" to Economic Sophisms, "Essays" to Selected Essays in Political Economy (all three translations from FEE, 1964)
Bastiat says that economics does not state, "'I urge you, I advise you, not to get too close to the fire'; or: 'I have thought up a social order; the gods have inspired me to create institutions that will keep you far enough away from the fire.' No; political economy notes that fire burns, announces the fact, proves it, and does the same for all similar phenomena of the moral or economic order, convinced that this is all that is necessary. It assumes than an unwillingness to be burned to death is a basic, innate attitude that it did not create and that it cannot alter" (EH, p. 527).
Related Topics: Frédéric Bastiat, Ethics, Free trade, Occupational Licensing, Franz Oppenheimer, Property Rights, Murray N. Rothbard, Socialism, Society, The State
Friedrich A. Hayek (1899-1992), by Peter J. Boettke, The Freeman, Aug 1992
Lengthy biographical essay, including Hayek's criticism of Keynes and the impact of The Road to Serfdom
Lengthy biographical essay, including Hayek's criticism of Keynes and the impact of The Road to Serfdom
Hayek pinpointed the fundamental problem with Keynes's economics—his failure to understand the role that interest rates and capital structure play in a market economy. Because of Keynes's unfortunate habit of using aggregate (collective) concepts, he failed to address these issues adequately in A Treatise on Money (1930). Hayek pointed out that Keynes's aggregation tended to redirect the analytical focus of the economist away from examining how the industrial structure of the economy emerged from the economic choices of individuals.
Related Topics: Austrian Economics, F. A. Hayek, Rule of Law, Ludwig von Mises, The Road to Serfdom, Socialism
Give Freedom Its Turn in Latin America, by Manuel F. Ayau, Imprimis, Nov 1984
Paper delivered as part of a seminar in the Center for Constructive Alternatives; argues that problems in Latin American countries are systemic and are due to a "lack of understanding of the economic principles and ethics of a free society"
Paper delivered as part of a seminar in the Center for Constructive Alternatives; argues that problems in Latin American countries are systemic and are due to a "lack of understanding of the economic principles and ethics of a free society"
Understanding how people work together in a free society in their quest for happiness and well-being deserves as much priority as the three R's. Economic illiteracy is the biggest obstacle to freedom, not only in Latin America, but throughout the world. I am speaking of basic concepts, not of elaborated and sophisticated fine points. The consequences of this illiteracy are tragic. And among the illiterates, I am referring to successful bankers, university professors, newspapermen, religious leaders, and so forth—not simply the masses.
Give Me Liberty [PDF], by Rose Wilder Lane, 1936
Originally published as an article titled "Credo" in the Saturday Evening Post; describes her experiences in and history of Soviet Russia and Europe, contrasting them with the history of the United States, emphasizing the individualist themes
Originally published as an article titled "Credo" in the Saturday Evening Post; describes her experiences in and history of Soviet Russia and Europe, contrasting them with the history of the United States, emphasizing the individualist themes
Economics, however, is not concerned with abstract principles and general laws, but with material things ... Economic power in action is subject to an infinity of immediately unpredictable crises affecting material things; it is subject to drought, storm, flood, earthquake and pestilence, to fashion, and diseases, and insects, to the breaking down and the wearing out of machinery. And economics enters into the minute detail of each person's existence—into his eating, drinking, working, playing, and personal habits.
Related Topics: American Revolutionary War, United States Bill of Rights, Bureaucracy, California, Capitalism, Democratic Party, Economic Resources, Farming, France, Germany, Government, Hungary, Italy, Thomas Jefferson, Kentucky, Liberty, Individual Liberty, Militarism, Nonviolent resistance, Personal Responsibility, Political Parties, Republican Party, Socialism, United States
Hazlitt, Henry (1894-1993), by Bettina Bien Greaves, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008Biographical and bibliographical essay
In 1946, Hazlitt wrote and published his most popular book, Economics in One Lesson. It became a best-seller, was translated into 10 languages, and still sells thousands ... The Failure of the "New Economics" contributed to a much more sophisticated understanding of the economics of the modern world. Chapter by chapter, he criticized John Maynard Keynes's The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, which explained why Keynes's politically popular inflationary recommendations would fail to solve unemployment, work against the revival trade, and even exacerbate the economic slump.
Henry Hazlitt, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 1998
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Biographical and bibliographical essay
If you want to know where American supporters of free markets learned economics, take a look at Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. A brilliant and pithy work first published in 1946, at a time of rampant statism at home and abroad, it taught millions the bad consequences of putting government in charge of economic life. College students all across America and the world still use it and learn from it. It may be the most popular economics text ever written ... Hazlitt was not trained as an economist, although few scholars are as familiar with the relevant literature.
How I Became a Libertarian and an Austrian Economist, by Richard M. Ebeling, 2 May 2016
Autobiographical essay highlighting the people and events who influenced Ebeling in his path to libertarianism and Austrian economics
Autobiographical essay highlighting the people and events who influenced Ebeling in his path to libertarianism and Austrian economics
Going through every issue of [old] economics journals especially from the 1880s through the 1940s, and reading many of the articles by the various authors in each issue (not just Austrians) made it very clear to me that mainstream microeconomics and macroeconomics was a narrow and false conception of all that had been written and insightfully understood by a large number of economists, the vast majority of whom had gone down an Orwellian "memory hole." There had been a wonderful world of economics before John Maynard Keynes and Paul Samuelson.
Illicit Drugs, by Bruce L. Benson, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Reviews various arguments made to justify the drug war (e.g., property crime, violence) versus the actual effects of prohibition (e.g., black markets, asset forfeiture)
Reviews various arguments made to justify the drug war (e.g., property crime, violence) versus the actual effects of prohibition (e.g., black markets, asset forfeiture)
For drug prohibition to prove a success, the laws of economics would have to be repealed. Large-scale interdiction of marijuana ... had the predictable effect of increasing the price. Because the law of demand dictates that consumers will buy less when prices rise, it follows that they are more likely to turn to substitutes. One study found that young users drank more beer when the price of marijuana increased, which, in turn, led to more traffic fatalities. Another reported a precipitous increase in crystal methamphetamine use after a crop destruction program decimated Hawaii's marijuana supply.
Immortal Keynes?, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 23 May 2014
Examines reasons for the continued acceptance of Keynes' economic prescriptions, surveying Lawrence H. White's The Clash of Economic Ideas: The Great Policy Debates and Experiments of the Last Hundred Years (2012)
Examines reasons for the continued acceptance of Keynes' economic prescriptions, surveying Lawrence H. White's The Clash of Economic Ideas: The Great Policy Debates and Experiments of the Last Hundred Years (2012)
Keynes made his name by rejecting the established understanding, which began with the classical economists (if not earlier) and was further developed by the Austrians, that—when governments give them the chance—ailing economies fix themselves and resume their beneficial equilibrating processes. That is, left to their own devices, people adjust their behavior and restore the market's coordinating powers, overcoming the previous disruption ... Keynes did not see production as a multistage process through time ... and did not believe that interest rates balance saving and investment.
