17 Mar 2014

Apply to Mises U!

Austrian School 8 Comments

Since they always have more applications than they can accept, I am often remiss in “pushing” Mises University. But I realized maybe it would be good to get other people into the application pool, who might otherwise not even attempt it. (I checked and they still have slots, both for Mises University aimed at undergrads and the summer-long Mises fellowship program for grad students.)

There are lots of people interested in libertarianism, but in interacting with them I notice that unfortunately, many are lacking a solid foundation in economics. If that’s you, I strongly encourage you to consider Mises U this year; it’s a one-week crash course in Austrian theory and application. I realize a week in Auburn, Alabama in July sounds awful to Northerners, but it is actually a blast–and they have powerful air conditioners.

8 Responses to “Apply to Mises U!”

  1. Matt M (Dude Where's My Freedom) says:

    I was unemployed last year during Mises U and watched just about the whole thing online. Lots of good stuff, although I almost worried it was a little too simple. I don’t claim to be some brilliant economist or anything. I’m not formally trained and haven’t even read that many of the classic works to be honest, but most of the lectures seemed to deal with the same sort of stuff you get in Intro Macro, only with an Austrian twist.

    I guess I just find it weird that someone would really want to attend Mises U, but that same person would *need* Peter Klein to spend 45 minutes walking them through why minimum wage laws are counter-productive. If you don’t know that stuff, why are you a libertarian in the first place?

    • Bob Murphy says:

      but most of the lectures seemed to deal with the same sort of stuff you get in Intro Macro, only with an Austrian twist.

      Well then you must have missed a lot of it. A lot of the stuff covered in the first two days wasn’t even in a PhD level program, let alone in Intro Macro.

      • Matt M (Dude Where's My Freedom) says:

        Hmm, it’s possible. I did take a few breaks and there were a lot of “head to head” sessions where I had to pick one or the other, and generally picked based on what I knew about the speakers rather than the specific topics themselves.

        My last comment probably came across as more critical than I intended. I enjoyed the lectures a lot, I’m just not sure how much I really “learned” from them, but that could absolutely be my own fault in mainly picking the lectures of people I’ve already read or heard speak before.

      • Ben B says:

        I have no reference to mainstream economics via college education. All of my economic education has come through the internet and especially via the Mises institute. I have a friend who attends a public university (as well as mises.org). When we have discussions about economics, he finds himself frequently commenting about how “most graduate students don’t even talk about this stuff” in reference to what you can find at mises.org and even on the mises U videos.

  2. Ben B says:

    “If you don’t know that stuff, why are you a libertarian in the first place?”

    Maybe if you are a consequentalist…(and I’m not denying that a lot of people probably are)

    But one could certainly be against State intervention on moral grounds alone, regardless of their knowledge of economics.

    • Matt M (Dude Where's My Freedom) says:

      I guess. It just seems like if you were interested enough in austrian economics to apply for and attend Mises U, I would think you’ve already made yourself SOMEWHAT familiar with the basics. Not saying everyone has to read Human Action cover to cover or anything, but just seems odd to me.

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