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Reading Suggestion

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Matthew Toth Posted: Sun, Jan 17 2010 8:12 PM

Hello everyone,

                                I have recently read Hazlitt's "Economics in one lesson" and have started reading Rothbard's "America's Great Depression". I'm having alot of difficulty dealing with some of the conceptual foundations behind Rothbard's points such as: Price relationship to gold exchange rates, inflation etc. Are there books that anyone could suggest that would assist me with understanding these more fundamental concepts?

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

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Nielsio replied on Sun, Jan 17 2010 8:23 PM

I recommend this article, plus all the videos that are linked underneath it:

http://www.vforvoluntary.com/wiki/WhatIsMoney

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z1235 replied on Sun, Jan 17 2010 8:33 PM

Rothbard's "The Case Against The Fed" was my first Austrian book and I still feel that it had the most bang/impact per page. Short and well worth your time.

http://mises.org/books/fed.pdf

Z.

 

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Beefheart replied on Sun, Jan 17 2010 8:50 PM

What Has Government Done to Our Money/The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray Rothbard

Mystery of Banking by Murray Rothbard

An Introduction to Economic Reasoning by David Gordon

Principles of Economics by Carl Menger

 

The first one at the very least.

My personal Anarcho-Capitalist flag. The symbol in the center stands for "harmony" and "protection"-- I'm hoping to illustrate the bond between order/justice and anarchy.

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Beefheart:

What Has Government Done to Our Money/The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray Rothbard

Bingo. I love, love, love this book. And it is so well written that I can just hand it to anyone and blow their mind.

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Beefheart:
An Introduction to Economic Reasoning by David Gordon

I second that.

'Men do not change, they unmask themselves' - Germaine de Stael

 

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Sage replied on Sun, Jan 17 2010 11:12 PM

Fundamentals of Economic Analysis: A Causal-Realist Approach

AnalyticalAnarchism.net - The Positive Political Economy of Anarchism

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David. replied on Sun, Jan 17 2010 11:59 PM

I recommend 'economics in one lesson' by Gene Callahan (available on mises.org). This will give you a better understanding of economics, in general. After that, Rothbard's 'what has the government done to our money/100% gold standard etc) is good.

 

http://mises.org/books/econforrealpeople.pdf

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Matthew Toth:

 Price relationship to gold exchange rates, inflation etc. Are there books that anyone could suggest that would assist me with understanding these more fundamental concepts.

I doubt anybody here will agree with me, but I suggest buying a beginning macroeconomic textbook (buy an old edition for a low price).  Don't use it to learn economic theory, but simply to learn all the terminology and whatnot.  Much of it might not be used by Austrian economists, but some of it will, and with a basic understanding of terminology your reading of more advance texts will go about much more smoothly.  Alternatively, I would suggest "taking notes" while reading.  When you come upon a term or concept you don't understand, write it down in your notes and look it up on the internet.  If you can't find a good definition on the internet, ask here.

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Jonathan M. F. Catalán:

Matthew Toth:

 Price relationship to gold exchange rates, inflation etc. Are there books that anyone could suggest that would assist me with understanding these more fundamental concepts.

I doubt anybody here will agree with me, but I suggest buying a beginning macroeconomic textbook (buy an old edition for a low price).  Don't use it to learn economic theory, but simply to learn all the terminology and whatnot.  Much of it might not be used by Austrian economists, but some of it will, and with a basic understanding of terminology your reading of more advance texts will go about much more smoothly.  Alternatively, I would suggest "taking notes" while reading.  When you come upon a term or concept you don't understand, write it down in your notes and look it up on the internet.  If you can't find a good definition on the internet, ask here.

There are less painful ways to learn the terminology than slugging through a Keynesian textbook...just saying.

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