Related Topics: F. A. Hayek, Unemployment
The Impoverishing Effects of Foreign Aid [PDF], by Manuel Ayau, Cato Journal, 1984
Analyzes the 1980s debt crisis, from the viewpoint of creditor and debtor countries, suggesting some solutions such as removing trade barriers, ending debtor government interventionist policies and creditor government foreign aid and subsidized bail-outs
Analyzes the 1980s debt crisis, from the viewpoint of creditor and debtor countries, suggesting some solutions such as removing trade barriers, ending debtor government interventionist policies and creditor government foreign aid and subsidized bail-outs
[T]he crux of the problem of inefficient production is a problem of education—not ... of illiteracy, but ... of the total failure of education at the highest level to convey an understanding of basic economic concepts. I am not necessarily referring to knowledge of economics on the part of holders of degrees in economics. I am referring mainly to intelligent, articulate policy makers, most of whom have a college education. I came to this conclusion when in my quest for answers ..., for every sensible explanation, I would encounter hundreds of unsatisfactory, contradictory rationalizations ...
Introduction, by Donald Rutherford (editor), Collected Works of Nassau William Senior, 1998
Biographical and bibliographical essay on Nassau William Senior
Biographical and bibliographical essay on Nassau William Senior
'Commonsense', [Senior] observed, is a faulty guide in economic matters, as the examples of mercantilism and Napoleon's protectionism show. Instead what is needed is a political economy based on a few general propositions:
Firstly. That wealth consists of all those things, and of those things only, which are transferable; which are limited in quantity; and which, directly or indirectly, produce pleasure or prevent pain or, ..., which are susceptible of exchange; (including under exchange, hire, as well as absolute purchase;) or, to use a third equivalent expression, which have value ...
James Buchanan's Subjectivist Economics, by Sheldon Richman, Future of Freedom, Apr 2013
Reviews Buchanan's writings in What Should Economists Do? (1979), a collection of several of his essays
Reviews Buchanan's writings in What Should Economists Do? (1979), a collection of several of his essays
This insight on spontaneous order informs Buchanan's other writings on the nature of economics. The "economic problem" that has been so much the focus of modern economics refers to the allocation of scarce resources among given ends. Economics is thus reduced to a mathematical problem, joining utility functions to resource constraints in order to find the optimal allocation. "I want economists to quit concerning themselves with allocation problems per se, with the problem, as it has been traditionally defined," Buchanan wrote ... "I want them to concentrate on exchange rather than choice."
James M. Buchanan and the Rebirth of Political Economy, by Peter J. Boettke, Economics and its Discontents, 1998
Examines Buchanan's contributions in bursting the "romantic vision of political science," advancing subjectivism as a challenge to modern economics formalism and re-integrating moral philosophy into economics
Examines Buchanan's contributions in bursting the "romantic vision of political science," advancing subjectivism as a challenge to modern economics formalism and re-integrating moral philosophy into economics
[T]he basic propositions which guide [Buchanan's] work can be summarized neatly ...
- Economics is a "science" but not like the physical sciences ...
- Economics is about choice and processes of adjustment, not states of rest. Equilibrium models are only useful when we recognize their limits.
- Economics is about exchange, not about maximizing. Exchange activity, arbitrage, that should be the central focus of economic analysis.
- Economics is about individual actors, not collective entities. Only individuals choose.
- Economics is about a game played within rules. ...
Jean-Baptiste Say: Neglected Champion of Laissez-Faire, by Larry J. Sechrest, 15 Jul 2000
Biographical and bibliographical essay, discussing Say's life, methodology and his writings on money, banking, the law of markets, entrepreneurship, capital, interest, value, utility, taxes and the state
Biographical and bibliographical essay, discussing Say's life, methodology and his writings on money, banking, the law of markets, entrepreneurship, capital, interest, value, utility, taxes and the state
A statistical description "does not indicate the origin and consequences of the facts it has collected." For Say, only a causal analysis based on the essential natures of the entities involved can achieve that end, and such an analysis is the core task of political economy. He sees economics as a genuine science capable of establishing "absolute truths," but insists that it "has only become a science since it has been confined to the results of inductive investigation." ... For Say ... economics is ... a subject of enormous practical importance accessible to all.
Related Topics: Banking, Austrian Economics, Entrepreneurship, Free Market, Money, Prices, Jean-Baptiste Say, Adam Smith, Taxation
Julian Simon, combatant in a 200-year war, by Thomas Sowell, 12 Feb 1998
Memorial essay, pointing out that Simon's death occurred near the 200th anniversary of Thomas Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population, and describing his famous bet with Paul Ehrlich
Memorial essay, pointing out that Simon's death occurred near the 200th anniversary of Thomas Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population, and describing his famous bet with Paul Ehrlich
Ehrlich and his fellow hysterics chose a bundle of ten natural resources and a period of ten years. At the end of the decade, not only was the real cost of that bundle lower than at the beginning, every single natural resource [of] the Ehrlich camp ... had a lower real cost than when the decade began. If we were really running low on these reso-urces, they would be getting progressively more expensive, instead of progressively cheaper. This is elementary supply-and-demand economics. But those addicted to overpopulation hysteria are no more interested in economics than they are in evidence.
Related Topic: Julian Simon
Letters to Mr. Malthus, on Several Subjects of Political Economy, and on the Cause of the Stagnation of Commerce, by Jean-Baptiste Say, 1820
Original title: Lettres à M. Malthus, sur différens sujets d'économie politique, notamment sur les causes de la stagnation générale du commerce
Series of five letters from Say to Malthus, written in response to the latter's criticisms in Principles of Political Economy (1820); the letters were translated from the French by John Richter
Original title: Lettres à M. Malthus, sur différens sujets d'économie politique, notamment sur les causes de la stagnation générale du commerce
Series of five letters from Say to Malthus, written in response to the latter's criticisms in Principles of Political Economy (1820); the letters were translated from the French by John Richter
You say (p. 495), "That in some cases it is contrary to sound principles of political economy to advise saving." I repeat, Sir, that sound political economy is not apt to advise; it shews what a capital judiciously employed adds to the power of industry, in the same manner as sound agricultural knowledge teaches what a well-managed irrigation adds to the power of the soil; and after this it leaves to the world the truths which it demonstrates; of which every one is to avail himself according to his intelligence and capacity.
Related Topics: Capital Goods, Capitalism, Entrepreneurship, Europe, Farming, Free trade, Government, Labor, Prices, Adam Smith, Taxation, Technology, United States
Ludwig von Mises and the Justification of the Liberal Order, by William Baumgarth, The Economics of Ludwig von Mises, 15 Nov 1974
Critically examines various Mises' writings on liberalism, democracy, the wisdom of the masses, special-interest politics, equal treatment under the law, anarchism, self-determination and of course economics
Critically examines various Mises' writings on liberalism, democracy, the wisdom of the masses, special-interest politics, equal treatment under the law, anarchism, self-determination and of course economics
According to Mises, economics as an a priori science provides men with a set of cognitive categories for viewing the actions of others. By viewing economics as the science of human action carried out under conditions of scarcity, Mises declared that there is no sphere of human activity not subject to economic analysis: Economics is "the science of every kind of human action. Choosing determines all human decisions. In making his choice man chooses not only between various material things and services. All human values are offered for option."
