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Learning for Liberty

by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

So much to read and learn, and so little time. Thanks in no small measure to the energy that Ron Paul's candidacy unleashed, more people than ever are eager to cut through the propaganda and uncover the truth. But where to start? And how can you get the most out of the time you have to devote to reading and study?

I put together the resources that follow as my way of answering these questions. I've included books (many in free online versions) and articles, as well as audio and video files that are also free. For the current crisis, see especially The Bailout Reader. Take a look also at the reading list Dr. Paul includes in his book The Revolution: A Manifesto. Many of these titles also appear in the categories below: economics, sound money, foreign policy, the Constitution, and civil liberties.

Can we read our way to freedom? No, but we cannot be effective activists in the Ron Paul tradition unless we know some economics and history, and the various depredations, foreign and domestic, of the regime.

Economics

These three 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; Essentials of Economics by Faustino Ballvé; online here (.pdf); An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas C. Taylor; online here and here (.pdf)

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 Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 4; the audiobook is here; The Concise Guide to Economics by Jim Cox; Making Economic Sense by Murray N. Rothbard; Pillars of Prosperity: Free Markets, Honest Money, Private Property by Ron Paul; Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow by Ludwig von Mises; Free Market Economics: A Reader by Bettina Bien Greaves; The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism by Robert P. Murphy; Free Market Economics: A Syllabus by Bettina Bien Greaves; 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 (a great introduction to economics for homeschoolers; study guide included)

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 link above. (Suggested readings to accompany the lectures are listed here.) To learn more about the Austrian School of economics, read this essay and this essay.

Advanced Texts in Austrian Economics

Man, Economy, and State: A Treatise on Economic Principles by Murray N. Rothbard: The Scholars' Edition of this book, which we link to, 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 book. The entire text is also available online here. A study guide is available for purchase and online here (.pdf).

Human Action: A Treatise on Economics by Ludwig von Mises: This entire book is available online here. A study guide to this book is still being compiled; the chapters that have been finished so far are available online here.

Money, Banking, and Economic Cycles 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.

Miscellaneous Readings in Economics

: "Politically Contrived Gasoline Shortage" (.pdf) by Craig S. Marxsen; "The Anatomy of Social Security and Medicare" (.pdf) by Edgar K. Browning; Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950–1980 by Charles Murray; The Conquest of Poverty by Henry Hazlitt; The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (advanced) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Sound Money

An Overview

: The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 6 (audiobook); Gold, Peace, and Prosperity by Ron Paul; also available in mp3 audio; "Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve" (documentary, via Google Video); What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray N. Rothbard; The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard; a new edition of What Has Government Done to Our Money containing this work can be purchased here. (The two are also available on mp3 audio here.)
: The Case for Gold by Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman; The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School, ed. Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. (online in .pdf here); A History of Money and Banking in the United States from the Colonial Period to World War II by Murray N. Rothbard; online here (.pdf); The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve by G. Edward Griffin; "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 Case Against the Fed by Murray N. Rothbard (online here; free audiobook here)

The Business Cycle

What makes the economy experience periodic booms and busts? Contrary to what Karl Marx claimed, these are not an inevitable feature of a market economy. Economist F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize in economics for showing how central banking (the Federal Reserve System in the American case) and its manipulation of the interest rate initiates unsustainable booms that lead inevitably to a bust. This is known as the Austrian theory of the business (or trade) cycle, and it's the subject of this section.

The Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and Other Essays (online here; free audiobook here). The ideal place to start on this subject. This short book consists of short essays on Austrian business cycle theory. No prior knowledge is necessary.

"Business Cycle Primer" by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

"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

America's Great Depression, 5th ed. (online in here, and in .pdf here) by Murray N. Rothbard

What About Deflation?

Because the possibility of "deflation" is so often raised as an objection to a commodity standard, we include a separate section of articles and lectures refuting this specific claim. Much of the material in this section is for the advanced student.

Articles:: "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.) Thornton speaks on this topic in this mp3 file.; "An Austrian Taxonomy of Deflation — With Applications to the U.S." (.pdf) by Joseph T. Salerno; "Deflation and Japan Revisited" (.pdf) by Richard C.B. Johnsson

Audio (in mp3 audio):: "On Deflation" by Joseph T. Salerno; "The Economics of Deflation" by Jörg Guido Hülsmann; "Deflation and Liberty" by Jörg Guido Hülsmann; "The Gold Standard in Theory and in Myth" by Joseph T. Salerno
Monograph:: Deflation and Liberty (.pdf), by Jörg Guido Hülsmann; this essay, available for purchase, is a lengthier version of the lecture of the same name linked above.

Foreign Policy

An Overview

Core:: The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul, ch. 2 (audiobook); A Foreign Policy of Freedom: 'Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship' by Ron Paul; Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire by Chalmers Johnson; Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror by Michael Scheuer; The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War by Andrew J. Bacevich

The Old Right and War:: Ain't My America: The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle American Anti-Imperialism by Bill Kauffman; Reclaiming the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the Conservative Movement by Justin Raimondo; The Betrayal of the American Right by Murray N. Rothbard; online here; Prophets on the Right: Profiles of Conservative Critics of American Globalism by Ronald Radosh

Other Important Books:: Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson; Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer; The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson; Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Robert A. Pape; American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy by Andrew J. Bacevich; The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich; War Is a Racket by Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler; online here; The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War and the Rise of the Messianic Nation by Richard Gamble; The Costs of War: America's Pyrrhic Victories, ed. John V. Denson; We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing From 1812 to Now by Murray Polner and Thomas E. Woods, Jr.; Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy by Murray N. Rothbard; online here

Articles:: "Our Own Strength Against Us: The War on Terror as a Self-Inflicted Disaster" (.pdf) by Ian S. Lustick; "What Do the Terrorists Want?" (.pdf) by James L. Payne

Audio:

Scott Horton's Antiwar Radio has featured some of the most important intellectuals, journalists, and political figures of our day, and its archive is a treasure trove of knowledge. Scott suggests the following as some of his best and most informative interviews. Access his full archive, subscribe to his podcast, and listen live from 12:00pm–2:00pm Eastern.

Michael Scheuer, 22-year CIA veteran, former head of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit, and author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror

Robert Pape, author, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism

Chalmers Johnson, author and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego