The Human Action Podcast

We continue our survey of Human Action by finishing up Part Six of the book, Mises's analysis of interventionism—or the so-called "third way" between capitalism and socialism. Mises exposes how state intervention in the market economy makes us all poorer, even while it claims to act against poverty and inequality on behalf of social justice. That perverse "justice" takes the form of currency manip...

Professor Peter Klein from Baylor University joins the show to discuss Part Six of Human Action, where Mises presents his exposition of interventionism in all its manifestations. Mises breaks socialism down into Soviet and German versions; the first purely bureaucratic (state ownership) and the second nominally private but state-directed. He gives us a contrasting definition of laissez-faire, the...

Ryan McMaken, an economist and editor of Mises.org, joins the show to consider Part Five of Human Action: "Social Cooperation without a Market." This section of the book provides Mises's updated exposition of socialism, the impossible project of substituting 'One Will' for the subjective actions and preferences of everyone in society. Mises gives us the history behind support for socialism, and th...

Professor Mark Thornton and Jeff Deist finish Part Four of Human Action with a look at Chapters 21–24 of the book—a powerful exposition of how social cooperation and market exchange create far more harmony in society than state power. Here Mises explains how we all choose labor or leisure every day, and why wages are not the exploitative pittance socialists imagine. Land and rents have been miscon...

Dr. Joe Salerno joins the show for a dynamic look at Human Action Part Four, arguably the meatiest part of the book. Chapters 18, 19, and 20 are where Mises presents the idea of pure time preference, his expanded theory of interest, and the parameters of business cycle theory and malinvestment. Salerno and Jeff Deist consider how time relates to capital; gratitude for society's accumulated wealth;...

We dive into Part Four of Human Action with Professor Jeffrey Herbener, Chair of the Economics Department at Grove City College. This is a fantastic discussion of money and market exchange, with Mises proving timely as ever given the current financial meltdown and crazed response from Washington. Dr. Herbener and Jeff Deist cover catallactics and how imaginary constructs help us understand basic e...

We continue our series on Human Action with Professor Per Bylund of Oklahoma State University. Dr. Bylund and Jeff Deist consider Part Three of the book, "Economic Calculation," considering Mises's conception of value and the folly of attempting to define a "unit of value" in a highly subjective world. They discuss socialism and the elementary theory of value and prices; inputs and outputs in bart...

In the second installment of our series on Mises's Human Action, Dr. David Gordon (Mises.org/Gordon) joins the show to walk us through Part One. The beginning of the book is considered its most "philosophical" material, where Mises lays out the basics of praxeology and epistemology as fundamental to understanding economics. Dr. Gordon and host Jeff Deist consider each of the book's first seven cha...

Human Action is the book you want to read, you need to read, you've thought about reading. So make 2020 the year you do read it! Over the next seven weeks the Human Action Podcast will guide you through this incredibly vital and intellectually transforming work, with a series of guest economists to explain and bring Mises's most important work to life. Our opening show features Dr. Shawn Ritenour...

Dr. Bob Murphy joins the Human Action podcast to discuss one of the most important issues of all: how money and credit work in today's society. Jeff Deist recently commissioned Murphy to write a series of articles on money mechanics, an exceedingly important topic for critics of the Fed– and today's podcast serves as an introduction to the project. The articles will be compiled into an e-book, wit...

Central bankers dismiss gold as a relic, even as they buy up more of it. Politicians dismiss gold as money they don't control and can't expand. Holders dismiss gold as outdated tech. And investors dismiss gold as a static metal paying no yields. So why does gold still matter? Why does it hold value over millennia? Why does it threaten inflationist governments? Why does it seem to be flowing West t...

Negative interest rates are now entrenched reality in Europe, and not just for buyers of sovereign or corporate debt – even retail savings accounts are affected. What does this mean for real people trying to save for retirement? And more broadly, what does it mean for Europe culturally? Not to mention America, since Alan Greenspan tells us negative rates are coming here soon? Our guest Rahim Taghi...

Marketing guru and fund investor Hunter Hastings joins the Human Action podcast for a look at Economics for Entrepreneurs, a new platform which uses Austrian theory to teach actionable entrepreneurship. Can business acumen be taught, or is it innate? Hunter and Jeff examine consumer sovereignty, value creation, and the theory of the firm, all from a unique Austrian perspective. Austrians have a lo...