Related Topics: Anarchism, Democracy, Founding Fathers, Free Market, Limited Government, Ludwig von Mises, Praxeology, Private Property
Milton Friedman (1912-2006), by Richard M. Ebeling, Sheldon Richman, 17 Nov 2006
Memorial tribute, highlighting Friedman's role in opposing Keynesianism, and his books and other public activities (a revised version appeared in The Freeman Dec 2006)
Memorial tribute, highlighting Friedman's role in opposing Keynesianism, and his books and other public activities (a revised version appeared in The Freeman Dec 2006)
As a professor of economics ..., [Friedman] is widely credited with overturning the dominant Keynesian paradigm regarding the tradeoff between unemployment and inflation ... In the post-World War II era, when Keynesianism dominated the economics profession, [he] undertook a series of studies to undermine some of Keynes's leading assumptions ... Friedman was able to show that the macroeconomic policymakers would never have sufficient knowledge about changing market conditions to successfully manipulate the fiscal and monetary policy tools in a timely manner.
Mises, Ludwig von (1881-1972), by Leland B. Yeager, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Biographical and bibliographical essay
One need not agree with every detail of Mises's economic teachings to be awed by his accomplishment. He presented economic theory in a comprehensive and integrated way as but one aspect, although the major aspect, of the broader science of human action that he called praxeology ... Economics explains the harmonious coordination of radically decentralized decisions and actions taken by individuals pursuing their own diverse goals. Social cooperation is Mises's term for the framework of peaceful and productive interaction that enables individuals to reap gains from trade ...
Monetary Central Planning and the State, Part XVIII: Say's Law of Markets and Keynesian Economics, by Richard M. Ebeling, Freedom Daily, Jun 1998
Contrasts the views of John Maynard Keynes with "the commonsense foundations of economics" by explaining the basics of exchange and markets, and discussing Say's Law and John Stuart Mill's refinement
Contrasts the views of John Maynard Keynes with "the commonsense foundations of economics" by explaining the basics of exchange and markets, and discussing Say's Law and John Stuart Mill's refinement
Keynes stated that "the composition of [General Theory] has been for the author a long struggle of escape ... a struggle of escape from habitual modes of thought and expression." What Keynes struggled to escape from were the commonsense foundations of economics. From Adam Smith ... to the Austrian economists ..., economics has developed and been refined into the study of human action and the logic of human choice. Over 200 years, economists came to more clearly understand that nothing happens in society or in the market that does not first begin with the actions and decisions of individuals.
Morals and the Welfare State, by F. A. Harper, 1951
Examines five moral principles by which the idea of the Welfare State (described in more detail in an appendix) can be judged; extension of talk given 13 June 1951; later published as "Morals and Liberty" (see The Freeman, Sep 1971)
Examines five moral principles by which the idea of the Welfare State (described in more detail in an appendix) can be judged; extension of talk given 13 June 1951; later published as "Morals and Liberty" (see The Freeman, Sep 1971)
Economics and morals are both parts of one inseparable body of Truth ... Yet many economists ... presume to draw some kind of an impassable line of distinction between [them] ... Some even scorn the moral base for testing economic concepts, as though it would somehow pollute their economic purity ... This viewpoint—that there is no necessary connection between morals and economics—is all too prevalent. It explains, I believe, why immoral economic acts are tolerated, if not actively promoted, by persons of high repute who otherwise may be considered to be persons of high moral standards.
Mr. Bush, Mind Your Own Business, by Sheldon Richman, 21 Oct 2005
Criticizes George W. Bush's unsolicited advice to Americans that they should drive less in order to conserve gasoline
Criticizes George W. Bush's unsolicited advice to Americans that they should drive less in order to conserve gasoline
With gasoline prices higher and incomes unchanged, obviously each of us faces new budget constraints ... If a person chooses to drive less, he will eliminate inessential driving—inessential according to his personal preferences. If Mr. Jones cuts out his trips to the health club, but continues his drives in the country, we are entitled to conclude that he has chosen the more important over the less important uses of his car. That is necessarily revealed by his actions. No one can choose the less important over the more important. To think this is possible is to misunderstand the concept "choose."
Murray N. Rothbard: Mr. Libertarian, by Wendy McElroy, 6 Jul 2000
A tribute to Rothbard as a "system builder," an integrator of multiple disciplines into a "philosophy of freedom"; examines several of Rothbard's essays and books
A tribute to Rothbard as a "system builder," an integrator of multiple disciplines into a "philosophy of freedom"; examines several of Rothbard's essays and books
[In Part II of Ethics], Rothbard began by using ... "one of the most commonly derided constructions of classical economic theory"–the Robinson Crusoe model. This approach ... has been widely criticized, most prominently by Karl Marx ... Rothbard did not believe Crusoe lost his essential humanity by being in isolation ... Crusoe still judged the goods he had ... according to marginal utility. He also had to produce before he could consume ... Then ... Friday is introduced in order to go beyond the economic principle of production to the principle of exchange, both economic and psychological.
Related Topics: Roy Childs, Ethics, Free Market, Libertarianism, Liberty, Man, Economy, and State, Ludwig von Mises, Property Rights, Murray N. Rothbard, The State, War
The Nature and Significance of Economic Education, by Israel Kirzner, The Freeman, Oct 1998
Revised version of lecture given 19 March 1998; explains why economic education of both the general public and legislators is needed and why a teacher, such as Mises, must remain scientifically detached even if passionate about the teaching goals
Revised version of lecture given 19 March 1998; explains why economic education of both the general public and legislators is needed and why a teacher, such as Mises, must remain scientifically detached even if passionate about the teaching goals
Economics is a science; the truth of its predictions does not depend on whether or not we find these truths palatable. But this ... does not ... wipe out the palatability or [not] of the predicted outcomes ... The conclusions of economics are, in general, counter-intuitive ... [T]he intelligent layman is likely to be led to accept as "obvious," policy prescriptions that economics reveals as tending to generate wholly unwanted consequences ... The reasoning by which economics reaches its conclusions ... involves insights the subtlety of which is likely to be completely missed by the untrained.
Open Letter to Barack Obama, by Walter Block, 16 May 2008
Explains why foreign policy is more important than economics or civil liberties when it comes to choosing between the major presidential candidates and offers some advice to then Senator (and candidate) Obama
Explains why foreign policy is more important than economics or civil liberties when it comes to choosing between the major presidential candidates and offers some advice to then Senator (and candidate) Obama
Learn some economics, for goodness sakes. If you really want to help the poor, realize that minimum wages, unions, tariffs, price controls, and fiat currency, are not exactly the right way to go about accomplishing this task ... Go get Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, or better yet, pretty much any of the publications of Ludwig von Mises or Murray N. Rothbard, and read them. Here are two great introductory places to start: Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and Rothbard's What Has Government Done To Our Money? ... [T]hey are both available on the web for free!
