J3 - Beginning the Research

Since I plan on focusing a large part of my project on providing a proper elucidation of economic concepts, I’ve decided to begin my research my making sure that I have a solid grasp of these concepts myself. I have a degree in economics, but any monkey could get one of those. I’ve taught economics on the college level, which is something that a monkey would probably not be able to do, but that doesn’t unreservedly qualify me as an expert in economic matters. I know a lot, but there’s always more to learn. For example, while preparing to deliver a lecture on the business cycle to some high school classes, I learned that the price of consumer goods is what is imputed backwards and determines the price of the producer goods, rather than the value of the consumer goods, as I had believed. Upon discovering this new information, I found that it made perfect sense to me; nevertheless, I had been mistaken about the process by which producer goods are appraised. Moreover, I’ve just spent a year in law school, which force-fed me so much information that quite a bit of what I once knew has been pushed out of my head. A refresher course is in order.

Therefore, I’m beginning my project by reading Human Action by Ludwig von Mises, a brilliant treatise on economics. To be honest, this is a little cheating on my part; I’m actually reading Human Action in preparation for an economics symposium I’m participating in next week. Still, this reading will be not only useful but critical to the success of my project. Mises was perhaps the greatest economist the world has ever seen, and Human Action is his magnum opus. There are more complete treatments of economics available (for example, Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State), but none of them focus on the parts I’d like to focus on for my project: the solid grounding and unbelievably thorough explanation of the most fundamental principles. Therefore, I think it’s fortunate that I’m already reading this book, as it is the most appropriate choice for a solid foundation for further research and for the project as a whole.