• "Well written, well researched, and the thesis put forth is well argued.... Woods has opened up an area of historical analysis that should invite further study."
    -Journal of American History

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    Former Member of Congress

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  • "Written with great clarity and fluency, making the complex philosophical and theological concepts approachable."
    -Journal of American Studies

  • "A must-read."
    -Barron's

  • "An excellent reading source for anyone interested in financial markets, and much more so for anyone interested in learning about capitalism without all the misinterpretations being thrown about in the financial media."
    -Asia Times

  • "Provocative, well-written, and deserves to be read."
    -Catholic Historical Review

  • "An engaging and important contribution to scholarship on the history of American Catholicism."
    -Journal of the Historical Society

  • "Woods and [co-author Kevin] Gutzman appeal to both left and right in this constitutionalist jeremiad…. The authors' exegeses of the Constitution and court decisions, heavy on original intent arguments, are lucid and telling."
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  • "A marvelous read. Every chapter taught me something new and unexpected."
    -Tom Bethell, senior editor,
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  • "The hottest book today is Meltdown, by my friend Tom Woods."
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  • "Should be required reading."
    -Economic Affairs (London)

  • "Woods, one of the best classical liberal [libertarian] scholars of his generation, has once more placed us in his debt with this lucid and tightly argued book."
    -David Gordon, The Mises Review

  • "Tom Woods is one of my dearest allies in the struggle against wrong-headed and dangerous economic policy."
    -Peter Schiff

Learn Austrian Economics

The past several years have seen a revival of interest in the Austrian School of economics.  (For some background on the Austrian School, read this essay and this essay.)  I’ve assembled this resource list to help beginners embark on a program of self-education in the Austrian School.  I 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)
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 this series of videos, recorded in July-August 2008, in which various professors comment on each of the book’s chapters – explaining the argument, elaborating on it, and applying it to present conditions.

Video 1: The Lesson

Video 2: The Broken Window

Video 3: Public Works Mean Taxes

Video 4: Credit Diverts Production

Video 5: The Curse of Machinery

Video 6: Disbanding Troops and Bureaucrats

Video 7: Who’s Protected by Tariffs?

Video 8: “Parity” Prices

Video 9: How the Price System Works

Video 10: Minimum Wage Laws

Video 11: The Function of Profits

Video 12: The Assault on Saving

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

Money
**What Has Government Done to Our Money? and The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard;  mp3 audio
**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; audiobook)
End the Fed by Ron Paul
The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 6 (audiobook)
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. (html here, .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 (in mp3 audio):
“On Deflation” by Joseph T. Salerno
“The Economics of Deflation” 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

Introduction to Austrian Economic Analysis: A Ten-Lecture Course
This course with Professor Joseph Salerno of Pace University, courtesy of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, is available in both video and mp3 audio at the links below. Recommended supplemental reading follows each lecture.

Lecture 1: Scarcity, Choice, and Value – Audio and Video
Percy L. Greaves, Jr., Understanding the Dollar Crisis, pp. 1-20, 27-54
Milton M. Shapiro, Foundations of the Market-Price System, pp. 81-113
Thomas C. Taylor, An Introduction to Austrian Economics, pp. 40-51 (ch. 4)

Lecture 2: Exchange and Demand – Audio and Video
Shapiro, pp. 31-58, 115-78
Taylor, pp. 12-39 (chs. 2-3)
Leonard Read, “I, Pencil”

Lecture 3: The Determination of Prices – Audio and Video
Greaves, pp. 65-91
Shapiro, pp. 179-233
Taylor, pp. 52-62 (ch. 5)
Murray N. Rothbard, The Mystery of Banking, pp. 15-27 (online pp. 14-23)

Lecture 4: Price Controls: Case Studies – Audio and Video

Lecture 5: Profit, Loss, and the Entrepreneur – Audio and Video
Taylor, pp. 74-89 (ch. 7)
Ludwig von Mises, “Profit and Loss,” in Mises, Planning for Freedom and Sixteen Other Essays and Addresses, pp. 108-30

Lecture 6: Pricing of the Factors of Production and the Labor Market – Audio
Henry N. Sanborn, What, How, For Whom: The Decisions of Economic Organization, pp. 112-85
Taylor, pp. 63-73 (ch. 6)
Greaves, pp. 105-32
Murray N. Rothbard, “Restrictionist Pricing of Labor,” in Rothbard, The Logic of Action Two

