The Human Action Podcast

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 economics; markets as a system of social cooperation; how ordinal preferences find expression in money prices; the structure of production; consumer sovereignty; Mises's conception of monopoly; and the various media of exchange which complicate what ought to be the market's provision of commodity money.

Use the code HAPOD for a discount on Human Action from our bookstore: Mises.org/BuyHA.

Human Action: Mises.org/HumanAction

Bob Murphy's Study Guide to Human Action: Mises.org/Study

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 barter vs. under monetary exchange; prices as exchange ratios; why change is constant and price "stabilization" efforts fail; why mathematical calculation of money prices may rival the wheel as among the most important human inventions; and why Mises thought praxeology emerged when man started thinking about monetary calculation.

Use the code HAPOD for a discount on Human Action from our bookstore: Mises.org/BuyHA.

Human Action: Mises.org/HumanAction

Bob Murphy's Study Guide to Human Action: Mises.org/Study

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 chapters, with topics including: Mises's categories of action and causality, a priori disciplines, polylogism, "felt uneasiness," value and preferences, praxeology as it relates to time and uncertainty, probability and its application to human action, and the nature of production.

If you've wanted to read Human Action, this is your opportunity to hear it explained by great economists and scholars!

Use the code HAPOD for a discount on the pocket edition of Human Action from our bookstore: Mises.org/BuyHA.

Human Action: Mises.org/HumanAction

Bob Murphy's Study Guide to Human Action: Mises.org/Study

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 of Grove City College, who makes a compelling case for lay readers to engage with Human Action. Jeff Deist and Professor Ritenour share plenty of great background, insights, and anecdotes about Mises and the context surrounding the book, so this is an episode you don't want to miss.

Use the code HAPOD for a discount on the pocket edition of Human Action from our bookstore.

Human Action: Mises.org/HumanAction

Bob Murphy's Study Guide to Human Action: Mises.org/Study

The Mises Reader, edited by Shawn Ritenour: Mises.org/Reader

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, with plenty of graphics to simplify the basic process of money creation in a fractional reserve system. If you want to understand how the Fed works, how money and credit come into being, how interest rates arise, and what it all means for you, don't miss this great upcoming series at mises.org.

Jeff Deist on Understanding Fed Money Mechanics: mises.org/wire/understanding-fed-money-mechanics

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 to East? Why does an ounce of it still trade for more than $1,000, if the critics are right? This is the comprehensive show on gold and its enduring role in today's economy, with Keith Weiner of Monetary Metals.

Mises.org/HAPod

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 Taghizadegan (mises.org/taghizadegan) from the independent Viennese Scholarium joins the show to discuss the anti-economics of negative rates. He is co-author of a new book titled The Zero Interest Trap. He is also a co-author of Austrian School for Investors.

Scholarium: scholarium.at

The Zero Interest Trap: www.amazon.com/Zero-Interest-Trap-Ronald-Stoeferle/dp/3902639504

Austrian School for Investors: www.amazon.com/Austrian-School-Investors-Investing-Inflation/dp/3902639393

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 lot to say about how entrepreneurs ought to think, while business schools fail to adjust to the new decentralized, agile world. Austrian economics provides entrepreneurs with a different set of tools than any business book or MBA program, and our new podcast series will help anyone improve their business or career bottom line.

Additional Resources:

Mises for Business LinkedIn page​: www.linkedin.com/showcase/35689939/admin/

Economics for Entrepreneurs (E4E) podcast: mises.org/library/economics-entrepreneurs

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 really just a rehash of Human Action? Did he deviate from Mises on method? Were Power & Market and the Ethics of Liberty just too radical and off-putting?

Professor Patrick Newman (mises.org/PNewman) considers critics like Arthur Burns, Kirzner, Leland Yeager, Nozick, Mario Rizzo, Selgin/White, Jason Brennan, Bryan Caplan, and of course Mises. If you like Rothbard you don't want to miss this show!

In Defense of "Extreme Apriorism" by Murray Rothbard available at mises.org/extreme

Join us for a celebration of Mises and his work in Los Angeles October 25–27. More info available at Mises.org/events.

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 readers, and the Mises Institute will release a new edition of the book later this fall — available free to tens of thousands of students across the world. There is still time to be listed as a patron in the book by donating at Mises.org/OneLesson.