Episode 4 The Hidden Hand

In this episode we talk about economics. We cover an essay entitled "I, Pencil" by Leonard Read. It's written from the perspective of a pencil who makes the claim to humans that no single person could make a pencil. That essay takes us into further discussion about economics. We talk about economic methodology comparing empirical and a priori approaches. We compare the different schools of economic thought and then start to dive into the Austrian school and its approach to economics. We talk about building up economic science from the single axiom that man acts. We go through topics including money, wealth creation, prices, business cycle theory, inflation and even a discussion about making sandwiches. Enjoy the episode and make sure to look into the show notes for link to more reading and video on the topic that we link to.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:03:50 - I, Pencil - Part I

0:06:53 - Appreciating the Simple Things

0:08:58 - Innumerable Antecedents

0:17:16 - No One Knows

0:20:31 - No Mastermind

0:26:47 - Testimony Galore

0:29:49 - Discussion

0:34:01 - Music Break

0:35:37 - Lost Coast Hazy IPA

0:38:14 - The Invisible Hand

0:43:12 - Empirical vs. A Priori Thinking

0:52:26 - Economic Schools of Thought

0:57:04 - Austrian Economics - The Action Axiom

1:01:27 - Building Economics From the Action Axiom

1:08:42 - Marginal Utility, Wealth Creation

1:17:25 - Music Break

1:19:13 - Sandwiches

1:21:50 - Origin of Money

1:25:04 - Origin of Money

1:41:39 - Prices & Interest

1:48:16 - Inflation & the Correct Way to Play Monopoly

1:49:59 - Music Break

1:51:20 - The Correct Way to Play Monopoly & Back to Inflation

1:59:16 - The Austrian Business Cycle Theory

2:09:55 - Other Ideas in Austrian Economics

2:18:16 - Outro Music