1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,660 The end result is every government program works perfect in theory, 2 00:00:05,660 --> 00:00:09,760 and every government intervention fails miserably in practice. 3 00:00:11,260 --> 00:00:14,000 Greetings and salutations, my fellow plebs. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,140 My name is Walker and this is the Bitcoin Podcast. 5 00:00:17,140 --> 00:00:21,000 The Bitcoin block height is 816330, 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,440 and the value of one Bitcoin is still one Bitcoin. 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,340 Today's episode is Bitcoin Out Loud, 8 00:00:27,340 --> 00:00:31,440 where I read you a Bitcoin or Bitcoin-adjacent piece. 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:35,440 Today, I'm reading a piece by Dr. Peter St. Ange 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,140 that he just published today, titled, 11 00:00:38,140 --> 00:00:40,840 What is Austrian Economics? 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:46,440 It is a succinct primer for anyone who wants to better understand the Austrian perspective, 13 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,240 which is extremely useful in order to better understand Bitcoin. 14 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:53,940 You can watch the Bitcoin Podcast on Rumble, YouTube, or X 15 00:00:53,940 --> 00:00:56,040 by searching for Outwalk or America, 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,240 or listen on Fountain.fm, 17 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:02,840 or wherever you get your podcasts by searching for the Bitcoin Podcast. 18 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,740 If you listen to the Bitcoin Podcast on Fountain, 19 00:01:05,740 --> 00:01:07,540 consider giving this show a boost, 20 00:01:07,540 --> 00:01:10,040 or creating a clip of something you found interesting. 21 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,340 For those that have boosted me already or zapped me on Noster, 22 00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:14,140 thank you. 23 00:01:14,140 --> 00:01:17,440 And if you haven't checked out Fountain yet, I highly recommend it. 24 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:19,840 You can send Bitcoin to your favorite podcasters 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,540 and earn Bitcoin just for listening to this show. 26 00:01:22,540 --> 00:01:27,540 And in case you missed it, the Bitcoin Podcast is its first official sponsor. 27 00:01:27,540 --> 00:01:32,340 Bitbox and the Bitbox 02 Bitcoin Only Hardware Wallet. 28 00:01:32,340 --> 00:01:37,940 Head to bitbox.swiss.walker and use promo code Walker for 5% off. 29 00:01:37,940 --> 00:01:40,740 I'm extremely pleased with the Bitbox 02, 30 00:01:40,740 --> 00:01:43,940 and like Bitcoin, I wish I would have found it sooner. 31 00:01:43,940 --> 00:01:46,940 It's easy as hell to use, Bitcoin only, of course, 32 00:01:46,940 --> 00:01:48,340 and fully open source, 33 00:01:48,340 --> 00:01:53,140 so you can see everything from the firmware on the device to the Bitbox app, 34 00:01:53,140 --> 00:01:56,140 even X-rays of the hardware and other schematics. 35 00:01:56,140 --> 00:01:58,540 Just go to their GitHub and see for yourself. 36 00:01:58,540 --> 00:02:01,940 You can even try building one for yourself if you're feeling adventurous, 37 00:02:01,940 --> 00:02:07,640 or just go to bitbox.swiss.walker and use promo code Walker for 5% off. 38 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:09,140 It's really up to you. 39 00:02:09,140 --> 00:02:10,340 Before I get into the read, 40 00:02:10,340 --> 00:02:13,440 I just want to point out that Peter has a free email list. 41 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,040 You can join to get weekly posts on the economy and freedom. 42 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:21,540 You can also choose the $5 option if you'd like to support his videos and articles. 43 00:02:21,540 --> 00:02:25,340 He puts out fantastic short-form daily videos on X, 44 00:02:25,340 --> 00:02:27,540 which I highly recommend you check out. 45 00:02:27,540 --> 00:02:31,440 He's at ProfSaintOng on X. 46 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,340 Also, check out his weekly podcast, rounding up all the week's videos, 47 00:02:35,340 --> 00:02:37,140 in a single 30-minute podcast. 48 00:02:37,140 --> 00:02:38,740 It's really fantastic. 49 00:02:38,740 --> 00:02:41,140 All these links are available in the show notes, 50 00:02:41,140 --> 00:02:42,840 so without further ado, 51 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:48,740 let's get into this Bitcoin Out Loud read. 52 00:02:48,740 --> 00:02:51,140 What is Austrian Economics? 53 00:02:51,140 --> 00:02:57,440 The Economics of Liberty, by Peter St. Ange. 54 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,440 I've gotten some questions about Austrian economics, 55 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,540 which is the model I use to understand the world. 56 00:03:03,540 --> 00:03:06,040 Since Austrian isn't very well known, 57 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,140 I thought I'd sketch out how it differs from mainstream economics. 58 00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:16,140 In short, Austrian economics means economics without government bribes. 