Who Is?

Who Is Friedrich Hayek?

Peter G. Klein — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 01:00:00 -0500

F.A. Hayek (1899–1992) was the most important representative of the “fourth generation” of the Austrian school of economics and the only one so far to receive the Nobel Prize. His many contributions are highlighted by Peter Klein.

Hayek considered himself a socialist until he read Mises's Socialism, where Mises argued that prices and private property are a requirement of economic calculation. He attended Mises’s private seminar along with other top young economists and went on to build upon Mises’s monetary theory. He developed an explanation of business cycles brought on by bank credit expansion encouraging malinvestments in capital.

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Who Is Frank Fetter?

Jeffrey M. Herbener — Mon, 20 Aug 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Jeffrey Herbener discusses the significant contributions of Frank Fetter (1863–1949) on the implications of the marginalist revolution. Fetter identified with not only the Austrian school but in particular the branch that developed Menger’s causal-realist approach to economics.

Fetter’s major achievement was to reform the Classical theory of income distribution to bring it into line with subjective value theory. In doing so, he stressed the need for economic theory to realize the importance of capital and its place in industrial affairs.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who Is Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk?

Peter G. Klein — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 01:00:00 -0500

A strong member of the “second generation of the Austrian school of economics,” Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851–1914) and his works are discussed by Peter Klein. Böhm-Bawerk did much to extend and further develop Menger’s theories of value, price, capital, and production. Included in his work of the two volume Capital and Interest is a devastating critique of Marx’s exploitation theory. Böhm-Bawerk explained that far from being exploited, the workers are actually accommodated, being paid in advance of the produced goods being sold.

In the second volume of Capital and Interest, Böhm-Bawerk explained the time consuming nature of production and how it relates to interest. Roundabout production methods are more productive but come at a cost of forgoing current consumption during the process of accumulating the capital. This became the basis for his time preference theory of interest as well as the foundations for the Austrian theory of the business cycle. Böhm-Bawerk also presented a clear example diminishing marginal utility and explained how real prices, as opposed to hypothetical equilibrium prices, are determined.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who Is Henry Hazlitt?

Jonathan Newman — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Jonathan Newman discusses the many contributions of the brilliant popularizer of sound economics, Henry Hazlitt (1894–1993). Best known for his book, Economics in One Lesson, Hazlitt stressed that a comprehensive view of of any event or policy is necessary to avoid missing longer term consequences.

Hazlitt was a voice of reason in the mainstream press. He demolished Keynesianism, socialism, government interventionism, price controls, government welfare, fiat money, expansionary monetary policy, and all kinds of economic errors and wrongheaded policies.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Ludwig von Mises?

Jörg Guido Hülsmann — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 01:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Guido Hülsmann, author of Mises’s biography The Last Knight of Liberalism, highlights the life and work of Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973), arguably the greatest economist of all time. Very early in his career, Mises was influenced by Carl Menger and Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk to turn away from the Historicist approach and to pursue studies in economic theory.

Among Mises's many contributions, Hülsmann discusses the socialist calculation debate, Mises’s battle against inflation, and the argument that economics is part of a larger science called Praxelogy. Mises revolutionized the theory of money, developing a full explanation of money prices and the consequences of money production.

Who is Philip Wicksteed?

G. P. Manish — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 01:00:00 -0500

G.P. Manish highlights the life and work of Philip Wicksteed, a theologian and scholar from the late 19th and early 20th century. Though not a fan of the free market, Wicksteed made many contributions to Austrian price theory.

Wicksteed recognized that economics is a branch of praxeology, studying human action and choices necessitated by scarcity. Wicksteed placed man—specifically not an all-knowing man, as was in fashion at the time—at the center of economic analysis, siding with Menger in the Marginalist Revolution.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Frédéric Bastiat?

Jörg Guido Hülsmann — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 01:00:00 -0500

The life and work of the 19th century economist and statesman, Claude-Frédéric Bastiat (1801–1850), are highlighted by Guido Hülsmann. Beginning his work in economics to fight against tariffs and to argue for free trade, Bastiat published The Law in 1850. His influence spread quickly as it was translated into many languages all over Europe. In it he argued that the whole point of law is to protect the private property of every member of society.

Thanks to Bastiat, we have the brilliant illustration of the broken window fallacy from his essay “What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen.” To see destruction as a source of economic growth by increasing income to re-build, Bastiat argued, is to focus only what is immediately visible and missing the loss of pre-existing wealth.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Richard Cantillon?

