Hello, good people of the most honorable Mises Institute. I hope to become a very active member of this community, one which I've been lurking on for a couple of weeks now; but before I dstart engaging in economic discussions with you all, I think it only makes sense that I get a much better understanding of Austrian economics then the bare-bone comprehension I have of it now. So basically, my question is this; where should I start in my reading of Austrian economic theorists? I'm currently reading An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of The Wealth of Nations; while I understand that Adam Smith wasn't by any means an Austrian economic theorist, I felt it appropriate to begin with the work that many claim to be the backbone of modern capitalist theory. Is it a good idea to start with this book, and assuming that it is, where do I proceed from there? Do I begin working my way through Ludwing von Mises' library of work, or proceed in a different fashion?
All suggestions are much appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to anser.
Rcder:At the risk of making myself sound like a dullard, the language was very difficult to traverse, and I wasn't getting much out of it to begin with.
You don't sound like a dullard. Murray Rothbard felt the same way...
the much revered Wealth of Nations is a huge, sprawling, inchoate, confused tome, rife with vagueness, ambiguity and deep inner contradictions.
I think all my suggestions for reading have already been mentioned, but I would go for (in this order):
I also would like to especially recommend this lecture series by Joseph Salerno.
Welcome to the community.
Government Explained 2: The Special Piece of Paper
Law without Government
Read Man, Economy, and State. While I do not take Rothbard that seriously otherwise, his textbook is a great piece of economics.
Abstract liberty, like other mere abstractions, is not to be found.
- Edmund Burke
I'd suggest getting Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt and An Introduction to Economic Reasoning by David Gordon if you haven't read them already.
Nope, I haven't, and thanks for the suggestions. I think I remember Ron Paul recommending Economics in One Lesson in one of his books.
But anyways, is continuing with The Wealth of Nations a good idea or bad idea?
"But anyways, is continuing with The Wealth of Nations a good idea or bad idea?"
Depends, if you are half way or more, I would continue just out of historic curiosity. Less than half-way, then I probably would not.
I've just barely started. Is there any reason why I shouldn't continue? Again, I'm going into economics blind, here.
After you finish Wealth of Nations, any Austrian economist will reveal all of Smith's inconsistencies, fallacies, and inaccuracies. In fact, Murray Rothbard argues that Adam Smith did not really contribute anything new and meaningful to economics at all. I would recommend this excerpt by Rothbard on Smith: http://mises.org/daily/2012.
I think you sort of have to feel your own way through Austrian economics based on your own background and motivations. It might not make sense to go straight to the great treatises like Man, Economy, and State or Human Action by Mises. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt is a highly-recommended book on the basics. I have been learning my Austrian economics by listening to interviews and lectures from the Mises Institute on iTunes. There's no wrong way!
I suppose I'll give up on The Wealth of Nations, then. At the risk of making myself sound like a dullard, the language was very difficult to traverse, and I wasn't getting much out of it to begin with. I'll start with Economics in One Lesson and then move through Mises chronologically by publishing date. Thanks for the help, everyone.
I would say start here and go from there:
http://www.vforvoluntary.com/austrian-economics
Good Plan. The great thing about Austrian authors is that they all seem to value clarity of expression and a systematic approach to problems. Happy reading! Oh, and once you have read a bit, soon you will fancy yourself way more intelligent than Adam Smith anyway.
I read a bit of Economics for Real People to see how it was done and it is ultra layman friendly. I don't know how extensive it is overall. Anyone read it all?
I'm preparing an article as an introduction to Austrian economics. I'm in the process of copyediting it and refining the content. I'm not sure if it will be published anywhere, but at worst I will turn it into a PDF. Actually, if you'd like I could email you the current draft and not only would it serve as a 'quick' introduction to Austrian economics (~3,500 words, not including footnotes), but you could just give me one or two lines on whether or not it was useful to you. If you rather not, that's fine too. I just thought I might as well ask. ;)
I just followed the main blog for about 6 months and read all the articles. I found it really interesting, and it usually had a way of pointing me in the right direction. After that, I started lurking the forums, then posting, then I read Meltdown, PIG:The Great Depression, End The Fed, and then I went on to sections of Human Action that I found interesting. Then I read Economics in One Lesson. I'll be buying some more books soon. :)
Sure, I'd be more than willing to take a look at it.
just start here:
http://mises.org/rothbard/mes.asp