Topic Name Description
Course Syllabus Page Course Syllabus
Foreword Page Foreword
1.1: Goods, Value, and Scarcity Lecture Page 1.1: Lecture

Watch this lecture to examine the concept of a good and the centrality of scarcity to understanding human action. In the video, Dr. Saifedean describes the difference between economic and non-economic goods, and explains the importance of scarcity and why humans must value economic goods. Topics covered include:  Economic goods • Non-economic goods • Opportunity cost • Economizing • Subjective value • Value and free exchange • Ordinal valuation • Cardinal valuation • Marginal analysis • Law of diminishing marginal utility


1.2: Goods, Value, and Scarcity Discussion Page 1.2: Discussion

Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 1, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,


1.3: Goods, Value, and Scarcity Review Page 1.3 Review: Introduction to the fundamental concepts of economics

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 1. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

2.1: Production and Marginal Utility Lecture Page 2.1: Lecture

Before you watch the lecture below, think about all the actions you perform during your week with a purpose to obtain some future state that will be better than your current state. Your decision to go to work or study is considered a purposeful behaviour. We act purposefully because we have reason, and are able to direct it to the meeting of our ends. We may fail in meeting our ends because we made a mistake during our deliberation and an attempt, but our action was still based on reason, and therefore rational. It is important to note that the opposite of action is not irrational behavior, but a reactive response to stimuli on the part of the bodily organs and instincts which cannot be controlled by the volition of the person concerned. For example, humans are instinctively repulsed by venomous snakes, but are drawn to dog puppies. These instinctive behaviours are not considered human action. But taking steps and implementing a plan to protect our human settlement from snakes, and training a puppy to become a calm and well behaved dog are considered human action. As you watch the lecture, consider situations that can be categorized as human action or reactive responses to stimuli.

Every time we act with intention to change our current state for the better, we are engaging in human action, as defined by Ludwig von Mises, who believed human action needs: “a current state, an imagination of a more satisfactory state, and the expectation that purposeful behavior can alleviate uneasiness”. After you watch the lecture in its entirety, reflect on the quote from Mises as it applies to your economic choices. How does this reflect in your choices and valuations? Will you make choices based on your marginal valuation of possibilities, or based on a lifelong or aggregate valuation of the good?


2.2: Production and Marginal Utility Discussion Page 2.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 2, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,
2.3: Production and Marginal Utility Review Page 2.3 Review: Human Action

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 2. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

3.1: Time, the Ultimate Resource Lecture Page 3.1: Lecture

In this section, you will watch a video lecture that encourages us to think about time as a resource, and apply the framework of human action to understand how it functions. Topics covered include: Uniqueness of time as a resource • Economic scarcity as a product of the scarcity of time • Why resources never run out • The Simon-Ehrlich bet • What is time preference • How is it measured • Factors influencing time preference • The trade-off between labor and leisure • The value of labor over time

3.2: Time, the Ultimate Resource Discussion Page 3.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 3, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

3.3: Time, the Ultimate Resource Review Page 3.3 Review: Time and Labor

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 3. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

URL 3.3 Discussion Forum

Post your finished essay here. Make sure you respond to another student's essay.

4.1: Capital, Technology, and Human Productivity Lecture Page 4.1: Lecture

The concept of capital is one of the most important concepts for a student in economics to understand. While it is not a concept that is covered extensively in mainstream courses on economics, the Austrian school gives it central importance. In this section, Dr. Saifedean offers a general conception of capital but will discuss capital in the context of capital theory in the later parts of the course. This lecture concludes with a discussion of intellectual property, a topic that will be discussed in detail. Topics covered include: Lower and higher order goods • Consumption • Time preference as constraint on capital • Originary interest • Raising productivity • Longer production processes • Human reason • Non-rival, non-scarce • Not physical • ntellectual property

4.2: Capital, Technology, and Human Productivity Discussion Page 4.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 4, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

4.3: Capital, Technology, and Human Productivity Review Page 4.3 Review: Capital and technology

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 4. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

5.1: Trade Lecture Page 5.1: Lecture

Why do people engage in exchange among themselves and why is this so prevalent all over the world? Every day billions of strangers deal with other strangers and arrive at mutually beneficial trades. Watch this lecture to understand why this is the case, by exploring how trade is another method humans have found to increase the value and productivity of their time. You are encouraged to think of the benefits of trade by analyzing how your life would look if you had to rely on yourself to secure their needs for one day. Topics covered include: Coercion • Voluntary exchange • Economic exchange • Absolute Advantage • Comparative Advantage • Specialization and the division of labor • Drivers of specialization • Importance of capital accumulation • Why larger markets raise productivity of human action

5.2: Trade Discussion Page 5.2: Discussion

Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 5, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,


