For some, the thought of economics may evoke dread, bringing back memories of countless graphs and number-riddled textbook pages from a high school macroeconomics class. A local institute is working to promote an alternative view of the discipline in a way that engages the general public.
The Mises Institute is located just across from the University near the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and Donahue Drive on what Tho Bishop, assistant editor of the institute’s blog the Mises Wire, calls “the best piece of property in Auburn.”
The Mises Institute is a research center and think tank independent of Auburn University that works to promote the teachings of its namesake economist Ludwig von Mises and the beliefs of Austrian economics.
On the first floor of the institute is Mises’ personal library, donated by Margit von Mises, the first chairperson of the Mises Institute and wife of Ludwig von Mises. Inside the books are Mises’ notes, jabs and insults — insults only an economist could write, or for that matter, understand — which show Mises’ fiery, interesting character, Bishop said.
Mises’ works, which elaborate his belief in the importance of free markets, are on display in his library, as well as the typewriter Mises used to write his most famous book “Human Action: A Treatise on Economics.”
On the floor above, the institute’s scholars and authors write in defense of the tenets of Austrian economics, the economic school of thought that was developed by Mises and fellow University of Vienna professor Carl Menger and further contributed to by American economist Murray Rothbard.
These scholars have at their disposal a vast collection of economic and political literature housed throughout the campus, which Bishop said is one of the largest private libraries in the Southeast.
“Mainly what we do is provide arguments against socialism, against government regulation, against the use of government to try to improve society,” Bishop said.
For scholars at the Mises Institute and their like-minded peers, the answer to problems in society is within the free market, outside the control of the government.
“Markets themselves solve the problems,” Bishop said. “You see something going wrong, it’s always easy to think, ‘If only the government did this, then that would work.’ Most of the time, that ends up having unforeseen consequences.”
One of those consequences, Bishop said, was the crash of the housing market in 2008.
“I myself discovered the Mises Institute after the housing crisis, because I wanted to figure out how in the world this could happen,” Bishop said.
Bishop now edits and writes for the Mises Wire, the institute’s blog with writings from Mises scholars on various current economic and political issues. The Wire, lectures held across the country, podcasts and online courses are some of the ways the institute tries to engage the public in a more easily digestible discussion of economics.
“What we try to do is, we provide content that can appeal to college students, high school students who have no interest in becoming professional economists, but are simply trying to understand how the world works,” Bishop said.
One of the educational organization’s most famed graduates of its online courses is Glen Jacobs, the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, also known as the WWE wrestler Kane.
Each summer, the institute educates 150–200 college students from around the world during its Mises University program. It also offers doctoral fellowships, where doctorate students study at the institute to work on their dissertations.
The Mises Institute is independent of any political party.
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Evan Mealins, senior in philosophy and economics, is the editor-in-chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