Lecture 7: Capital, Interest and the Structure of Production – Audio
Shapiro, pp. 235-60
Mark Skousen, The Structure of Production, pp. 133-49
Richard Fink, “Economic Growth and Market Processes,” in Fink, ed., Supply-Side Economics: A Critical Appraisal, pp. 372-94

Lecture 8: Competition and Monopoly – Audio
Shapiro, pp. 319-72
Sanborn, pp. 62-65
Hans Sennholz, “The Phantom Called ‘Monopoly,’” in Bettina B. Greaves, ed., Free Market Economics: A Basic Reader, pp. 162-69
Sudha R. Shenoy, “The Sources of Monopoly,” in New Individualist Review, pp. 793-96

Lecture 9: Money and Prices – Audio
Greaves, pp. 141-67
Rothbard, What Has Government Done to Our Money? pp. 1-96 (online, chs. I-III; online .pdf, pp. 7-48).
Rothbard, The Case Against the Fed, pp. 29-69 (or Rothbard, The Mystery of Banking, pp. 77-177; online, pp. 52-108)

Lecture 10: Banking and the Business Cycle – Audio
Ludwig von Mises, et al., The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays, Read: Garrison, Introduction and Summary; Mises’s essay and Rothbard’s essay.
Taylor, ch. 8 (pp. 90-95)

Additional Introductory Lectures in Austrian Economics
The Mises University, the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s week-long summer instructional program in Austrian economics, amounts to a crash course on the subject.  Consult the Mises University audio archive for many additional lectures.

  • Bruce Koerber

    Great resource Tom!

  • John Bauer

    For Tom to build this list is very helpful. We must spread the ideology of Austrian Economics to as many people as we can. thank you tom for the list. I am working on it!

  • Dr. R. W. Crenshaw

    Count me in, Tom. Thirty-three years ago Harry Browne introduced me to the truths about RealMoney, and I opened a Swiss bank account. Now that I’m retired from my ER practice, I have time to study AustrianEcon at last!

  • Micah

    I’ve already started part of the list.The main advantange of Austrian Economics is it helps to make the moral and practical case for what should be the means and end of any policy.Individual Liberty

  • http://twitter.com/MSDtheUSA1st Mark Dee

    Just started my education of Austrian economics.

  • John Kelly

    Tom, I thought sure you’d include “The Road to Serfdom,” by Friedrich von Hayek.

  • Anonymous

    An influential book, but it’s not a book on Austrian economics.

  • Tedwhelan

    Man, Economy, and State is currently being made into an audiobook (narrated by Jeff Riggenbach).  Chapters 1-3 are already recorded:

    http://mises.org/media/category/247/Man-Economy-and-State-with-Power-and-Market

  • http://twitter.com/s8mb Sam Bowman

    No Individualism and Economic Order? At least as important as Easterly’s work (which I like) to an Austrian reading list, surely.

  • John J

    The Mises Classroom is a 52 week course that covers pretty much everything…

    http://mises.org/classroom/default.asp

  • Matthew

    Thank you, Tom!  I can’t wait to get started!  So glad I discovered you on Mike Church’s radio show!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks, Tom. I’ve listened to some of the podcasts of these same articles and books – and they’re great.

  • http://fascistsoup.com/ Michael Suede

    Check out my online college I put together:

    http://www.libertariannews.org/suede-college-of-austrian-economics/

  • Mitchell

    This is great

  • http://www.cafepress.com/ungovernable Black Bloke

    Should’ve included “Economics for Real People” by Gene Callahan. I know that there are differences between the author and his past views as represented by the book, but it’s still a good book.

  • Meezus

    If you speak Spanish (or if you are trying to learn it, like I am) there is also a great resourse in Spanish available for free online. Many lectures from the renowned Spanish economist Jesus Huerta de Soto’s masters program in Austrian economics can be found here:

    http://www.anarcocapitalista.com/JHSLeccionesindice.htm

  • Anonymous

    Amazing collection you have put together here! You are still my go-to when I feel someone shows vague interest during my ramblings about the greatness of Austrian Economics. I have only recently began studying Austrian Economics after I was introduced by the great Ron Paul. With your lectures and books coupled with the infinite knowledge on mises.org I feel like an entirely new world has opened up to me. Keep up the good fight and may God smile on Ron Paul this year!

