Herbener on the Division of Labor and Social Order

This week the Ludwig von Mises Institute is hosting its Mises University. My department chair, Jeffrey Herbener is one of the faculty for this event. Here is his lecture from Monday on the nature and benefits of the division of labor:



Students at Grove City College get this level of economics every day.

Rothbard University!

I am blessed to be on the faculty of this year's Rothbard University presented by Mises Institute Canada. I am joining Walter Block, Glen Fox, David Howden, David Clement, Pedrag Rajsic, and Pierre Desrochers. Yesterday I gave lectures on entrepreneurship and money. Today I provide a lecture an history of thought lecture on the Austrian school of economics and tomorrow I finish up  discussing economic development. The entire program is being live streamed. You can access it by clicking here.

Aquinas on Private Property

My friend Harry Veryser explains in this brief video three reasons Thomas Aquinas thought that private property is a social virtue.


Veryser teaches economics at The University of Detroit - Mercy and is the author of It Didn't Have to Be This Way: Why Boom and Bust Is Unnecessary-and How the Austrian School of Economics Breaks the Cycle.

I also briefly mention Aquinas in my Foundations of Economics: A Christian View when discussing the Christian ethic of property. While it is true that Aristotle's view of private property has been tremendously influential, I would also argue that we can trace the idea back farther to at least the book of Exodus.

IPS Civics Summitt: Critical Condition

If you are going to be in the Modesto, California area the last weekend in July, you will not want to miss this year's Civics Summit hosted by the Institute for Principle Studies. The theme for this year is as timely as today's headlines: our health care mess.

We know that healthcare is expensive, and it affects us all on a daily basis. In fact, despite major attempts to reduce costs, the United States has some of the highest healthcare costs in the world. The real question is: why? A thorough study of both economics and biblical principles can give us insight into why current policies are not working, and what better alternatives exist. 

I will again be presenting lectures, speaking about the Biblical foundations of economics, the economics of the third party payer systems, why middle-of-the-road policy so often leads to socialism, and why health care is so expensive. For more information and to register click here.

Another Reason To Be Happy Hamilton Is Leaving the Ten Dollar Bill

When the Federal Reserve System Chairman who helped convince the intelligentsia that the only thing we have to fear is deflation itself and gave us quantitative easing for who knows how long

says he is "appalled" at the prospect of Hamilton's portrait leaving the ten dollar bill.

In a reversal of the old Debbie Boone line, it must be right if Bernanke feels it is so wrong. Bernanke's case for Hamilton is a list of how Hamilton worked to bring more of the economy under the sphere of the state and its central bank. That has not worked out so well.