Related Topics: Foreign entanglements, Barack Obama
The Origin of Economic Theory: A Portrait of Richard Cantillon (1680-1734), by Mark Thornton, 3 Aug 2007
Examines the sections of Cantillon's Essai relating them to episodes in the author's life, then delving into several Austrian economics insights that can be found in the work
Examines the sections of Cantillon's Essai relating them to episodes in the author's life, then delving into several Austrian economics insights that can be found in the work
[T]he origins of economic theory itself can be traced to Cantillon. William Stanley Jevons, one of the cofounders of the marginalist revolution ... called the Essai "a systematic and connected treatise, going over in a concise manner nearly the whole field of economics ... It is thus the first treatise on economics." He dubbed the work the "Cradle of Political Economy." Joseph Schumpeter ... described [it] as "the first systematic penetration of the field of economics." In his ... history of economic thought, Murray N. Rothbard named Cantillon "the founding father of modern economics."
Related Topics: Richard Cantillon, Central Banking, Austrian Economics, Entrepreneurship, Money, Prices, Adam Smith
Physiocracy, by George H. Smith, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Discusses the Physiocrats, focusing mostly on Quesnay and his Tableau Économique
Discusses the Physiocrats, focusing mostly on Quesnay and his Tableau Économique
The word physiocracy, coined in 1767 by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, means "the rule of nature." This meaning suggests that economic phenomena are governed by natural laws that operate independently of human will and intention, including the decrees of legislators. "The most important idea of the Physiocrats," notes the historian Scott Gordon, "was that economic processes are governed by laws of nature in such a way that the economic world, like the natural world, is, or can be, a system of spontaneous order."
The Primacy of Freedom, by Brian Summers, The Freeman, Feb 1988
One of over 20 essays in the anthology Ideas on Liberty: Essays in Honor of Paul L. Poirot (1987), discussing why the freedom philosophy and economic and moral education are important
One of over 20 essays in the anthology Ideas on Liberty: Essays in Honor of Paul L. Poirot (1987), discussing why the freedom philosophy and economic and moral education are important
[T]here seems to be a growing awareness ... of the dangers of protectionism, and of the disruptive consequences of an expansionary monetary policy ... But this is not enough ... [T]he level of economic illiteracy is still appalling. How many people can explain the causes of the Great Depression? How many know that the gas lines which plagued us in the 1970s had nothing to do with OPEC, and everything to do with price controls? How many have any understanding of how government spending is diverting billions of dollars from our nation's capital base? The list could be expanded almost at will.
Related Topics: Foundation for Economic Education, The Freeman, Government, Health care, Liberty, Paul L. Poirot, Technology
Principles of Economics by Carl Menger, by Roger R. Ream, The Freeman, Feb 1982
Review of Menger's Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre (Principles of Economics) which, although first published in German in 1871 was only translated to English in 1950 and reprinted by the Institute of Humane Studies in 1981
Review of Menger's Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre (Principles of Economics) which, although first published in German in 1871 was only translated to English in 1950 and reprinted by the Institute of Humane Studies in 1981
[Menger] treated economics as a science: "The phenomena of economic life, like those of nature, are ordered strictly in accordance with definite laws." The purpose of the study of economics is to understand "the conditions under which men engage in provident activity directed to the satisfaction of their needs." Due to the scarcity of available means, especially time, but also labor and resource goods, individuals must choose which ends to attempt to satisfy. Menger calls this choosing "economizing" and focuses his study on the economizing individual.
Related Topic: Carl Menger
Rationality and Irrationality; Subjectivism and Objectivity of Praxeological Research, by Ludwig von Mises, Human Action
Chapter 1, "Acting Man", section 4; argues that all human action is rational, i.e., the outcome of reasonable deliberation
Chapter 1, "Acting Man", section 4; argues that all human action is rational, i.e., the outcome of reasonable deliberation
It is fashionable nowadays to find fault with the social sciences for being purely rational. The most popular objection raised against economics is that it neglects the irrationality of life and reality and tries to press into dry rational schemes and bloodless abstractions ... No censure could be more absurd. Like every branch of knowledge economics goes as far as it can be carried by rational methods. Then it stops by establishing the fact that it is faced with an ultimate given, i.e., a phenomenon which cannot—at least in the present state of our knowledge—be further analyzed.
Related Topic: Life
The Rhetoric of the Environmental Movement, by Ronald Hamowy, The Journal of Libertarian Studies, 1996
Examines modern environmentalist literature, criticizing the confusion about "rights" and the claims that technology is "toxic" and that primitive societies lived "in harmony with the environment"
Examines modern environmentalist literature, criticizing the confusion about "rights" and the claims that technology is "toxic" and that primitive societies lived "in harmony with the environment"
What is so disturbing about the rhetoric of environmentalism is that it almost consistently displays ... simple-mindedness ... [E]nvironmental problems are, at bottom, economic problems. They have reference to the production and distribution of wealth, which is the subject matter of economic science ... [A]ll environmental concerns, including the amount and rate of use of natural resources and the size of the human population, are all issues amenable to economic analysis. Yet most ecologists have only the most perverted notions concerning the application of economics to environmental issues.
Roots Of Economic Understanding, by F. A. Harper, Ideas on Liberty, Nov 1955
Explains the rudiments of economics by specifying required attributes (desirability, scarcity, exchangeability) then delving into how people, from the earliest age, become cognizant of economic concepts, but ending with criticism of econmic ignorance
Explains the rudiments of economics by specifying required attributes (desirability, scarcity, exchangeability) then delving into how people, from the earliest age, become cognizant of economic concepts, but ending with criticism of econmic ignorance
The study of economics is the study of all matters pertaining to things that are desired but scarce, which exist for trade or can be produced. Those are the things we sometimes speak of as "economic goods and services." Those are the things which comprise economic activity in its entirety, which are being produced and owned and traded. A thing must first be desired before it comes within the orbit of economics. You can't sell the measles, for instance. If it is to be economic, somebody must want it. Without want for it, nobody would work to produce it or sacrifice to buy it.
Rothbard's The Ethics of Liberty: Still Worthy after All These Years, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 9 May 2014
Review of The Ethics of Liberty (1982) with emphasis on part 1, covering Rothbard's arguments for the validity of natural law
Review of The Ethics of Liberty (1982) with emphasis on part 1, covering Rothbard's arguments for the validity of natural law
[Rothbard] wrote,
... [P]raxeology or economics, as well as the utilitarian philosophy with which this science has been closely allied, treat "happiness" in the purely formal sense as the fulfillment of those ends which people happen—for whatever reason—to place high on their scales of value. Satisfaction of those ends yields to man his "utility" or "satisfaction" or "happiness." Value in the sense of valuation or utility is purely subjective, and decided by each individual. This procedure is perfectly proper for the formal science of praxeology, or economic theory, but not necessarily elsewhere ...
Say, Jean-Baptiste (1767-1832), by David M. Hart, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Say was a keen popularizer of economic ideas, writing several works in dialogue form in order to reach a broader audience with his liberal views ... One of his last major works, the Cours complet d'économie politique pratique (1828–1829), attempted to broaden the scope of political economy, away from its earlier preoccupation with the production of wealth, by examining the moral, political, and sociological requirements of a free society and how they are interrelated with the study of political economy. In other words, he wished to return political economy to its Smithian roots.