5.3: Trade Review Page 5.3 Review: Interpersonal exchange

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 5. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

6.1: Money Lecture Page 6.1: Lecture
The reason humans need a form of money is so they can avoid having to trade things directly, which is massively inconvenient and economically inefficient. Individuals are unlikely to find someone looking to sell them the exact thing they are looking to sell. Money emerges as a market solution, not through anyone's planning, but through people's actions. Watch this video lecture to understand the dimensions of the problem of coincidence of wants.This is a concept that can be understood as a tool humans use to increase the productivity of their time. Topics covered include: The dimensions of the problem: across goods, across time, across scale, across space. • Why gold? • Gold's high stock-to-flow ratio • The emergence of gold as money historically • How money raises productivity of human action • Distinction between money, capital goods, and consumption goods. • Money as the good with the least diminishing marginal utility • Extent of the market

6.2: Money Discussion Page 6.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 6, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

6.3: Money Review Page 6.3 Review: Indirect exchange

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 6. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

URL 6.3: Discussion Forum
Post your finished essay here. Make sure you respond to another student's essay.

7.1: The Market System Lecture Page 7.1: Lecture
To understand the logic of the market order, consider how a barter economy would work. Think of how many prices would be needed to express goods in terms of one another, and how much this would limit specialization. When all goods have prices denominated in one form of money, it becomes very easy to compare them and the utility we get from them. Watch this video to learn how individual preferences translate to supply and demand curves, and how to apply this analysis to economic production. Topics covered include: Barter Pricing • Money is the solution to this problem • Value Scale • Supply & Demand curves • Equilibrium Price • How prices are determined • Prices of factors of production • Discounted Marginal Value Product • Inequality & Cooperation and Competition

7.2: The Market System Discussion Page 7.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 7, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

7.3: The Market System Review Page 7.3 Review: Prices and the market order

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 7. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

8.1: Capitalism Lecture Page 8.1: Lecture

The process of entrepreneurship is dependent on private property owners performing calculations of profit and loss on different courses of actions. This is the hallmark of capitalism. Watch this lecture to understand why this is the case, and why other arrangements are incapable of performing rational economic calculation. Topics covered include: • Entrepreneurial Speculation • Capitalism as an Entrepreneurial System • Capitalism is not a managerial system • The Effects of Entrepreneurial Investment

8.2: Capitalism Discussion Page 8.2: Discussion

Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 8, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety.

8.3: Capitalism Review Page 8.3 Review: Profit and Loss

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 8. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

9.1: Voluntary and Coercive Interactions Lecture Page 9.1: Lecture

As this point, you should know the answers to these general questions about human interaction:

  • What are the differences between coercive and voluntary interaction?
  • Why can we conclude from the action of humans that voluntary exchange is beneficial to everyone involved?
  • And why must someone suffer from coercion?

The answers to these questions were addressed in unit 5. With the foregoing foundation, watch this video lecture to assess the role of political authority in regulating certain kinds of exchange. Topics covered include: Voluntary interaction • Violent interaction • Rothbard's Typology of Intervention • Example of Government Interventions • The proper role of government according to Mises

9.2: Voluntary and Coercive Interactions Discussion Page 9.2: Discussion
Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 9, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

9.3: Voluntary and Coercive Interactions Review Page 9.3 Review: Violent intervention

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 10. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

10.1: What is Economic Progress? Lecture Page 10.1: Lecture
All of the actions and concepts discussed in this course are a form of economic progress, they allow individuals to improve their productivity and increase the value of their time, as well as the expected quantity of time they have. In this section, you are invited to think critically about what economic progress means, and why people pursue it. Is it necessarily a good thing? Do people actually want it? Watch this video lecture to explore how humans value economic progress. Topics covered include: Economic progress • Economic growth • Distinction between numerical measures of economic growth and subjective economic progress • Government policies to encourage growth can actually come at the cost of growth

10.2: What is Economic Progress? Discussion Page 10.2: Discussion

Since you have watched the video lecture for unit 10, it's time to watch Dr. Saifedean moderate a discussion on the unit's theme by addressing questions asked by your fellow classmates. As you watch the discussion unfold, take notes to help you retain information. Make sure you watch the entire discussion seminar video, otherwise you may skip over important points. To get the best learning experience and mastery of the major concepts covered in this unit, you'll want to watch all videos in their entirety,

10.3: What is Economic Progress? Review Page 10.3 Review: Economic Progress

This resource contains a summary of some of the key concepts discussed in unit 10. Don't skip ahead - the information on this page is easier to understand if you have watched the video lecture and discussion seminar video in their entirety. Bookmark this resource to keep it handy during studying.

Course Feedback Survey URL Course Feedback Survey