59 00:03:16,140 --> 00:03:19,540 And it turns out once you take government bribes out, 60 00:03:19,540 --> 00:03:22,940 economics gives a very different model of the economy, 61 00:03:22,940 --> 00:03:27,240 one that puts liberty front and center. 62 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,140 The Capture of Mainstream Economics. 63 00:03:31,140 --> 00:03:34,440 Economics as a field has been around for a long time, 64 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,840 at least since the 16th century, 65 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,240 when the classical model was worked out by the Spanish Scholastics. 66 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,040 But starting in the 1800s, 67 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,940 the field of economics was co-opted by governments, 68 00:03:46,940 --> 00:03:48,640 starting with Prussia. 69 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,040 They saw economics as a useful propagandist, 70 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,140 who could help take over the economy 71 00:03:54,140 --> 00:03:58,340 and turn out fantastic profits to bankers, industrialists, 72 00:03:58,340 --> 00:04:01,340 and anyone else with a nice lobbying budget. 73 00:04:01,340 --> 00:04:04,140 Economists became what Murray Rothbard called 74 00:04:04,140 --> 00:04:07,840 the intellectual bodyguard of the regime. 75 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,240 Or, as James Buchanan put it, 76 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:14,040 economists become camp following whores. 77 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,540 This takeover culminated in the Keynesian Revolution in the 1930s, 78 00:04:19,540 --> 00:04:23,240 after which mainstream economics, universities, and all, 79 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,240 became effectively a wing of the government. 80 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,140 Austrian economics simply returns to that pre-Keynesian classical understanding 81 00:04:32,140 --> 00:04:35,340 of how an economy works. 82 00:04:35,340 --> 00:04:39,040 What is Austrian economics? 83 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:43,040 Austrian economics gets its name because in the late 1800s, 84 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,140 the German-speaking world dominated the field of economics, 85 00:04:46,140 --> 00:04:48,040 as it did much of science. 86 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:50,340 But economics operated very differently 87 00:04:50,340 --> 00:04:52,640 in the two halves of the German-speaking world, 88 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:54,440 Prussia and Austria. 89 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:57,340 While Prussian economists were funded by government, 90 00:04:57,340 --> 00:05:00,140 it was a different story for the poor Austrians, 91 00:05:00,140 --> 00:05:02,440 who were not on the government payroll. 92 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,640 So they spent their days doing what economists had done for centuries, 93 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,740 try to understand how economies work, 94 00:05:09,740 --> 00:05:15,640 why people buy, sell, trade, interact, work, produce, or destroy. 95 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:18,440 As such, I joined economist Peter Boetke 96 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,240 in considering the Austrians to be the true economics, 97 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,440 what he calls the mainline economics, 98 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:31,240 as opposed to the camp following whores in mainstream economics. 99 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,140 Praxeology. 100 00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:37,140 So with that background, what makes Austrian different? 101 00:05:37,140 --> 00:05:42,740 The classical or Austrian approach is to use logic to understand human behavior. 102 00:05:42,740 --> 00:05:48,840 In Austrian, this is called praxeology, the study of human action. 103 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:53,140 Concretely, praxeology uses three key axioms. 104 00:05:53,140 --> 00:05:56,040 An axiom is an obviously true thing, 105 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,240 from which you can logically deduce all of economics. 106 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,640 One, action has purpose. 107 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,240 This means people are not billiard balls. 108 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,240 They do things for a reason, 109 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,240 namely because they believe it will improve their life, 110 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,240 giving a personal profit. 111 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:15,140 Two, humans differ. 112 00:06:15,140 --> 00:06:19,440 This means people have different skills and want different things. 113 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,540 This means it's profitable for people to trade and interact. 