Related Topics: Jean-Baptiste Say, France
Senior, Nassau William (1790-1864), by George H. Smith, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Senior defined political economy as the science that investigates the nature, production, and distribution of wealth. He employs the term wealth as a synonym for value, and, like the economists before him, includes utility as one of the three causes of value ... Another important feature of Senior's work was his insistence that economics should be a value-free discipline—a point he emphasized not only in his book Political Economy, but also in his lecture on "Statistic Science," which he delivered before the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1860.
Related Topic: Nassau William Senior
Smith, Adam (1723-1790), by Ronald Hamowy, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Biographical and bibliographical essay focusing on Adam Smith's two major works
Biographical and bibliographical essay focusing on Adam Smith's two major works
In Wealth of Nations, Smith succeeds in laying bare the intellectual framework of economic science while marrying his theoretical discussions to a substantial amount of empirical data. Smith's analysis of the benefits that follow from the division of labor, the fallacies of mercantilism, and the destructive effects of almost all restrictions on market forces are comprehensive and accompanied by a mass of illustrations that trace the operation of the laws of economics ... However, despite the reputation the book was to achieve, it was not the first treatise in economics.
Sowell, Thomas (1930-), by Jo Kwong, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, 15 Aug 2008
Biographical and bibliographical essay
Biographical and bibliographical essay
[Sowell] is the author of several books on economics, including Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy. In this book, [he] explains why people are hungry in countries where there are vast amounts of rich farmland, why homeless people abound in New York City amid abandoned apartment buildings, and why unemployment reached 25% during the Great Depression. In explaining these realities, Sowell illustrates how a gap between knowledge and decisions led to unintended and often tragic consequences.
Related Topic: Thomas Sowell
A Tax Even Libertarians Could Love?, by Matt Zwolinski, 4 Mar 2016
Discusses Henry George's proposal for a Single Tax and his moral and economic arguments in favor of imposing the tax
Discusses Henry George's proposal for a Single Tax and his moral and economic arguments in favor of imposing the tax
[George] also believed ... that [the Single Tax] was more economically efficient. Most taxes have a distortive effect on economic activity. A tax on income causes people to work less than they would if they simply followed the normal market forces of supply and demand. A tax on capital gains causes them to invest less. In short, any time you tax something people do, or anything that is produced by things that people do, then people are going to do less of that thing and produce what economists call "deadweight losses."
Teaching Basic Economics to Fifth Graders, by Arthur E. Foulkes, 21 Jun 2006
Recounts the experience of teaching economics to fifth graders, one concept per week, for five weeks, focusing on trade, money, savings, competition and prices
Recounts the experience of teaching economics to fifth graders, one concept per week, for five weeks, focusing on trade, money, savings, competition and prices
[T]he teacher was under the common misperception ... that economics is about math, models, and strange lands ... I wanted to show [the students] that economics stems from ordinary human behavior in the real world ... [T]he concepts we discussed can easily be shown to relate quite directly to other economic concepts; for instance, trade is related to opportunity cost as well as profit and loss; money facilitates trade as well as economic calculation, savings is tied to investment, capital, and production, while competition and prices are related to demand, supply, and relative scarcity.
Wants, Efforts, Satisfactions, by Frédéric Bastiat, Economic Harmonies, 1818
Examines the concepts of sensation, pain, wants and satisfactions, connecting them by human effort to postulate that the exchange of services are what constitute the science of economics; originally in the Journal des économistes
Examines the concepts of sensation, pain, wants and satisfactions, connecting them by human effort to postulate that the exchange of services are what constitute the science of economics; originally in the Journal des économistes
The subject of political economy is man. But it does not embrace the whole man ... What does it deal with? With transactions carried on between people who do not know each other, who owe each other nothing beyond simple justice, who are defending and seeking to advance their own self-interest. It deals with claims ..., where self-sacrifice and unselfish dedication have no place ... This is not to say that political economy does not have its own special poetry. Whenever there is order and harmony, there is poetry. But it is to be found in the results, not in the demonstrations.
The War the Government Cannot Win, by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., 1 May 2007
Discusses how government cannnot win the war on terror because economic law is more powerful than the state; talk given at the Wisconsin Forum in Milwaukee
Discusses how government cannnot win the war on terror because economic law is more powerful than the state; talk given at the Wisconsin Forum in Milwaukee
[E]conomic law ... is a force that operates within the structure of all societies everywhere that governs the production and allocation of material resources and time according to strict bounds of what is possible. Some things are just not possible ... [T]his includes most of the demands that are made by the public and pressure groups on the government. This was the great discovery of the modern science of economics ... It was the discovery of the medieval schoolmen, and ... was ... systematized over the centuries, culminating in the classical and Austrian traditions of thought.
Related Topics: Cold War, Government, Iraq, Iraq War, Liberty, Ludwig von Mises, Socialism, Society, The State, Terrorism, United States, War
What Should Libertarians Do?, by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 25 Apr 2014
Examines what libertarianism requires of people, such as an understanding of economics, and suggests focusing on the (classical) liberal insight that "societies run themselves" spontaneously, with example quotes from Thomas Paine and John Quincy Adams
Examines what libertarianism requires of people, such as an understanding of economics, and suggests focusing on the (classical) liberal insight that "societies run themselves" spontaneously, with example quotes from Thomas Paine and John Quincy Adams
[W]e ask a lot when we ask people to believe that free markets work. Most people know nothing about economics. Except in the most micro sense, they do not engage in the "economic way of thinking." If they've taken an economics course, they've forgotten what they heard in class—which is okay because it was probably some variant of Keynesianism, although that is then reinforced by most of what they hear outside of school ... How can there be order without a top-down designer or regulator? How can markets regulate themselves? Those are reasonable questions for the economically unschooled.
Why Be An Economist? To Be Happy, That's Why, by Walter Block, Mises Daily, 21 Dec 2006
Block contrasts his recommendations to students interested in economics (getting a PhD. and becoming a professor or similar career) vs. advice from another professor (majoring in economics and finance with a view towards a finance career)
Block contrasts his recommendations to students interested in economics (getting a PhD. and becoming a professor or similar career) vs. advice from another professor (majoring in economics and finance with a view towards a finance career)
What about becoming a law professor? Or maybe a professor of history, political science, sociology or some other field of relevance to our concerns? Unhappily, these fields are almost totally dominated by our friends on the Left. Economics, fortunately, is perhaps the discipline most open to liberty ... [E]conomics is perhaps the most helpful of all the disciplines. I am enough of a methodological individualist not to think that the study of economics is a must for everybody. But I am also a sufficient devotee of the dismal science to think it makes a unique contribution to our cause.
