Looking back with Walter Williams

This was put out by Reason.tv a year ago, in it Dr. Walter Williams reflects back much farther in time to expound on his life experience, the meaning of the term "poor" and how personal development can out pace political based advances.

"I think it's false to assume that economic power depends on political power."

"Now I'm not stating a causal relationship.  But I'm saying that if political power meant so much you would expect in a city like Philadelphia where a black is the mayor, a black is the school superintendent, a black is chief of police, you would expect living conditions to be wonderful."

Happy Birthday Dr. Williams, thanks for all that you have written over the decades!

Economics is Fun

This series just came online recently so of course we want to bring it to your attention.   Learning "value" in under three minutes = awesome!  Perfect for young students.

We are always happy to find new series and add them to our pages:

Price

Specialization (distribution of labor)

Trade

Time (investment)

Wealth of Nations

On this date in 1776 Adam Smith first published The Wealth of Nations; formally named An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.  A text on economics before the term economics had really come into the common vernacular, Smith makes a case for free trade and the pursuit of one's own interests.

The timing of this book may have been important in the influence of the nascent United States.  Notably it was once used to argue in the Congress against having an national bank.

Here is P. J. O'Rourke speaking with the wit one expects of him on this famous book at The Independent Institute, he goes on at 8:15:

Available free to read here or an audio version of the book is available from LibriVox.

5 Minutes on Inflation

This week we bring you a new video from FEE.org where Dr. Horwitz runs the gamut on the causes of inflation.   A great video for those beginning to grasp this concept.

Check out the FEE tab above for more great videos.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to economist Dr. Murray N. Rothbard!

An influence to many in the Austrian School, you can find many of his books online, some listed here are free to read (pdf) at www.mises.org:

Man, Economy & State *

The Panic of 1819

Power and Market: Government and the Economy

The Ethics of Liberty


*A Study Guide for Man, Economy, and State recently written by Robert Murphy is also available.

Doctor Rothbard would have been 86 today.  Cheers!

Rothbard on the history of government and recessions: what works and does not work.