Economics Questions

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Knight_of_BAAWA — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:28:42 GMT

Tyler:
How did you come to subscribe to Austrian Economics?

When I was given some links to read back in 2001 regarding econ, one of them was from the Mises Institute. Another was from LRC. I don't remember precisely what they were, but I read them and realized how closely my views aligned with them; I'd simply never had the words to elucidate.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?I'

No2statism — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:24:42 GMT

liberty student:

I came to AE via Ron Paul.

Same with me I just knew he was right, but I've learned a lot. I have a lot more to learn though.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

DanielMuff — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:53:33 GMT

wilderness:
I'm sorry. I hope I didn't cause more work for you than needed. I was only joking. But I find it amazingly good that you can remember a timeline.

Actually, the question (how I come to RP and when) came up a couple of months ago. I was disappointed because I couldn't remember. Anyway, I'm sure I could remember more if I worked on it (but I don't want to now :D).

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

wilderness — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:28:51 GMT

Daniel:

wilderness:

Daniel:

Don't ask me for specific dates.

Why? You ought to know your dates.

I never kept track. From what I can remember, I first heard of Ron Paul in July of 2007 and then read Woods' "33 Questions" that August. I kick myself for not remembering what lead me from RP to Woods. It must have been that RP mentioned Woods. My Amazon order history tells me when I bought books, but YouTube doesnt tell me which videos I've watched (until recently) nor when, and neither does LRC nor Mises.org tell me which articles i've read nor when, nor which videos/audios I've watched/listened nor when (but I know I've watched every Mises video and most Mises audios). Oh ok. I'm starting to remember more. RP mentioned Austrian economics and the Mises Institute and then I watched every video on Mises.org and listened to most audios (this was fall 2007). That's how I became libertarian/an-cap. Also, I would frequent RonPaulForums.com and people would ask questions, which caused me to conduct research on LRC and Mises.org to answer the question. Anyway, I pretty much watched every single RP video on YouTube throughout Fall 2007. One of my favorites was the interview at Google Talks. Also, I must mention that I thoroughly researched every single major presidential candidate during fall of 2007 (specifically, RP, Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, McCain, Kucinich, and some others). RP is the only one that consistently made sense.

I'm sorry. I hope I didn't cause more work for you than needed. I was only joking. But I find it amazingly good that you can remember a timeline.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

DanielMuff — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:21:58 GMT

wilderness:

Daniel:

Don't ask me for specific dates.

Why? You ought to know your dates.

I never kept track. From what I can remember, I first heard of Ron Paul in July of 2007 and then read Woods' "33 Questions" that August. I kick myself for not remembering what lead me from RP to Woods. It must have been that RP mentioned Woods. My Amazon order history tells me when I bought books, but YouTube doesnt tell me which videos I've watched (until recently) nor when, and neither does LRC nor Mises.org tell me which articles i've read nor when, nor which videos/audios I've watched/listened nor when (but I know I've watched every Mises video and most Mises audios). Oh ok. I'm starting to remember more. RP mentioned Austrian economics and the Mises Institute and then I watched every video on Mises.org and listened to most audios (this was fall 2007). That's how I became libertarian/an-cap. Also, I would frequent RonPaulForums.com and people would ask questions, which caused me to conduct research on LRC and Mises.org to answer the question. Anyway, I pretty much watched every single RP video on YouTube throughout Fall 2007. One of my favorites was the interview at Google Talks. Also, I must mention that I thoroughly researched every single major presidential candidate during fall of 2007 (specifically, RP, Obama, Clinton, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani, McCain, Kucinich, and some others). RP is the only one that consistently made sense.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

wilderness — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:55:52 GMT

Daniel:

Don't ask me for specific dates.

Why? You ought to know your dates.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

DanielMuff — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:53:14 GMT

Ron Paul and Tom Woods' 33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed to Ask turned me from not caring about politics (hence, never voting in my life. btw, i'm 22) and towards a Constitutionalist. Then came Tom Woods' The PIG to American History, Bob Murphy's The PIG to Capitalism, Dominick T. Armentano's Antitrust: The Case for Repeal and Rothbard's The Case Against the Fed. But Walter Block and LRC turned me into a libertarian/an-cap. Mises.org. Don't ask me for specific dates.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Tyler — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:46:53 GMT

I just think it's very encouraging to see how Ron Paul's campaign and presence in the media has revealed the truth to so many people. If this many people on here came to AE through hearing Dr. Paul in some fashion...it really can only mean that there are many others out there who have the same story!