Why Intellectuals Still Support Socialism, by Peter G. Klein, Mises Daily, 15 Nov 2006
Examines the underlying reasons why so many academics support socialist ideas, not reflecting those of the general population, and how this changed from the mid-20th century
Examines the underlying reasons why so many academics support socialist ideas, not reflecting those of the general population, and how this changed from the mid-20th century
Before World War II the primary language of economics, in the English-speaking world, was English. Since then ... economic theory has come to be expressed in obscure mathematical jargon, while economic history has become a branch of applied statistics. It is common to attribute this change to the 1947 publication of Paul Samuelson's ... Foundations of Economic Analysis, and to the development of computers ... However, it is likely the taste of central planning that economists—even nominally free-market economists—got during [the war] that forever changed the direction of the discipline.
Related Topics: Economists, F. A. Hayek, Murray N. Rothbard, Joseph Schumpeter, Socialism, Technology, World War II
Interviews
The Experimental Economist: Nobel laureate Vernon Smith takes markets places they've never been before, by Vernon L. Smith, Nick Gillespie, Michael W. Lynch, Reason, 9 Oct 2002
Interview before the Nobel Prize announcement; topics discussed include law (discovered vs. formally made), experimental economics, electric power, demand-interrupt pricing, airport landing and takeoff slots, NASA missions, libertarianism and economics
Interview before the Nobel Prize announcement; topics discussed include law (discovered vs. formally made), experimental economics, electric power, demand-interrupt pricing, airport landing and takeoff slots, NASA missions, libertarianism and economics
Smith: ... When I gave talks ..., I could see there were a lot of people who questioned whether this was even economics. "Why would anyone do this?" they'd say. You certainly couldn't make a living doing experimental economics. You had to do the sort of work that would get you promoted. That's when I learned something important. In economics every paper begins with a previous paper, not with a problem of the world. No one questions your right to do something if it's already been done. I did my first experiment January 1956, and the first paper about it was published in 1962.
Interview with Gary Becker, by Gary Becker, Douglas Clement, The Region, Jun 2002
Topics discussed include the economics of crime, economics and law, banking discrimination, economic education, social security, behavioral economics, sociology, career choices and moral hazards
Topics discussed include the economics of crime, economics and law, banking discrimination, economic education, social security, behavioral economics, sociology, career choices and moral hazards
BECKER: Economics is an easy subject and a difficult subject at the same time. It is easy in the sense there are only a few principles ... and yet it's obviously very difficult. I have dealt a lot with Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and other fields who have very strong opinions on economic issues and usually they are terrible ... They believe that they can casually talk about an economic issue and come up with the right answer ... This is obviously not the case. There are economic principles. If you do not use these principles, you are likely to come to the wrong answers.
Related Topics: Argentina, Banking, Federal Reserve System, Milton Friedman, Marriage, Social Security Tax
The Kirznerian Way: An Interview with Israel M. Kirzner, by Israel Kirzner, Austrian Economics Newsletter, 1997
Topics discussed include Ludwig von Mises, the Austrian School, equilibrium, entrepreneurship, capital, business cycle theory, time preference, Hayek, Lachmann and Rothbard
Topics discussed include Ludwig von Mises, the Austrian School, equilibrium, entrepreneurship, capital, business cycle theory, time preference, Hayek, Lachmann and Rothbard
KIRZNER: ... There are ... systematic consequences to our actions. If one accepts that economics is the study of those systematic consequences, one cannot live with a perspective that sees the world as so open-ended that anything is possible. That's why I would disagree with the characterization of economics as essentially the study of the unfolding of an uncertain future ...
There's a [1932] passage ... where Mises is saying that all modern schools of economics are basically saying the same thing ... Later on, the differences between the schools—Walrasian, Marshallian, Austrian—began to widen.
There's a [1932] passage ... where Mises is saying that all modern schools of economics are basically saying the same thing ... Later on, the differences between the schools—Walrasian, Marshallian, Austrian—began to widen.
Books
Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
by Thomas Sowell, 2003
Contents: Politics versus Economics - Free and Unfree Labor - The Economics of Medical Care - The Economics of Housing - Risky Business - The Economics of Discrimination - The Economic Development of Nations
by Thomas Sowell, 2003
Contents: Politics versus Economics - Free and Unfree Labor - The Economics of Medical Care - The Economics of Housing - Risky Business - The Economics of Discrimination - The Economic Development of Nations
- ISBN 0786172266: Audio CD, Blackstone Audiobooks, Unabridged edition, 2006
- ISBN 0465081436: Hardcover, Basic Books, 2003
Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
by Thomas Sowell, 2000
Partial contents: What Is Economics? - The Role of Prices - Price Controls - The Rise and Fall of Businesses - Productivity and Pay - Investment and Speculation - National Output - Money and the Banking System - International Trade - "Non-Economic" Values
by Thomas Sowell, 2000
Partial contents: What Is Economics? - The Role of Prices - Price Controls - The Rise and Fall of Businesses - Productivity and Pay - Investment and Speculation - National Output - Money and the Banking System - International Trade - "Non-Economic" Values
- ISBN 046508138X: Hardcover, Basic Books, 2000
- ISBN 0465081452: Hardcover, Basic Books, Revised and expanded edition, 2003
Classical Economics: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought - Volume II, by Murray N. Rothbard, 1995
Partial contents: J.B. Say - Jeremy Bentham - James Mill, Ricardo, and the Ricardian system - Monetary and banking thought - John Stuart Mill - Roots of Marxism - Alienation, unity, and the dialectic - The Marxian system - After Mill: Bastiat
Partial contents: J.B. Say - Jeremy Bentham - James Mill, Ricardo, and the Ricardian system - Monetary and banking thought - John Stuart Mill - Roots of Marxism - Alienation, unity, and the dialectic - The Marxian system - After Mill: Bastiat
- ISBN 185278962X: Hardcover, Edward Elgar Publishing, 1995
The Critics of Keynesian Economics
by Henry Hazlitt (editor), 1960
Collection of essays by Jean-Baptiste Say, John Stuart Mill, Frank H. Knight, F. A. Hayek, Benjamin M. Anderson, Garet Garrett, Ludwig von Mises, Wilhelm Röpke, W. H. Hutt, Jacob Viner, Etienne Mantoux, Franco Modigliani, Arthur F. Burns and others
by Henry Hazlitt (editor), 1960
Collection of essays by Jean-Baptiste Say, John Stuart Mill, Frank H. Knight, F. A. Hayek, Benjamin M. Anderson, Garet Garrett, Ludwig von Mises, Wilhelm Röpke, W. H. Hutt, Jacob Viner, Etienne Mantoux, Franco Modigliani, Arthur F. Burns and others