The late Murray Rothbard has passionate fans and critics alike—but was he really the intransigent person his detractors portray? Was he prickly and difficult, or actually generous and helpful to students and colleagues? Did his reputation as an economist suffer for venturing into philosophy, ethics, history, sociology, and anarchism—even though Hayek did the same? Was Man, Economy, and State reall...

Professor Walter Block joins the Human Action Podcast (Mises.org/HAPod) for a fantastic in-depth discussion of Henry Hazlitt and his work. Dr. Block has great insights into Hazlitt's work on inflation, economic fallacies, ethics and utilitarianism, and more, plus great anecdotes about Hazlitt, Mises, and Rand. Economics in One Lesson may be the most important economics book ever written for lay re...

Auburn University professor Dr. Liliana Stern joins a special live episode of the Human Action Podcast for an unvarnished look at the state of economics education today. Why are theory and history ignored, while warmed-over Keynesian models dominate? How can Austrians reclaim their rightful place in the curriculum? Are economics students finding jobs? Why do academic publishing and textbook racket...

Nationalism, globalism, cosmopolitanism, and immigration are heated topics today—but Mises systematically addressed them 100 years ago, in his seminal work Nation, State, and Economy. What is a nation, and what does the nationality principle mean for liberalism? Mises argues that nations arise spontaneously, predating governments. Liberal nations exist to the extent they respect self-determination...

Dr. Mark Thornton, our in-house Cantillon expert, joins the Human Action Podcast to discuss the contributions of this important proto-Austrian thinker. Cantillon may well have written the first true economic treatise, one which lays out a comprehensive theory of production, money, interest, value, method, and trade—almost 150 years before Menger's Principles. And along with the other French physio...

In 1944 Ludwig von Mises published Omnipotent Government, his historical treatment of Nazism and its origins in the collapse of German liberalism. This book expands on earlier works like Nation, State, and Economy and Liberalism, applying their analysis to the terrible events of WWII. Europe was up in flames, but Mises skillfully explains how to defeat the total state and its advocates. Professor...

The Human Action Podcast reviews another overlooked classic by Mises: The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (mises.org/AntiCap). This book takes no prisoners, showing how envy motivates progressive and conservative intellectuals who fear dynamic capitalism. The real reactionaries, according to Mises? Socialists who want to keep everyone stuck at one station in life. Our friend Andy Duncan from Mises UK,...

The twentieth century revolution in America was bureaucratic, not ideological. And in 1944, a new American—Ludwig von Mises—published Bureaucracy (mises.org/bureaucracy), the most important and devastating critique of administrative rule ever written. Clocking in at just over 130 pages, this is Mises at his hard-hitting best. Professor William Anderson joins the Human Action Podcast for an in-dept...

Dr. Joe Salerno joins Jeff Deist to explore another foundational topic: the method of economics. Mises developed praxeology, perhaps his most controversial contribution to economic science. Praxeology starts with fundamental axioms, then derives economic theory by working logically through a deductive process. As such, praxeology is at odds with logical positivism and empiricism—and presents a mar...

Our in-house economist and editor Ryan McMaken joins the Human Action Podcast for a deep dive into Mises's seminal 1927 book Liberalism. This is the definitive podcast on the definitive book on liberal society: its foundations, what it means for property, freedom, peace, economic policy, and immigration. Readings Liberalism: In the Classical Tradition by Ludwig von Mises (mises.org/libralism) "Was...

What are interest rates, where do they come from, and what purpose do they serve? Smith, Marx, and Keynes got these questions wrong; Turgot, Böhm-Bawerk, and Mises got them right. Economist Jeffrey Herbener from Grove City College explains. Readings: "The Brilliance of Turgot" by Murray Rothbard (mises.org/library/brilliance-turgot) Profile of Böhm-Bawerk by Roger Garrison (mises.org/bawerk)

It's been almost 100 years since Mises literally wrote the book on socialism. His arguments against central economic planning, still acutely relevant today, have never been refuted—in theory or dismal practice. Joining the Human Action Podcast to discuss this monumental book is Dr. Shawn Ritenour (Mises.org/Ritenour), professor of economics at Grove City College and editor of 'The Mises Reader'.