  • http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com Jeremy R. Hammond

    Thanks so much for the list of resources!  In the past couple weeks, I’ve read:

    Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt
    Economics in One Lesson video series
    Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballve
    How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes by Peter Schiff
    The Case Against the Fed by Murray Rothbard

    I’m currently reading “A History of Money and Banking in the United States” by Murray Rothbard. I can’t get enough! These books explain so much and clear up so many questions I’ve had for so long!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PAXFXSPA3FSW74YCP2DNQTC6YY JohnG

    this is awesome.  so many great resources.  thank you

  • Lukas Koube

    hello, tom. once we finish the introductory materials, where do we go???

  • Audacityofpope

    Lol, I started by buying and reading Principles of Economics by Carl Menger. I’m at the last few chapters now and soon I’m about to start on Basic Principles of Economic Value by Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, and after that it’s on to Human Action…

  • http://twitter.com/jasonxe jasonxe

    will i become a master after I read everything? :D

  • Ryan

    Thomas Sowell’s books are also highly recommended.

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    Sowell isn’t an Austrian, though, so I leave him off on this page even though I enjoy his work very much.

  • Mannyb0325

    I agree, Sowell is a step in the right direction, however, he doesn’t completely embrace the Austrian tradition.

    Great reference list, keep up the phenomenal work and go Ron Paul!!!!!! 2012! The establishment is so afraid of this great man!

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  • Anonymous

    what would be a good introductory book from an Austrian perspective on banking? I have no formal economics education but am keenly interested in the subject

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    I am shocked I did not include The Mystery of Banking by Murray Rothbard on this list.

  • Josh Hanson

    I recently saw that Henry Hazlitt considered Ropke’s Economics of the Free Society to be the best intermediate book on economics.  Granted, some time has passed, but have you read it, and if so, where would you place it in this list? 

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    I didn’t know that about Hazlitt. I have not read that book.

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  • Justin J.

    What an excellent page. Thank you very much. And just think what an effect this will have. 

  • Merlin96

    Dear God in Heaven, the more I read here, the less I know.

    Thank you, http://www.mises.org, my first step in a life-long journey to try to learn what I don’t know.

  • http://www.facebook.com/normanbauer Norman Bauer

    Dr. Tom, thank you soooooo much for this page!!!! You are a blessing!

  • http://www.facebook.com/DanielHall4Freedom Daniel Patrick Hall

    “Unlike my opponents, I’m not running from my voting record. I’m not running from my public statements. I’m not running from my predictions.
     
    I’m running on them.” – Ron Paul
     
    http://www.OurName4Freedom.ws < We Awake People! WAP!

  • http://twitter.com/Samuel_E_Amer Sam Amer

    Beautifully comprehensive.

  • Jaime06238

    If you want to get REALLY deep, I’d recommend Ayn Rand’s book on Capitalism. She makes a strong case for Capitalism on a MORAL and ETHICAL basis

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    A good book, but this is a page on Austrian economics, not just capitalism.

  • inDglass

    If you search the “Literature” section of Mises.org, you can find many of the books listed here in .epub, rather than .pdf. The .epub versions are great for reading on an e-reader. I actually find that I can read faster on my iPad with .epub books than the printed and bound traditional books or PDF’s on the computer.

  • CalEDGE456

    Austrian economics really is economics for the lazy government in that it tells the government to do absolutely nothing in regards to markets. Boom and bust cycles happened before fiat money was introduced and the idea that markets are naturally self sustaining upwards and that the classic business cycle is caused by governments is preposterous. Monetary and fiscal policy done right does not cause the boom and bust cycle, it helps smooth out the cycle, lessening the extremes both durning contractionary and expansionary times. Finally Austrian economics has been derided for years by multiple people, from different sides of the political spectrum, including both Paul Krugman and Milton Friedman. The more I read the less Austrian has any bearing on reality.

  • http://www.TomWoods.com Tom Woods

    This post is nothing but mere assertion.

    First, I have no idea how you are defining “boom and bust cycles.” If you mean there were sectoral depressions before the modern banking system came into being, you are correct, but that is not a boom and bust cycle.

    Yes, I have heard the public relations for stimulus programs already — they smooth out the cycle, blah blah blah. What they in fact do is interfere with the adjustment of prices to post-boom conditions and complicate the process of entrepreneurial calculation, which is essential to a sound recovery.

    The fact that Austrian economics has been derided proves nothing. It threatens lots of livelihoods, so I’d expect parasites to argue against it. As for Krugman, his schoolboy caricature of Austrian business cycle theory has been smashed a dozen times. Friedman is a separate case, but since when is Friedman infallible? The monetarist and Keynesian criticism of the Austrians on money is actually not all that different.

    As for “…the more I read,” I am certain you have done no serious reading in the Austrian tradition.