- ISBN 0819136662: Hardcover, University Press of America, Reprint edition, 1983
- ISBN 157246013X: Hardcover, Foundation for Econ Education, 1995
- ISBN 0819136670: Paperback, University Press of America, Second edition, 1983
Eat the Rich: A Treatise on Economics
by P. J. O'Rourke, 1998
Partial contents: Love, Death and Money - Good Capitalism - Bad Capitalism - Good Socialism - Bad Socialism - From Beatnik to Business Major - How to Make Nothing from Everything - How to Make Everything from Nothing - How to Have the Worst of Both Worlds
by P. J. O'Rourke, 1998
Partial contents: Love, Death and Money - Good Capitalism - Bad Capitalism - Good Socialism - Bad Socialism - From Beatnik to Business Major - How to Make Nothing from Everything - How to Make Everything from Nothing - How to Have the Worst of Both Worlds
- ISBN 0871137194: Hardcover, Grove/Atlantic, 1st edition, 1998
- ISBN 0330353284: Paperback, Picador, New edition, 1999
- ISBN 0871137607: Paperback, Grove/Atlantic, 1st pbk edition, 1999
Economic Logic
by Mark Skousen, 2000
Partial contents: What is Economics? - The Foundations of Economic Behavior - Production and Consumption: The Structure of Economic Activity - The Theory of the Firm: The Role of Profit and Loss - Macroeconomics - Government Policy - What Do Economists Do
by Mark Skousen, 2000
Partial contents: What is Economics? - The Foundations of Economic Behavior - Production and Consumption: The Structure of Economic Activity - The Theory of the Firm: The Role of Profit and Loss - Macroeconomics - Government Policy - What Do Economists Do
- ISBN 0895262169: Paperback, Capital Press, 2001
- ISBN 0967403405: Paperback, Skousen Publishing, 2000
Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow
by Bettina Bien Greaves (introduction), Ludwig von Mises, 1979
Six lectures originally given in 1959 on the following subjects: capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign investment and policies/ideas
by Bettina Bien Greaves (introduction), Ludwig von Mises, 1979
Six lectures originally given in 1959 on the following subjects: capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign investment and policies/ideas
- ISBN 089526899X: Paperback, Regnery Pub, Reprint edition, 1989
- ISBN 0930902068: Paperback, Free Market Books, 1995
Economics in One Lesson
by Henry Hazlitt, 1946
Partial contents: The Lesson - The Broken Window - The Blessings of Destruction - Public Works Mean Taxes - Taxes Discourage Production - Credit Diverts Production - The Curse of Machinery - Spread-the-Work Schemes - Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats
by Henry Hazlitt, 1946
Partial contents: The Lesson - The Broken Window - The Blessings of Destruction - Public Works Mean Taxes - Taxes Discourage Production - Credit Diverts Production - The Curse of Machinery - Spread-the-Work Schemes - Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats
- ISBN 0786196025: Audio CD, Blackstone Audiobooks, MP3 CD Una edition, 2001
- ISBN 0786199172: Audio CD, Blackstone Audiobooks, Unabridged edition, 2000
- ISBN 0930073207: Hardcover, Laissez Faire Books, 50th Anniv edition, 1996
- ISBN 0517548232: Paperback, Three Rivers Press, 1988
- ISBN 0930073193: Paperback, Laissez Faire Books, 50th Anniv edition, 1996
Economic Thought Before Adam Smith: An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought - Volume I [PDF], by Murray N. Rothbard, 1995
Partial contents: The first philosopher-economists: the Greeks - The late Spanish scholastics - Mercantilism - The liberal reaction - Richard Cantillon - Physiocracy - The brilliance of Turgot - The Scottish Enlightenment - The celebrated Adam Smith
Partial contents: The first philosopher-economists: the Greeks - The late Spanish scholastics - Mercantilism - The liberal reaction - Richard Cantillon - Physiocracy - The brilliance of Turgot - The Scottish Enlightenment - The celebrated Adam Smith
- ISBN 094546648X: Hardcover, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2 vol. set, 2006
- ISBN 1852789611: Hardcover, Edward Elgar Publishing, 1995
- 2 vol. set: Kindle Book available at Amazon
Elements of Political Economy, by James Mill, 1821
Partial contents: The Subject—Its Limits—And Division - Production - Distribution - Rent - Wages - Profits - Interchange - Bounties and Prohibitions - Colonies - Consumption - Of productive and unproductive consumption - A Tax on Profits - A Tax on Wages
Partial contents: The Subject—Its Limits—And Division - Production - Distribution - Rent - Wages - Profits - Interchange - Bounties and Prohibitions - Colonies - Consumption - Of productive and unproductive consumption - A Tax on Profits - A Tax on Wages
- ISBN 0935005560: Paperback, Classworks, 3rd edition, 1986
- ISBN 1402175256: Paperback, Adamant Media Corporation, 2006
Essay on the Nature of Commerce in General, by Richard Cantillon, 1730
Partial contents: Of Wealth - Of Human Societies - Of Villages - Of Market Towns - Of Metals and Money, and especially of Gold and Silver - Of Barter - Of Market Prices - Of the Circulation of Money - Of Foreign Trade - Of the Exchanges and their Nature
Partial contents: Of Wealth - Of Human Societies - Of Villages - Of Market Towns - Of Metals and Money, and especially of Gold and Silver - Of Barter - Of Market Prices - Of the Circulation of Money - Of Foreign Trade - Of the Exchanges and their Nature
- ISBN 0765804999: Paperback, Transaction Publishers, 2001
Hidden Order: The Economics of Everyday Life
by David D. Friedman, 1996
Partial contents: Economics for Pleasure and Profit - Price=Value=Cost: Solving a Simple Economy - In Search of the Real World - Standing in for Moral Philosophy: The Economist as Judge - Applications: Conventional and Un
by David D. Friedman, 1996
Partial contents: Economics for Pleasure and Profit - Price=Value=Cost: Solving a Simple Economy - In Search of the Real World - Standing in for Moral Philosophy: The Economist as Judge - Applications: Conventional and Un
- ISBN 0887307507: Hardcover, HarperBusiness, 1st edition, 1996
- ISBN 0887308856: Paperback, HarperCollins, 1st pbk edition, 1997
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
by Ludwig von Mises, 1949
Partial contents: Acting Man - The Epistemological Problems of the Sciences of Human Action - Economics and the Revolt Against Reason - A First Analysis of the Category of Action - Time - Uncertainty - Action Within the World - Human Society
by Ludwig von Mises, 1949
Partial contents: Acting Man - The Epistemological Problems of the Sciences of Human Action - Economics and the Revolt Against Reason - A First Analysis of the Category of Action - Time - Uncertainty - Action Within the World - Human Society
Related Topic: Human Action
- ISBN 0809297434: Hardcover, NTC/Contemporary Publishing Co, 3rd edition, 1966
- ISBN 0945466242: Hardcover, Ludwig Von Mises Institute, Scholars Edition, 1998
- ISBN 1572460210: Hardcover, Foundation for Econ Education, 4th edition, 1996
- ISBN 0930073185: Paperback, Fox & Wilkes, Scholars edition; 4th edition, 1996
Law's Order: What Economics Has to Do with Law and Why It Matters
by David D. Friedman, 2000
Partial contents: What Does Economics Have to Do with Law? - Efficiency and All That - What's Wrong with the World - Defining and Enforcing Rights - Of Burning Houses and Exploding Coke Bottles - The Economics of Contract - Marriage, Sex, and Babies
by David D. Friedman, 2000
