Bitcoin Austrian Economic Study Group

[kiba]

Hmm...since bitcoin needs economists who can think accurately about problem, how about we set up a study group to motivate each other and learn.

[MoonShadow]

 

A you asking for recommendations on study resources, or something else?

[kiba]

A you asking for recommendations on study resources, or something else?

No, it's a study group comprised of bitcoiners.

[Judson]

I hope your talking about the Austrian School, not austria.

If its the austrian school, I'm down, Its always great to discuss economics with like minds.

[hugolp]

How do you propose this group should work?

I have some ideas regarding the ideas of "free banking" of Selgin and White and the problems bitcoin would have once it reaches its "coin" limit, and how to solve this problem.

[kiba]

How do you propose this group should work?

I don't know. We could have a round-table on a book. Let say, each of us pledge to read a book about economic. Then we get together and talk about the particular chapter with questions like....

What is true and not true, economic implication, and so on.

[hugolp]

How do you propose this group should work?

I don't know. We could have a round-table on a book. Let say, each of us pledge to read a book about economic. Then we get together and talk about the particular chapter with questions like....

What is true and not true, economic implication, and so on.

Mmm, is this a virtual round table? I am in Europe.

[Anonymous]

http://www.goodreads.com

That is a great site for what you want.

[ptd]

Mmm, is this a virtual round table? I am in Europe.

If we get some Asians and Austrialians on board, it can be a real (but 6000 km radius) round table that slices through the Earth.

[Timo Y]

I hope your talking about the Austrian School, not austria.

The Austrian School is a bit like The Sound of Music - the only thing that many non-Austrian nationals will ever associate with Austria, but paradoxically, almost completely forgotten in Austria itself.

[kiba]

Anybody have a book that they want to suggest?

[harding]

I suggest the book that started the modern Austrian school: Human Action by Ludwig von Mises.  It's available for free (legally) on the Internet in several formats (including PDF, ePub, and MP3) and can be purchased in paperback for about $10 USD. 

There's also a recent study guide written by Robert Murphy which is also freely available.

Links to Human Action:

• Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Action
• ePub: http://mises.org/books/HumanAction.epub
• PDF: http://mises.org/books/humanactionscholars.pdf
• MP3 Index: http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=category&ID=139
• Paperback, $10 USD + shipping: http://mises.org/store/Human-Action-Pocket-Edition-P10435.aspx
• All MP3s on one data CD, $15 USD + shipping: http://mises.org/store/Human-Action-Audiobook-MP3CD-P640.aspx

Study Guide links:

• ePub: http://mises.org/books/HumanActionStudy.epub
• PDF: http://mises.org/books/humanactionstudy.pdf
• Spiral bound, $16 USD: http://mises.org/store/Human-Action-Study-Guide-P547.aspx

-Dave

P.S. There are four editions of Human Action.  The first edition is in the public domain and is also called the "scholars edition."  Although later editions would usually be preferred, I've read that the first edition is the best and, since it is freely available, I suggest we use that one.  All the links above point the first edition/scholars edition.

[MoonShadow]

Human Action isn't exactly light reading.  I would suggest that aspiring Austrians start with books aimed at for the general public, such as Economics in One Lesson and the 'Uncle Eric' series starting with Whatever Happened to Penny Candy.  The former is aimed at lay adults, the latter at teens and pre-teens; but those without prior experience can stand to learn much from the 'Uncle Eric' series quickly.  My recommended order is Whatever Happened to Penny Candy, Whatever Happened to Justice and The Clipper Ship Stradgety; after that the series gets off the topic, because it's a series about Praxeology in general, not Economics in particular.  Any of these titles should be available at the public library.

[harding]

Human Action isn't exactly light reading.  I would suggest that aspiring Austrians start with books aimed at for the general public, such as Economics in One Lesson and the 'Uncle Eric' series starting with Whatever Happened to Penny Candy.  The former is aimed at lay adults, the latter at teens and pre-teens; [...]

I do love Economics in One Lesson, but what bitcoin user needs help understanding books written for lay adults and children?  Those books stand on their own--that is their purpose.

If the point of this group is to help us learn more together than we would learn by ourselves, then a challenging book must be selected.  Human Action is challenging; it is not light reading--but it is damn informative; it has changed the thinking of some of the best thinkers; it brought back to life a dead school of economics; and it is today the rock upon which the entire Austrian School stands.  I can think of no better book with which to begin this group's studying.

-Dave

[Cryptoman]

Why not Rothbard's Man, Economy and State?  He has integrated the sum total of Austrian economics better than anyone.

[harding]

Why not Rothbard's Man, Economy and State? [...]

We do not need to choose between Human Action and Man, Economy, and State--we can choose to read both in sequence.

[kiba]

Both book are extremely hardcore, however Man, Economy, and the State is a book that teach you from the foundation. Human Action assume a lot of knowledge.

The knowledge of bitcoiners probably vary widely despite we are probably one of most economic sophisticated laymen. So it's good to get a super solid foundation.

Start with MES, then we can tackle Human Action.

[kiba]

If anybody don't object, the book we will focus on is Man, Economy, and the State. Read chapter 1 by 12/18. Be prepared to discuss it next week.

Also, PDF is available online from mises.org.

The deadline: 12/18 Saturday.

In the meantime, I suggest we come up with a guide on how to approach our reading...

[harding]

In the meantime, I suggest we come up with a guide on how to approach our reading...

While reading, if you have any questions or doubts, write them down.  Then continue reading to the end of the chapter and see if your questions are answered and your doubts eliminated.  If either remain, post them here.

At the end of each chapter, each participant should post here at least one paragraph about what they thought was most important in that chapter.  (More than one paragraph is fine.)

I suggest for convenience that we reference the in-text page numbers and paragraphs in the PDF edition at http://mises.org/books/mespm.pdf.

[da2ce7]

On the moral side of the coin, I suggest people to read http://www.fee.org/pdf/books/MarxismUnmasked.pdf  It is very good introduction for somebody wanting to understand what freedom is, and why the free-market is so important.