Ever since the Panic of 2008 vindicated the warnings of the Austrian School of economics, and with Ron Paul bringing this venerable school of thought before a national audience, there has been a revival of interest in the oldest continuously existing school of economic thought in the world.

When students encounter it, they know this is the real thing.

Here at Liberty Classroom, in addition to our courses in U.S. history and Western civilization, we’ve developed a full-blown course in Austrian economics, instantly downloadable so you can learn in your car or on your mobile devices. We also have a course that critiques a popular mainstream college economics textbook, chapter by chapter, from an Austrian perspective. We have discussion forums and live Q&A sessions where you can get your questions in Austrian economics answered.

In addition to those courses, we’ve also assembled this free resource list to help beginners embark on a program of self-education in the Austrian School. We have marked a few titles with ** to indicate their importance.

Many of the books and audiobooks, in addition to all of the articles, that appear on the list below are available to read or listen to online.

An Introduction to Economic Reasoning

These books, all relatively short and available online or for purchase, are an excellent starting point for an education in sound economics.

**Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt; online here and here (.pdf)

**Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action, by Robert P. Murphy

Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballve; online here (.pdf)

An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas C. Taylor; online here and here (.pdf)

Lessons for the Young Economist (for younger readers) by Robert P. Murphy; online here, here (.pdf) and here (ebook)

Another easy-to-understand introduction to economic reasoning is Peter Schiff’s book How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes.

A useful companion to Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson is the series of videos produced by the Mises Institute in which various professors comment on each of the book’s chapters – explaining the argument, elaborating on it, and applying it to present conditions. Here are all those videos combined into one mega-video:

Additional Introductory Reading in Economics

The Concise Guide to Economics by Jim Cox; online here and here (.pdf)

Making Economic Sense by Murray N. Rothbard

Free Market Economics: A Reader by Bettina Bien Greaves

Free Market Economics: A Syllabus by Bettina Bien Greaves

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy

The Church and the Market: A Catholic Defense of the Free Economy by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? by Richard J. Maybury (great for homeschoolers)

The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 4

Foundations of Economics: A Christian View by Shawn Ritenour (a very good textbook in economics with a Christian angle, but thoroughly Austrian/Misesian)

Money

**What Has Government Done to Our Money? and The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard

**The Ethics of Money Production by Jörg Guido Hülsmann (should be read after the title above); .pdf here

Gold, Peace, and Prosperity (.pdf) by Ron Paul; mp3 audio

“Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve” (documentary, via Google Video)

The Case for Gold by Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman

Money: Sound and Unsound (advanced) by Joseph T. Salerno; online here (.pdf) and here (ebook)

The Case Against the Fed by Murray N. Rothbard (.pdf here)

End the Fed by Ron Paul

The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 6

The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School, ed. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.; .pdf here

A History of Money and Banking in the United States by Murray N. Rothbard; .pdf here

“The Myth of the ‘Independent’ Fed” by Thomas J. DiLorenzo

Did Greenspan Deserve Support for Another Term? (.pdf) by Joseph T. Salerno (mp3 audio)

“The Path to Sound Money” (mp3 audio) by George Reisman

“The Economics of Inflation” (mp3 audio) by George Reisman

The Business Cycle

**The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays (online here; audiobook here).

Meltdown by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

America’s Great Depression, 5th ed. (pdf here) by Murray N. Rothbard

Time and Money: The Macroeconomics of Capital Structure by Roger W. Garrison

“Business Cycle Primer” by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

“My Reply to Krugman on Austrian Business Cycle Theory” by Robert P. Murphy

“Sound Money and the Business Cycle” by John P. Cochran

“Who Predicted the Bubble? Who Predicted the Crash?” (.pdf) by Mark Thornton

“Mises vs. Fisher on Money, Method, and Prediction: The Case of the Great Depression” (.pdf) by Mark Thornton

“Predicting Booms and Busts” (mp3 audio) by Mark Thornton

“Banking and the Business Cycle” (mp3 audio) by Joseph T. Salerno

Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle (a graphical representation of the Austrian theory) by Roger W. Garrison

Deflation

Articles and Monograph:

“Deflation and Depression: Where’s the Link?” by Joseph T. Salerno

“Apoplithorismosphobia” (.pdf) by Mark Thornton. (Thornton coined the term to refer to the fear of deflation.)

“An Austrian Taxonomy of Deflation – With Applications to the U.S. by Joseph T. Salerno

Deflation and Liberty by Jörg Guido Hülsmann; audiobook

Audio:

“On Deflation” by Joseph T. Salerno

“The Economics of Deflation” (YouTube) by Jörg Guido Hülsmann

“The Gold Standard in Theory and Myth” by Joseph T. Salerno

Advanced Texts in Austrian Economics

Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles by Murray N. Rothbard

This version also contains the book Power and Market, which had originally been intended as the concluding section of Man, Economy, and State but was released in 1970 as a separate title. The entire text is also available online here. A study guide is available for purchase and online (.pdf).

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (read online) by Ludwig von Mises

Mises’ magnum opus. A study guide is available for purchase and online (.pdf). I recommend reading Man, Economy, and State first, though some disagree with me.

Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles (.pdf) by Jesús Huerta de Soto

A sweeping and historic contribution to the literature of the Austrian School, showing how monetary freedom avoids the disadvantages of fiat money, including inflation, business cycles, and financial bubbles.

Foreign Aid and Development Economics

Equality, the Third World, and Economic Delusion by Peter Bauer

From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays by Peter Bauer

“The Marshall Plan: Myths and Realities” (.pdf) by Tyler Cowen

The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William Easterly

“The History of Foreign Aid Programs” (mp3) by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

(These critiques of development aid are not specifically Austrian, but may be of use to those interested in Austrian economics.)

Additional Readings in Austrian Economics

The Economics and Ethics of Private Property by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (read online) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Economic Science and the Austrian Method (read online) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Praxeology and Understanding: An Analysis of the Controversy in Austrian Economics (read online) by George Selgin

Our own course in Austrian economics is organized as follows:

I. Scope and Method of Economics

Economics

Method of Economics

Scope of Economics: Human Action

II. Laws of Personal Action

Implications of Human Action

Laws of Utility

The Law of Returns

Capital Formation

III. Laws of Voluntary, Interpersonal Action

Voluntary Exchange

The Division of Labor

The Unhampered Market Economy

Money

Prices of Consumer Goods

Prices of Producer Goods

Economic Calculation

Profit and Production Decisions

Equity and Investment Decisions

The Capital Structure

Competition and Monopoly

The Time Market: The Rate of Interest

Income: Sources and Disbursements

The Money Market: The Purchasing Power of Money

Bond Markets

Stock Markets

Economic Progress

IV. Laws of Involuntary, Interpersonal Action

Booms and Busts

Money and Banking

Monetary Policy: Monetary Inflation and Credit Expansion

The Business Cycle

Fiscal Policy

Interventionism: Price Controls

Interventionism: Product Controls

The Mixed Economy

The Command Economy: Socialism and Fascism

Each lecture is available in video or audio format according to your preference, and each is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation and recommended readings drawn from classic texts in the Austrian canon. Join us for this and all our other material today! New members can find discounts on our coupon page.