114 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:27,140 Three, leisure is a good. 115 00:06:27,140 --> 00:06:31,240 This means people will only engage in work if it's profitable. 116 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,640 So for example, there's no such thing as an oppressed worker 117 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:37,840 unless violence was used. 118 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:43,540 Amazingly, these three axioms can literally explain the entirety of economics. 119 00:06:43,540 --> 00:06:46,740 You don't need dozens of books written in calculus. 120 00:06:46,740 --> 00:06:52,840 Further, the axioms imply that the way to maximize people's happiness is liberty 121 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:57,240 for the government to do absolutely nothing beyond protecting them. 122 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:02,840 After all, if action is based on what the actor thinks will most improve his life, 123 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:07,940 there is no role for government beyond protecting his ability to choose freely. 124 00:07:07,940 --> 00:07:12,240 Meanwhile, if human differences motivate exchange and interaction, 125 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,240 again, there's no role for the government but to stay out of the way. 126 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,540 Compared to mainstream, which ignores theory in favor of data, 127 00:07:21,540 --> 00:07:24,740 let the data speak is the mantra. 128 00:07:24,740 --> 00:07:28,240 This turns economics into nothing more than statistics, 129 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,040 an endless stream of correlations. 130 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:35,440 In theory, letting the data speak looks neutral and scientific, 131 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,040 akin to the use of data in physics, 132 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,640 but that takes us back to the government bribes. 133 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:47,140 After all, who's collecting the data and who's running the statistical analyses? 134 00:07:47,140 --> 00:07:50,940 Governments make up nearly the entire revenue of universities 135 00:07:50,940 --> 00:07:56,140 between grants, appropriations, and subsidized student loans. 136 00:07:56,140 --> 00:08:01,040 Indeed, they make up the overwhelming revenue of even non-university analysts 137 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:05,740 at these nonprofits that essentially operate as wings of the government. 138 00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:11,140 This means the data isn't speaking because the data is bought. 139 00:08:11,140 --> 00:08:14,540 The end result is that, in mainstream economics, 140 00:08:14,540 --> 00:08:17,840 every government intervention, every central planner, 141 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,240 is just a question of data. 142 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:23,540 You run the simulation, see if the results are positive, 143 00:08:23,540 --> 00:08:25,440 does the intervention improve the world? 144 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,440 Inevitably, every government intervention does improve the world, 145 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,340 on paper at least, given who's paying the analyst. 146 00:08:33,340 --> 00:08:39,040 The end result is every government program works perfect in theory, 147 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:43,340 and every government intervention fails miserably in practice, 148 00:08:43,340 --> 00:08:47,040 because from welfare programs, to industrial policy, 149 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:51,140 to bureaucratic regulation, to the Federal Reserve itself, 150 00:08:51,140 --> 00:08:54,440 the data said what it was paid to say. 151 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,040 But note the important implication for government policy. 152 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,340 If everybody is profiting from every transaction, 153 00:09:01,340 --> 00:09:03,740 action axiom, leisure axiom, 154 00:09:03,740 --> 00:09:08,340 and if every individual is best at finding the best transactions, 155 00:09:08,340 --> 00:09:11,540 subjective preferences, difference axiom, 156 00:09:11,540 --> 00:09:14,940 it means there is absolutely no role for government, 157 00:09:14,940 --> 00:09:18,340 beyond protecting our ability to choose. 158 00:09:18,340 --> 00:09:21,440 Government is at best in the way. 159 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:25,540 We are paying government to destroy us. 160 00:09:25,540 --> 00:09:28,740 Ideological Implications of Austrian 161 00:09:28,740 --> 00:09:33,140 The key insight of Austrian that government intervention is harmful, 162 00:09:33,140 --> 00:09:37,040 can be applied to pretty much every question in economics. 