30 Aug 2012

The Austrian School in the Present Crisis

Economics, Federal Reserve, Tom Woods 36 Comments

This was a talk Tom had given at Mises U this year. Boy he’s a dapper dresser!

36 Responses to “The Austrian School in the Present Crisis”

  1. Daniel Kuehn says:

    Lots of great jokes. An especially funny one was “it’s almost chic to be an Austrian”.

    Seriously, though – a pretty decent talk.

  2. Ken B says:

    DK:”Lots of great jokes.”
    Yeah but you say that about Human Action

    🙂

    • Joseph Fetz says:

      Daniel’s never read Human Action, or MES for that matter.

      • Ken B says:

        Did I imply otherwise? I’m not entirely sure I did …

        🙂

        Just funnin’ Daniel.

        • Major_Freedom says:

          Did Joseph imply that you implied DK has read HA or MES? I don’t think he did.

          • Ken B says:

            Lather, rinse, repeat.

            • Major_Freedom says:

              I never repeat. I think repeating is a marketing gimmick by shampoo companies to make you go through the bottle more quickly.

              • Ken B says:

                I could repeat 6 times and still not use more than a thimbleful.

                Did I mention that if he grew a beard (and about a foot) Bob would be a handsome devil?

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                Bob had a beard back in his lumberjacking days.

              • Tel says:

                If Bob grew a beard he’d start looking like a Keynesian.

              • Ken B says:

                You weren’t kidding about the lumberjack part!

                Speaking of beards, you have quite a full one Joseph, for a guy with a nice rack.

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                The beard is gone. I only grow it out when I am not going to be working for a few weeks/months (I only work 3-6 months out of the year). Also, I don’t have a rack to speak of, but it is still bigger than Keira Knightley’s.

              • Ken B says:

                Is the 3-6 months a good thing, a bad thing, or an ‘in school’ thing?

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                It’s a good/bad thing. I don’t make a whole lot per year, but I get paid a whole lot per hour. I make enough to get by, but I am certainly not well-off. Probably the best part about it is that I spend a great deal of time playing. I’ll take that over work any day.

                I’ve got plenty of savings and assets, so I’m always prepared for the unexpected, otherwise I am poor. But that’s my choice. I could get another job if I wanted, but I prefer to have fun instead.

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                Let me put it another way. If I wanted to, I could have a 6 figure salary (it’s been offered), but that would require more effort and responsibility than I care to undertake. I prefer to be unencumbered, unattached, and unstressed. I like not having to worry about a thing.

              • crossofcrimson says:

                Come on, Joseph. We all know that human beings act to maximize profit. Don’t you go tearing Homo Economicus down.

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                I realize that you’re joking. However, you’re equating profit with money. Due to the disutility of labor, my psychic profit is far greater by enjoying leisure. It’s very rare to find a job that pays such high wages that you can have a livable salary in just 3-6 months work. When comparing a job that pays a higher yearly salary, but with a higher total commitment and thus a higher disutility, the opportunity cost (i.e. the leisure foregone) is too great.

                There’s also the fact that most of the high-paying jobs that I am qualified for are in the military industrial complex, which is just not going to be a consideration at all.

              • crossofcrimson says:

                Way to kill a joke, Joe. Grats.

              • Joseph Fetz says:

                It is my calling.

              • Ken B says:

                You and Murphy.

              • Tel says:

                We all know that human beings act to maximize profit.

                I don’t find that funny, it’s a bit like poking fun at people with disabilities.

                There are many people who are unable to accept the idea that what other people value is their personal choice.

                Of course we have some commonality. If you want to make a model you can approximate the sort of things that people are likely to want… and with a large enough sample size you can get something statistically similar to reality. Never forget that the model is not the real thing.

              • Major_Freedom says:

                Wow crimson, bunch of debbie downers…

              • crossofcrimson says:

                With friends like this, it’s amazing more libertarians don’t commit suicide. Maybe it’s time to hitch my wagon to Callahan’s star…

              • skylien says:

                “There’s also the fact that most of the high-paying jobs that I am qualified for are in the military industrial complex, which is just not going to be a consideration at all.”

                Joseph, you are not a mercenary going into the jungle to free some trapped US soldiers/citizens in covert operations, or are you?

              • Tel says:

                … hitch my wagon to Callahan …

                One bad response and you are already self-harming in protest. You were an Emo kid right?

              • crossofcrimson says:

                “One bad response and you are already self-harming in protest. ”

                Yes. I was being literal. Clearly.

  3. Major_Freedom says:

    Hey Murphy, I’ve got an idea. Remember that “zombie” video you did with Woods?

    Since Krugman doesn’t want to debate you, why not you two hold a “serious” debate where one of you plays the part of a Keynesian/Monetarist, by collecting all of DeKrugman’s statements they’ve made about ABCT (which isn’t very much), and other typical misunderstandings of it, and hold a mock debate?

    I don’t know, maybe it would be awkward…

    • Tel says:

      To get the gag really warmed up, find an old scarecrow (with the beard favoured by Keynesian economists) and stuff it with straw. Then make like the Muppet Show.

      It’s a fair schtick IMHO because Keynesians straw-man the Austrians all the bloody time.

    • Tel says:

      Don’t you guys have Halloween coming up?

      How about debating against a pumpkin head?

  4. Joseph Fetz says:

    Gary North would be proud.
    😉

  5. zee says:

    is this super secret plan gary north came up with still happening?

  6. joeftansey says:

    I keep reading “Present Crisis” to mean “a shortage of gifts”.

  7. Gene Callahan says:

    I’m inclined to post a comment here again praising Tom’s speaking ability, but I don’t want to shake his impression that I am “always nasty.”

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