Austrian economics

Musings on Fractional-Reserve Banking in a Bitcoin Age; Physicalist Shock Absorber Metaphors

I’ve been fascinated with the inter-Austrian debate on fractional-reserve banking for years.1 My view has long been that fractional reserve freebanking (FRB) is not inherently fraudulent and should not be illegal; but that economically it makes no sense. I think Huerta de Soto’s Roman legal analysis of irregular deposit warehouse banking is correct,2 and that […]

Book Review of Anthony de Jasay, Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order

Stephan Kinsella, “Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order. By Anthony de Jasay. London and New York: Routledge, 1997,” Q. J. Austrian Econ. 1, no. 1. (Fall 1998): 85–93. Revised version published as “Review of Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order, by Anthony de Jasay,” in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (forthcoming 2023).

KOL402 | Austrian Economics Discord Conference: Inflation: Its Causes, Effects, Parallels and Death in a Bitcoin World

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 402. This is my presentation (audio only) at the Austrian Economics Discord Conference: “Inflation, Money, and the State,” Austrian Economics Discord Server (Jan. 7–8, 2023); my talk was “Inflation: Its Causes, Effects, Parallels and Death in a Bitcoin World.” Previous appearance: KOL371 | Austrian Economics Discord Conference: Law, Decentralized and […]

KOL401 | Sazmining Twitter Space: Bitcoin & Property Rights

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 401. I appeared on a Twitter Spaces discussion Jan. 12, 2023 for Sazmining, for the topic “Bitcoin & Property Rights,” with Kent Halliburton and Logan Chipkin. A variety of questions were fielded. A synopsis and transcript are here, and re-pixeled below. Synopsis: Lawyer and libertarian theorist Stephan Kinsella joins Logan […]

Austrian Economics Discord Conference, Jan. 2023: Inflation, Money, and the State

UPDATE: IGNORE BELOW. SEE NOW KOL402   I’ll be speaking at next year’s Austrian Economics Discord Conference: “Inflation, Money, and the State,” Austrian Economics Discord Server (Jan. 7–8, 2023); my talk is “Inflation: Its Causes, Effects, Parallels and Death in a Bitcoin World.” Final trailer: Original trailer:   For last year’s, see: “Law: Decentralized and […]

Menger on Scarcity, Law and Property Rights

“Thus human economy and property have a joint economic origin since both have, as the ultimate reason for their existence, the fact that goods exist whose available quantities are smaller than the requirements of men. Property, therefore, like human economy, is not an arbitrary invention but rather the only practically possible solution of the problem […]

KOL380 | Tom Jump: Anarchy and Libertarianism

Kinsella on Liberty Podcast, Episode 380. Tom Jump, of the TJump Youtube channel, had me on to discuss anarcho-capitalism and related issues. I was not familiar with him or what position he would be coming from; turns out he’s a self-professed “centrist liberal” but was very intelligent, and surprisingly civil despite espousing some views completely […]

“Law: Decentralized and Centralized,” Austrian Economics Discord Conference

I’m speaking next month on “Law: Decentralized and Centralized,” in an online conference, “The Enduring Importance of the Austrian School,” Austrian Economics Discord Server (Jan. 8, 2022, 6:45–7:30 EST). From the organizer: Schedule: The schedule for the conference will be as follows: January 8 (Eastern Standard Time EST) Jeff Deist – 6:00-6:45 Stephan Kinsella – […]