163 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:43,040 In fact, economist Murray Rothbard did just that in his 1995 book, 164 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,040 Making Economics Sense, 165 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:50,140 that walks through 117 common fallacies that, 30 years later, 166 00:09:50,140 --> 00:09:52,940 still reads like it was written last week. 167 00:09:52,940 --> 00:09:56,940 In terms of ideology, in contrast to Keynesian economics, 168 00:09:56,940 --> 00:09:59,440 where government is always right, 169 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,840 or even Chicago economics, where big business is always right, 170 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,940 Austrian economics tends to imply a libertarian worldview, 171 00:10:07,940 --> 00:10:11,240 one where the government gets out of the way altogether, 172 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:16,140 playing at most a helpful role so individuals can seek their own happiness. 173 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:20,340 It's not that libertarianism is required for Austrian economics, 174 00:10:20,340 --> 00:10:24,540 it's that once you accept that individuals know what's best for them, 175 00:10:24,540 --> 00:10:28,940 it implies that no central planner can run your life better than you, 176 00:10:28,940 --> 00:10:32,040 no matter how many PhDs they have. 177 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,940 It implies the best way to help people, 178 00:10:34,940 --> 00:10:38,640 the best way to build a society, is liberty. 179 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,940 So, just as studying physics makes you believe in gravity, 180 00:10:42,940 --> 00:10:48,140 studying Austrian economics makes you believe in liberty. 181 00:10:48,140 --> 00:10:49,840 Resources 182 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,440 Finally, some good resources. 183 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,140 My favorite to start the ball rolling is Rothbard. 184 00:10:56,140 --> 00:11:00,640 The book I mentioned earlier, Making Economics Sense, is a great start, 185 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,440 or if you're interested in the demon spawn known as the Federal Reserve, 186 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,240 start with, What has government done to our money? 187 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,440 And if you'd like to go deeper on theory and history, 188 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,840 check out Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State, 189 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:19,740 or his magisterial, History of Economic Thought. 190 00:11:19,740 --> 00:11:24,540 Rothbard is generally gold-centric, Bitcoin didn't exist yet, 191 00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:26,240 but if you're interested in Bitcoin, 192 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:30,240 the best Austrian economist in Bitcoin is Seyfedin Ammus. 193 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:37,940 Check out his books, Bitcoin Standard, Fiat Standard, and Principles of Economics. 194 00:11:37,940 --> 00:11:39,640 Conclusion 195 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,340 I'll end with a quote by John Stuart Mill. 196 00:11:43,340 --> 00:11:50,640 The real advantage which truth has is that it may be extinguished once, twice, or many times, 197 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:56,140 but in the course of ages, there will generally be found persons to rediscover it, 198 00:11:56,140 --> 00:12:01,640 until its reappearances falls on a time when from favorable circumstances, 199 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:09,440 it escapes persecution until it has made such head as to withstand all subsequent attempts to suppress it. 200 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:16,940 Austrian economics, like liberty itself, will always be at a disadvantage because governments dislike it, 201 00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:21,740 yet the people always want liberty, sometimes very passionately, 202 00:12:21,740 --> 00:12:28,240 and the people always want what prosperity delivers, so they and their children can pursue their dreams 203 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,540 and spread justice in the world. 204 00:12:30,540 --> 00:12:37,640 Protecting liberty is a never-ending battle, but to me, it is the most sublime battle one could join. 205 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:43,740 Bitcoin Out Loud 206 00:12:43,740 --> 00:12:49,340 And that's a wrap on this Bitcoin Out Loud episode of the Bitcoin Podcast. 207 00:12:49,340 --> 00:12:54,340 If you're a Bitcoin-only company interested in sponsoring another fucking Bitcoin podcast, 208 00:12:54,340 --> 00:12:58,340 head to bitcoinpodcast.net, or hit me up on social media. 209 00:12:58,340 --> 00:13:06,540 On Noster, head to primal.net slash Walker, and on Twitter, you can follow the Bitcoin Podcast at titcoinpodcast 210 00:13:06,540 --> 00:13:08,840 and me at Walker America. 211 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:15,540 You can also find the video version of this podcast on xyoutube.com slash at Walker America, 212 00:13:15,540 --> 00:13:18,240 or searching for Walker America on Rumble. 213 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:24,540 Bitcoin is scarce. There will only ever be 21 million, but Bitcoin podcasts are abundant. 214 00:13:24,540 --> 00:13:30,740 So thank you for spending your scarce time to listen to another fucking Bitcoin podcast. 215 00:13:30,740 --> 00:13:51,740 Until next time, stay free.