Austrian Economics: An Introductory Course

Presented by Rothbard at New York Polytechnic University in 1972.

Presented by Rothbard at New York Polytechnic University in 1972.

In this lecture in 1972, supply and demand concepts included: preferences of consumers, prices, quantity, quality, elasticity, equilibrium, marginal utility, present goods, and production processes.

Advertising has always had bad press with economists, but consumers discover that a product either works and works well, or it doesn't. Consumer wants are not artificially created by business itself.

Price controls — triangular interventions — occur when an intervener (generally government) either compels a pair of people to make an exchange or prohibits them from making an exchange.

Economics begins with the concepts of scarcity and choice. If there was no scarcity it would all be free. Resources like time and materials need to be allocated to economically feasible uses. This will depend on the consumers' demand for the final product.