The consumer, the capitalist, the worker, the entrepreneur, and the landowner.  Commodities, time, uncertainty, and money.  In Man, Economy, and State, for the first time in the history of economic thought, Murray Rothbard fully elaborated, using Misesian economic science, exactly how all these working pieces fit together in the grand pageant of human provision that is the market economy.  In this course, Robert Murphy, author of the study guide to Rothbard’s masterpiece, will guide you through the chapters in which the market economy can finally be seen as an integrated system.  This course is a perfect follow-up to Professor Murphy’s Praxeology Through Price Theory (which is currently underway, and still available for late enrollment), but is also superb for anyone who is already familiar with Austrian methodology and price theory.

Lectures

The video lectures are online, and use Webex, the industry-standard web conferencing service.  Lectures will be Wednesday evenings, 9:00-10:30 pm EDT. They will be recorded and made available for enrolled students to download.

Reading

The primary text of the course is Man, Economy, and State by Murray N. Rothbard, specifically chapters 5-9.  This and any other assigned readings are available for free online.

Topics

Below are the readings and topics that will be covered in this 8-week course.

CHAPTER 5-PRODUCTION: THE STRUCTURE
(study guide in text and PDF)

1. Some Fundamental Principles of Action (p. 319)
2. The Evenly Rotating Economy (p. 320)
3. The Structure of Production: A World of Specific Factors (p. 329)
4. Joint Ownership of the Product by the Owners of the Factors (p. 333)
5. Cost (p. 340)
6. Ownership of the Product by Capitalists: Amalgamated Stages (p. 345)
7. Present and Future Goods: The Pure Rate of Interest (p. 348)
8. Money Costs, Prices, and Alfred Marshall (p. 353)
9. Pricing and the Theory of Bargaining (p. 362)

CHAPTER 6-PRODUCTION: THE RATE OF INTEREST AND ITS DETERMINATION
(study guide in text and PDF)

1. Many Stages: The Pure Rate of Interest (p. 367)
2. The Determination of the Pure Rate of Interest:
The Time Market (p. 375)
3. Time Preference and Individual Value Scales (p. 379)
4. The Time Market and the Production Structure (p. 390)
5. Time Preference, Capitalists, and Individual Money Stock (p. 410)
6. The Post-Income Demanders (p. 416)
7. The Myth of the Importance of the Producers’ Loan Market (p. 420)
8. The Joint-Stock Company (p. 426)
9. Joint-Stock Companies and the Producers’ Loan Market (p. 435)
10. Forces Affecting Time Preferences (p. 443)
11. The Time Structure of Interest Rates (p. 445)
Appendix: Schumpeter and the Zero Rate of Interest (p. 450)

CHAPTER 7-PRODUCTION: GENERAL PRICING OF THE FACTORS
(study guide in text and PDF)

1. Imputation of the Discounted Marginal Value Product (p. 453)
2. Determination of the Discounted Marginal Value Product (p. 465)
A. Discounting (p. 465)
B. The Marginal Physical Product (p. 466)
(1) The Law of Returns (p. 468)
(2) Marginal Physical Product and Average Physical Product (p. 468)
C. Marginal Value Product (p. 475)
3. The Source of Factor Incomes (p. 478)
4. Land and Capital Goods (p. 479)
5. Capitalization and Rent (p. 488)
6. The Depletion of Natural Resources (p. 496)
Appendix A: Marginal Physical and Marginal Value Product (p. 500)
Appendix B: Professor Rolph and the Marginal Productivity Theory (p. 504)

CHAPTER 8-PRODUCTION: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND CHANGE
(study guide in text and PDF)

1. Entrepreneurial Profit and Loss (p. 509)
2. The Effect of Net Investment (p. 517)
3. Capital Values and Aggregate Profits in a Changing Economy (p. 527)
4. Capital Accumulation and the Length of the
Structure of Production (p. 537)
5. The Adoption of a New Technique (p. 544)
A.The Entrepreneur and Innovation (p. 546)
6. The Beneficiaries of Saving-Investment (p. 547)
7. The Progressing Economy and the Pure Rate of Interest (p. 549)
8. The Entrepreneurial Component in the Market Interest Rate (p. 550)
9. Risk, Uncertainty, and Insurance (p. 552)

CHAPTER 9-PRODUCTION: PARTICULAR FACTOR PRICES AND PRODUCTIVE INCOMES
(study guide in PDF)

1. Introduction (p. 557)
2. Land, Labor, and Rent (p. 557)
A. Rent (p. 557)
B. The Nature of Labor (p. 564)
C. Supply of Land (p. 566)
D. Supply of Labor (p. 572)
E. Productivity and Marginal Productivity (p. 578)
F. A Note on Overt and Total Wage Rates (p. 580)
G. The “Problem” of Unemployment (p. 581)
3. Entrepreneurship and Income (p. 588)
A. Costs to the Firm (p. 588)
B. Business Income (p. 601)
C. Personal Consumer Service (p. 605)
D. Market Calculation and Implicit Earnings (p. 606)
E. Vertical Integration and the Size of the Firm (p. 609)
4. The Economics of Location and Spatial Relations (p. 617)
5. A Note on the Fallacy of “Distribution” (p. 622)
6. A Summary of the Market (p. 624)

Grades and Certificates

The final grade will depend on quizzes and exams.  The Mises Academy is currently not accredited, but this course is worth 3 credits in our own internal system.  Feel free to ask your school to accept Mises Academy credits.  You will receive a digital Certificate of Completion for this course if you take it for a grade, and a Certificate of Participation if you take it on a paid-audit basis.

Refund Policy

If you drop the course during its first week (7 calendar days), you will receive a full refund, minus a $25 processing fee.  If you drop the course during its second week, you will receive a half refund.  No refunds will be granted following the second week.