Austrian economics

Introduction to Austrian Economics
11
Sep
By Bob Weeks

Introduction to Austrian Economics

"For Austrians, on the other hand, man is a purposeful being. ... He has spirit and will." The author of these remarks, Dr. Richard Ebeling, delivered a lecture on Austrian Economics to an audience in Wichita. Austrian Economics focuses on man as a human actor, rather than as a cog in a system of equations. Dr. Richard Ebeling delivered an introductory lecture on Austrian Economics to an audience in Wichita on September 10, 2015. A companion article to the lecture is Austrian Economics and the Political Economy of Freedom, in which Dr. Ebeling explains: "The Austrian view of man refutes…
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Austrian economics to be explained
02
Sep
By Bob Weeks

Austrian economics to be explained

Voice for Liberty presents Richard M. Ebeling, Ph.D. for an informative breakfast event. Ebeling is BB&T Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Free Enterprise Leadership at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. His topic will be "An Introduction to Austrian Economics." This meeting is Thursday September 10, 2015, from 7:30 am to 9:00 am. It will be at the Petroleum Club, 9th floor of the Ruffin Building at 100 N. Broadway in Wichita. The cost is $15, which includes a delicious breakfast. RSVP is not required, but if you plan to attend, would you please let me know by email at…
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30
Dec
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday December 30, 2011

Year in review, Wichita Liberty-style. Here it is: A selection of stories that appeared on Voice for Liberty in 2011. Was it a good or bad year for the causes of economic freedom, individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and civil society? Patriots New Years Eve. Larry Halloran of Wichita -- South Central KS 912 Group is sponsoring for the second time a "Patriots New Years Eve": Taking time to relax in the company of Patriots as we dedicate ourselves to the important work ahead in 2012. This event is New Year's Eve from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm at…
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05
Jun
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Sunday June 5, 2011

Wichita City Council this week. This week the Wichita City Council will consider these items of particular interest: The Wichita Art Museum has $265,738 in funds that it did not spend. The council will be asked to allow the museum to retain this unspent money. ... Mid-Continent Instrument, Inc. is asking for a forgivable loan of $10,000. It received the same last week from Sedgwick County. According to city documents, the State of Kansas is also chipping in $503,055 in forgivable loans, sales tax exemptions, training grants, and tax credits. ... Council members will receive the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual…
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06
May
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday May 6, 2011

Wichita downtown sites draw little interest. Wichita Business Journal: "Interest from developers in eight city-owned “catalyst” sites in downtown Wichita was minimal -- unexpectedly so. 'I was a little bit surprised how light the response was,' says Scott Knebel, downtown revitalization manager for the city of Wichita." With the city soliciting informal proposals for eight sites, only two proposals were received. KPERS. It appears that the Kansas Legislature will pass a pension "reform" bill that does not include a shift to a defined-contribution plan for new employees. Instead, the tough decisions that need to be made about the Kansas Public…
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03
May
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Tuesday May 3, 2011

Why not school choice in Kansas? WhyNotKansas.com is a website that holds information about the benefits of giving families the freedom of school choice. The site is new this week, and is a project of Kansas Policy Institute and Foundation for Educational Choice. Innovation in school choice programs is common in many states. Kansas, however, still grants the education bureaucracy a monopoly on the use of public dollars in education. Economics in one lesson this Monday. On Monday (May 9), four videos based on Henry Hazlitt's classic work Economics in One Lesson will be shown in Wichita. The four topics…
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22
Apr
By Bob Weeks

Ludwig von Mises: A quick introduction

If you've heard of Ludwig von Mises and wondered why his ideas are important to freedom, here's a chance to easily and quickly gain understanding of this important thinker and the field of Austrian economics. Or if you've not heard of or read about Mises and Austrian economics, here's your chance. The Institute for Economic Affairs, a free-market think-tank based in London, has published a short book titled Ludwig von Mises -- A Primer. The book is also available to download for free, so you can read it on your computer or Ipad. The book's author is Eamonn Butler. Butler…
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21
Apr
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Thursday April 21, 2011

Can anything Think Progress says about the Kochs be believed? Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner Beltway Confidential: "Almost certainly not, to answer the question posed by the headline above. Here's the latest example of why. Think Progress is all atwitter about a Nation magazine report concerning the Koch Industries 2010 Election Packet. This dastardly document, according to Think Progress, was "mailed to 50,000 employees instructing them on who to vote for in the 2010 midterm elections." Curious, I clicked over to the Nation and read the cover letter in the packet. Here's what it said about how Koch employees should decide…
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31
Jan
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Monday January 31, 2011

Some downtown Wichita properties plummet in value. A strategy of Real Development -- the "Minnesota Guys" -- in Wichita has been to develop and sell floors of downtown office buildings as condominiums. Some of these floors have been foreclosed upon and have come back on the market. Some once carried mortgages of $400,000 or more, meaning that at one point a bank thought they were worth at least that much. But now four floors in the Broadway Plaza Building, three floors of the Petroleum Building, two floors of Sutton Place, and one floor of the Orpheum Office Center are available…
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31
Dec
By Bob Weeks