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

whipitgood — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:33:29 GMT

Ron Paul.

It's funny, Stephan Molyneux says that Ron Paul hurt the liberty movement. Saying that seems to me to be a little like saying that firemen make fires worse, or that cars hurt transportation.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

wilderness — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:28:12 GMT

Dbsafc:

This went on for too long. Sorry.

Honestly, this did not go on "too long". I like to hear personal stories such as this. it's very interesting how people realize. I especially liked how you knew it was significant to state, "My instincts told me he was full of shit..."

That is a very astute point on why the free market makes sense. It's common sense. It's natural reasoning. A simple gardener like me can figure out this crap, and meanwhile Greenspan goes around to Jon Stewart and talks about how he still can't figure this stuff out. They live in a mathematical bubble fantasy. They need to go and get their hands dirty once in awhile and just clear their minds. Let the inner light bulb turn on once in awhile and just freely think.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

liberty student — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:08:53 GMT

Dbsafc:
This went on for too long. Sorry.

No, it's great. Really. I suppose if I wanted to be more verbose, my path via Ron Paul also has layers of growth and understanding.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Dbsafc — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:09:51 GMT

In year two of college, I was researching a paper on non-interventionism, a topic selected purely on an impulse. I came across a piece by Laurence Vance on LRC. I checked the site, noticed an article by some yokel Congressman named Ron Paul, shook my head, and concluded that you were all bat shit insane. If I were to be honest with myself, I would compare my own political inclinations at that time to those of a fascist- or, at least, to those of some pig-headed rampaging militarist. This changed in college, when I began studying political science and US foreign policy- and when I found out what a bunch of lying, hypocritical bastards politicians could be. I also began to see how Democrats and Republicans were so… similar.

Fast forward a few months, and I’m watching CNN (which I always did, in those days), and I’m gazing at this bloviating ass named Lou Dobbs babble about how the prices of lettuce and vegetables should be raised so as to stem illegal immigration. My instincts told me he was full of shit, but I didn’t know why. I searched for a rebuttal, and amid all of the screaming idiots accusing him of racism, another LRC piece appeared- discussing the nature and effects of price controls.

Light bulb went off. I started reading the site regularly. I knew beforehand the dollar was a fiat-currency, and I knew of fractional-reserve banking. It all clicked. I encountered arachno-capitalist articles by Joshua Katz, Walter Block, and some portly dead guy named Murray Rothbard. Soon, I was making visits to Antiwar.com and Mises.org regular staples of my daily internet diet. A lot of AE filtered in through those daily pieces, and it wasn’t until several months later that I began to take up serious reading on such matters as economics, foreign policy, banking, ‘political correctness’, and individual liberty.

This went on for too long. Sorry.

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Thedesolateone — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:41:13 GMT

liberty student:

Thedesolateone:
Arachno capitalism, geddit

I spit because I got it. Well placed.

Reminds me of that thread

Poor guy with his mis-spelling

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Conza88 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:23:04 GMT

Bebe:

I was always interested in economics. When I was about ten I became obsessed with inflation. It was the late 1970's and inflation was all over the news but nobody was able to explaine what caused it. I asked everyone and no one had an answer, so I gave up asking and forgot about it. When I got to college I decidedd to major in economics but I found it to be a waste of time. I learned all kinds of forumlas, yet still had no idea of how the economy functioned or what caused inflation . I found the entire major a waste of time. Then about 10 years ago my brother told me about this book he was reading called "Human Action". I picked up a copy read it and have been addicted to AE. ever sense.

What's your bro doing? He kept up with AE?

Re: How did you come to subscribe to AE?

Bebe — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:12:39 GMT

I was always interested in economics. When I was about ten I became obsessed with inflation. It was the late 1970's and inflation was all over the news but nobody was able to explaine what caused it. I asked everyone and no one had an answer, so I gave up asking and forgot about it. When I got to college I decidedd to major in economics but I found it to be a waste of time. I learned all kinds of forumlas, yet still had no idea of how the economy functioned or what caused inflation . I found the entire major a waste of time. Then about 10 years ago my brother told me about this book he was reading called "Human Action". I picked up a copy read it and have been addicted to AE. ever sense.