Partial contents: What Does Economics Have to Do with Law? - Efficiency and All That - What's Wrong with the World - Defining and Enforcing Rights - Of Burning Houses and Exploding Coke Bottles - The Economics of Contract - Marriage, Sex, and Babies
Related Topic: Law
- ISBN 0691010161: Hardcover, Princeton University Press, 2000
- ISBN 0691090092: Paperback, Princeton University Press, 2001
Making Economic Sense
by Murray N. Rothbard, 1995
Partial contents: Making Economic Sense - The Socialism of Welfare - Politics as Economic Violence - Enterprise Under Attack - Fiscal Mysteries Revealed - Economic Ups and Downs - The Fiat Money Plague - Economics Beyond the Borders
by Murray N. Rothbard, 1995
Partial contents: Making Economic Sense - The Socialism of Welfare - Politics as Economic Violence - Enterprise Under Attack - Fiscal Mysteries Revealed - Economic Ups and Downs - The Fiat Money Plague - Economics Beyond the Borders
- Kindle Book available at Amazon
- ISBN 0945466188: Paperback, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1995
The Making of Modern Economics: The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers
by Mark Skousen, 2001
Partial contents: It All Started with Adam - The French Connection - The Irreverent Malthus - Tricky Ricardo - Milling Around - Marx Madness - Menger and the Austrians - Marshalling the Troops - The Missing Mises - The Keynes Mutiny - Milton's Paradise
by Mark Skousen, 2001
Partial contents: It All Started with Adam - The French Connection - The Irreverent Malthus - Tricky Ricardo - Milling Around - Marx Madness - Menger and the Austrians - Marshalling the Troops - The Missing Mises - The Keynes Mutiny - Milton's Paradise
- ISBN 0786191694: Audio CD, Blackstone Audiobooks, MP3 CD edition, 2002
- ISBN 0765604795: Hardcover, M. E. Sharpe, 2001
- ISBN 0765622262: Hardcover, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2009
- Kindle Book available at Amazon
- ISBN 0765604809: Paperback, M. E. Sharpe, 2001
- ISBN 0765622270: Paperback, Routledge, 2nd edition, 2008
On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, by David Ricardo, 1817
Partial contents: On Value - On Rent - On the Rent of Mines - On Natural and Market Price - Of Wages - On Profits - On Foreign Trade - On Taxes - Taxes on Raw Produce - Taxes on Rent - Tithes - Land-Tax - Taxes on Gold - Taxes on Houses - Taxes on Profits
Partial contents: On Value - On Rent - On the Rent of Mines - On Natural and Market Price - Of Wages - On Profits - On Foreign Trade - On Taxes - Taxes on Raw Produce - Taxes on Rent - Tithes - Land-Tax - Taxes on Gold - Taxes on Houses - Taxes on Profits
Related Topic: Taxation
- ISBN 0460015907: Hardcover, Dutton Adult, 1975
- ISBN 0486434613: Paperback, Dover Publications, 2004
Principles of Political Economy, by John Stuart Mill, 1848
Contents: Introduction, by W. J. Ashley - Preface - Preliminary Remarks - I. Production - II. Distribution - III. Exchange - IV. Influence of the Progress of Society on Production and Distribution - V. On the Influence of Government
Contents: Introduction, by W. J. Ashley - Preface - Preliminary Remarks - I. Production - II. Distribution - III. Exchange - IV. Influence of the Progress of Society on Production and Distribution - V. On the Influence of Government
- ISBN 0140432604: Paperback, Penguin Classics, Reprint edition, 1986
- ISBN 0678014531: Paperback, A.M. Kelley, 1985
- ISBN 1591021510: Paperback, Prometheus Books, 2004
Selected Essays in Political Economy, by Frédéric Bastiat, 1850
Partial contents: What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen - The Law - Property and Law - Justice and Fraternity - The State - Property and Plunder - Protectionism and Communism - Plunder and Law - Academic Degrees and Socialism - The Balance of Trade
Partial contents: What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen - The Law - Property and Law - Justice and Fraternity - The State - Property and Plunder - Protectionism and Communism - Plunder and Law - Academic Degrees and Socialism - The Balance of Trade
- ISBN 0910614156: Paperback, Foundation for Econ Education, 1968
A Treatise on Political Economy: or The Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Wealth, by Jean-Baptiste Say, 1803
Contents: Of the Production of Wealth - Of the Distribution of Wealth - Of the Consumption of Wealth; electronic text available at The Library of Economics and Liberty is from the 1855 translation by C. R. Prinsep based on the 4th and 5th French editions
Contents: Of the Production of Wealth - Of the Distribution of Wealth - Of the Consumption of Wealth; electronic text available at The Library of Economics and Liberty is from the 1855 translation by C. R. Prinsep based on the 4th and 5th French editions
- ISBN 0765806533: Paperback, Transaction Publishers, 2001
- ISBN 142555492X: Paperback, University of Michigan Library, 2005
The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method, by Ludwig von Mises, 1962
Partial contents: The Human Mind - The Activistic Basis of Knowledge - Necessity and Volition - Certainty and Uncertainty - On Some Popular Errors Concerning the Scope and Method of Economics - Further Implications of the Neglect of Economic Thinking
Partial contents: The Human Mind - The Activistic Basis of Knowledge - Necessity and Volition - Certainty and Uncertainty - On Some Popular Errors Concerning the Scope and Method of Economics - Further Implications of the Neglect of Economic Thinking
- ISBN 0814707653: Hardcover, New York University Press, 2nd edition, 1981
- ISBN 0836251016: Hardcover, Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1978
- ISBN 0865976384: Hardcover, Liberty Fund, 2006
- ISBN 0836207653: Paperback, Sheed Andrews and McMeel, 1978
- ISBN 0865976392: Paperback, Liberty Fund, 2nd edition, 2006
- ISBN 1572462000: Paperback, Foundation for Econ Education, 2002
The Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, Mar 1776
Full title: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Partial contents: Of the Causes of Improvement in the productive... - Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock - Of the different Progress of Opulence in different Nations - Of Systems of political Œconomy - Of the Revenue of the Sovereign...
Full title: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Partial contents: Of the Causes of Improvement in the productive... - Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock - Of the different Progress of Opulence in different Nations - Of Systems of political Œconomy - Of the Revenue of the Sovereign...
Related Topic: The Wealth of Nations
- ISBN 0679424733: Hardcover, Modern Library, 1994
- ISBN 0895263351: Hardcover, Regnery Publishing, 1999
- ISBN 0192835467: Paperback, Oxford University Press, 1998
- ISBN 0226763749: Paperback, University Of Chicago Press, 1977
- ISBN 0679783369: Paperback, Modern Library, 2000
- ISBN 0865970084: Paperback, Liberty Fund, 2 volumes, 1982
- ISBN 0879757051: Paperback, Prometheus Books, 1991
Videos
Economics In One Lesson: Chapter 1, by Amanda BillyRock, 1 Jun 2013
An instructive hand-drawn animation based on Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson, chapter 1, "The Lesson"
Related Topic: Henry Hazlitt
How an Economy Grows and Why It Doesn't, by Irwin Schiff, 19 Apr 2009
Comic book presentation of basic economics concepts, including an allegory of United States economic history in the 20th century
The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Economics" as of 10 Jul 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.