Most of my adult life has been spent in the military-- admittedly not the best environment for an aspiring economist, but it has taken me 16 years to discover what I want to be when I grow up. In that time, I have traveled all across the world, and I have been a careful student of the customs, laws, and economics of different nations. Judging that this generation had nothing useful to say about the state of the world, I delved deep into history for the answers.
My first serious interest in economics as well as politics was sparked by of all people, Niccolo Machiavelli, a seldom recognized champion of freedom and free markets in his own right. One of his political inspirations is pictured above; another man vilified by history (though not entirely unjustly!) who managed to force free markets into a feudal economy, stand up to fractional reserve lenders, lower taxes while waging war against the superpower of his day, and do it all without incurring debt!
From historical eye witness sources, I learned about the markets and institutions of the ancient free societies that all my teachers were either ignorant of or willingly lied to me about. Long before I was introduced to the Austrian School, I was able to figure out how inflation wore down both the freedom and security of the Roman Empire. It is still a goal of mine to piece together how Lykurgus could invent fiat currency, then write laws that effectively kept Sparta in a constant state of war for 800 years, without suffering inflation.
I currently reside at my place of duty in the Kingdom of Bahrain, a country truly free in its markets, if not in its institutions. Though capitalism has set the mostly immigrant population here free, and enriched the King beyond belief, I fear it all hangs by a thread, as the money is foolishly tied to the U.S. dollar. Luckily, Bahrain is an excellent place to buy gold. Since all our allies have their currencies valued in dollars, soon the only people with any remaining wealth may be the ones wearing it!
In the meantime, I continue with my studies. There is so much more to learn.