Mark Thornton — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Richard Cantillon (1680–1734) was perhaps the most important and influential economist of all time, though as Mark Thornton explains, few people have ever heard of him. Murray Rothbard called him the founding father of modern economics.

Cantillon was the world’s first economic theorist, and in his treatise we find much of what we call economics today. He developed a scientific and positive methodology, performed thought experiments, and created the ceteris paribus assumption. Also in his work we find value theory, opportunity cost, price theory, and entrepreneurship theory. Mark Thornton describes in detail one of Cantillon’s greatest achievements: the specie flow mechanism.

Supplemental readings for Cantillon:

English translation of Cantillon’s An Essay on Economic Theory

Chapter 12 of Rothbard’s An Austrian Perspetive on the History of Economic Thought, Volume I

Richard Cantillon: Economist and Entrepreneur by Antoin Murphy

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Juan de Mariana?

Lucas M. Engelhardt — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Lucas Engelhardt explains the many contributions of an early precursor to not only the Austrian School but to the whole of economic thought, Juan de Mariana of the 16th century Spanish scholastics. Mariana’s book On the King and the Royal Institution stressed the importance of remembering that kings are under a greater natural moral law and ought to be punished when they violate it. Mariana distinguished between a tyrant and a king by how the ruler viewed the property of his citizens.

Regarding the exchange value of money, Mariana understood the value was determined by the supply and demand of money so that debasement of the currency led to rising prices. Engelhardt also explains Mariana’s understanding of subjective valuation.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Jean-Baptiste Say?

Per Bylund — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Per Bylund explains the many contributions of Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832), a precursor to the Austrian School of economics. Today, Say is most well known for his “law of markets” which is now referred to simply as “Say’s Law.” Often misstated as “supply creates its own demand,” the law is that we produce and supply to the market in order that we may demand other goods in exchange. Production, therefore, is an indirect means to attain the goods and services we desire to meet our needs.

Say also made contributions in the theory of money, including how it emerges spontaneously, and why the commodity serving as a medium of exchange needs characteristics of durability, divisibility, and high value per unit, with the choice of commodity should be left to consumer preferences. Other highlights include his distinction between banks of deposit and banks of circulation.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Murray Rothbard?

David Gordon — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) was one of the most important participants in Ludwig von Mises’s seminar, and undoubtedly the premiere Austrian economist of the twentieth century. Here, David Gordon discusses Rothbard’s contributions to economic theory and their broader historical context.

In his 1962 Man Economy and State, Rothbard built on Mises’s work and further developed the complete deductive science of economics called Praxeology. Gordon highlights several of Rothbard’s contributions including the impossibility of a monopoly price occurring on the free market, the implications of the calculation problem on the size of the firm, and the impracticalities of fractional reserve banking. Rothbard’s exposition of the Great Depression and his work in History of Economic Thought are also discussed.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Wilhelm Röpke?

Shawn Ritenour — Tue, 29 May 2018 01:00:00 -0500

In this episode, Shawn Ritenour answers the question, “Who is Wilhelm Röpke?” A German economist, Röpke contributed to the theoretical structure and political vision of the Austrian school, warning of the dangers of political consolidation and underscoring the connection between culture and economic systems.

Röpke opposed collectivism and centralization of power in all of its forms. In his own words, he became a “fervent hater of war, of brutal and stupid national pride, of the greed for domination and of every collective outrage against ethics.” He warned against Keynesian full-employment policies and he developed a theory of repressed inflation. He argued that inflation was merely a Keynesian means of transferring wealth.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.

Who is Carl Menger?

Jeff Deist — Tue, 22 May 2018 01:00:00 -0500

Jeff Deist discusses the major contributions of Carl Menger (1840–1921), founder of the Austrian school of economics. Sharing credit with Jevons and Walras, Menger initiated the Marginalist Revolution in economic thought with the 1871 publication of his book, Principles of Economics. Classical economists had been stumped by the “paradox of value,” but Menger solved it by focusing on the utility of the marginal unit, or what we call marginal utility.

Menger also developed the notion of imputation of value from the consumer good all the way back through the factors of production to the highest “order” of goods, the concept of voluntary exchange coming about because of unequal valuations of the goods being traded, and an explanation of the origin of money arising spontaneously as individuals accept a more saleable good in exchange even if it’s not the good they ultimately desire. These and several other major contributions are highlighted in the episode.

The Who Is? podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and via RSS.