Economics Questions

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Rcder — Sun, 09 May 2010 18:09:47 GMT

Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like I've got quiet a bit of reading ahead of me, so I'd better get started.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Graham Wright — Sun, 09 May 2010 12:48:07 GMT

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):

Economics in One Lesson
An Introduction to Economic Reasoning
Man, Economy and State

I also would like to especially recommend this lecture series by Joseph Salerno.

Welcome to the community.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

yessir — Sun, 09 May 2010 06:53:35 GMT

just start here:

http://mises.org/rothbard/mes.asp

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Rcder — Sun, 09 May 2010 06:11:34 GMT

Sure, I'd be more than willing to take a look at it.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Giant_Joe — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:54:30 GMT

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. :)

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:29:51 GMT

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. ;)

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Caley McKibbin — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:29:20 GMT

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?

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

LeeO — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:24:30 GMT

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.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Nielsio — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:18:52 GMT

I would say start here and go from there:

http://www.vforvoluntary.com/austrian-economics

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Rcder — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:10:22 GMT

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.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

LeeO — Sun, 09 May 2010 05:00:51 GMT

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!

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Rcder — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:59:56 GMT

I've just barely started. Is there any reason why I shouldn't continue? Again, I'm going into economics blind, here.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

laminustacitus — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:55:40 GMT

"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.

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Rcder — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:51:53 GMT

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?

Re: Where To Start With Austrian Economics?

Blueline976 — Sun, 09 May 2010 04:45:34 GMT

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.