83: Austrian Economics, Von Mises, and the Fight Against Interventionism. Carola Binder discusses the Austrian School of Economics, highlighting its focus on free markets and Ludwig von Mises's opposition to government "interventionism," including rent and pr

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 13 November 2025

⏱️ 12 minutes

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Summary

Austrian Economics, Von Mises, and the Fight Against Interventionism. Carola Binder discusses the Austrian School of Economics, highlighting its focus on free markets and Ludwig von Mises's opposition to government "interventionism," including rent and price controls. Mises argued these policies distort markets, leading to shortages and inefficiency. Binder emphasizes Mises's belief that economic literacy is a primary civic duty necessary for citizens to reject socialism and interventionist panaceas, especially as new generations are exposed to such ideas.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is CBS. I on the world. I'm John Batchel. Economics, civics. These recommendations come from a man who's no longer with us. Ludwig von Misesix of the Austrian School of Economics. He is famous in the early part of the 20th century for
0:23.7	providing a way of talking about socialism that was then sweeping over Eastern Europe
0:29.5	following the catastrophe of the Second War. Here we are in the 21st century and
0:35.3	Ludwig von Mises's recommendations are never more needed
0:40.3	because there are decisions being made about the future that do not fear socialism oddly
0:48.3	and do not embrace economics oddly. To help me on this matter, I welcome Carola Binder at the University of Texas,
0:58.3	at Austin, writing at the Civitas Outlook for Civitas Institute about reacquaining
1:04.8	ourselves with a man who is gone, but he's still with us, his writings and his influence in what is called the Austrian school.
1:14.3	Carol, a professor, a very good evening to you.
1:16.6	What is the Austrian school? Is there a shorthand version? Good evening.
1:20.9	Good evening. Yeah, it's great to be here.
1:23.3	The Austrian School of Economics, I'll try to explain it even though I'm not really a member of it myself, but respect a lot of aspects of it.
1:32.3	It's a school of economic thought, and it focuses on individuals.
1:37.7	So the economy in this school is understood as trying to understand the choices that individuals make. It also emphasizes subjectivism.
1:48.6	That means value is subjective. It's determined by individuals' preferences. There's also an
1:54.8	emphasis on spontaneous order and free markets. So those are some of the aspects of the Austrian School of Economics, of which Von Mises
2:04.8	was really one of the central figures and remains so.
2:08.4	Carla Binder is an associate professor of economics in the School of Civic Leadership,
2:12.8	at U.T. Austin.
2:14.3	She's a macro economist and the author of Shock Values, Prices and Inflation in American
2:21.4	Democracy. What you describe as a school that seems very comfortable with capitalism as we
2:26.9	practice it here in the 21st century. Is that generally accurate that Austrian school in
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