Kansas and Wichita quick takes: Friday December 31, 2010

This Week in Kansas. On This Week in Kansas guests Rebecca Zepick of State of the State KS, Kansas Public Radio Statehouse Bureau Chief Stephen Koranda, and myself discuss the upcoming session of the Kansas Legislature. Tim Brown is the host. This Week in Kansas airs on KAKE TV channel 10, Sunday morning at 9:00 am. Tax increment financing. "Largely because it promises something for nothing -- an economic stimulus in exchange for tax revenue that otherwise would not materialize -- this tool [tax increment financing] is becoming increasingly popular across the country. ... 'TIFs are being pushed out there…
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29
Jun
By Bob Weeks

Hayek’s star on the rise, sometimes

Partly due to Glenn Beck's interest, a book and its ideas is receiving increased attention. F.A. Hayek is the author, and The Road to Serfdom is the book. Personally, I find the book difficult to read. An example of Hayek's writing is from the jacket notes prepared by the author himself: "The economic freedom which is the prerequisite of any other freedom cannot be the freedom from economic care which the socialists promise us and which can be obtained only by relieving the individual at the same time of the necessity and of the power of choice: it must be…
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21
Apr
By Bob Weeks

Primer on Mises and Austrian economics published

If you've heard of Ludwig von Mises and wondered why his ideas are important to freedom, here's a chance to easily and quickly gain understanding of this important thinker and the field of Austrian economics. Or if you've not heard of or read about Mises and Austrian economics, here's your chance. The Institute for Economic Affairs, a free-market think-tank based in London, has just published a short book titled Ludwig von Mises -- A Primer. The author is Eamonn Butler. Butler explains why Mises is important: "Ludwig von Mises was one of the greatest economists and political scientists of the…
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09
Mar
By Bob Weeks

What kind of man was Ludwig von Mises?

What kind of man was Ludwig von Mises? As this unique film shows, Mises (1881-1973) was a man who never stopped fighting for freedom: not when the Nazis burned his books, not when the Left blackballed him at universities, not when it seemed as if statism had won. With courage and genius, he fought big government until the day he died ... in 25 books, hundreds of articles, and more than 60 years of teaching. Mises's battles against Communists, Nazis, and other socialists, are featured in this film, as are his ideas of Liberty. Among his many accomplishments, Mises showed…
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11
Feb
By Bob Weeks

Hayek vs. Keynes: the video

There's a video concerning some obscure but vitally important ideas in economics that's getting a lot of play on YouTube. Titled "Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem, the video tells the story about two competing theories of how the world works -- the theories of John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich A. Hayek. The ideas of Keynes have been vastly more popular in mainstream economics and politics and are embraced by President Obama and his advisors. This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean that Keynes and his followers are correct. The video has been viewed nearly 700,000…
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09
Nov
By Bob Weeks

Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve

Events over the last year have placed our nation's monetary system in focus. Or, at least it should be in sharp focus, as U.S. monetary policy and the Federal Reserve System bear much responsibility for the financial crisis and the accompanying recession. Few politicians, Ron Paul being one, are looking in the right places for the cause of the problem. His campaign to audit the Fed is a good first step. The problems with our system of money have been known for many years. This video, dating from 1996, produced by the Ludwig von Mises Institute, explains the problem and…
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03
May
By Bob Weeks

80 Years Later: Parallels Between 1929 and 2009

Austrian economist Walter Block delivers a lecture that draws the parallels and differences between now and the Great Depression. Block lays blame for the current mess squarely on the Federal Reserve System. "Hoover was no free-enterpriser," Block says. Neither was George W. Bush, or Ronald Reagan, for that matter.
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26
Apr
By Bob Weeks

What kind of man was Ludwig von Mises?

What kind of man was Ludwig von Mises? As this unique film shows, Mises (1881-1973) was a man who never stopped fighting for freedom: not when the Nazis burned his books, not when the Left blackballed him at universities, not when it seemed as if statism had won. With courage and genius, he fought big government until the day he died ... in 25 books, hundreds of articles, and more than 60 years of teaching. Mises's battles against Communists, Nazis, and other socialists, are featured in this film, as are his ideas of Liberty. Among his many accomplishments, Mises showed…
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01
Apr
By Bob Weeks

Articles of Interest

Obama's volunteer corps, Kansas cigarette taxes, U.S. Auto industry, Austrian economics The Rise of ObamaCorps (Americans for Limited Government) "Unless the Blue Dogs can muster enough support to halt Speaker Pelosi's march to madness, the American taxpayer will have to pony up another $5 billion for paid 'volunteers' (an oxymoron if there ever was one) to politically-oriented organizations, the aims of many of which they will invariably oppose." Study documents historic trend of decreased state tax revenues following cigarette tax increases "This study clearly shows that raising cigarette taxes simply drives Kansas consumers to other states to purchase tobacco products,"…
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