2025

The word economics comes from the Ancient Greek term οἰκονομία (oikonomía). So, oikonomía originally meant “household management” or “management of the household and its resources.”

Dr. Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard and The Fiat Standard, returns with his most ambitious work yet: Principles of Economics. Rather than focusing narrowly on money, this book…

Dr. Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, expands his analysis of money by examining the fiat system. He argues that fiat money is not a neutral tool but a…

Dr. Saifedean Ammous, author of Principles of Economics and The Fiat Standard, first made his name with his groundbreaking book The Bitcoin Standard. Here, Ammous tells the story of money…

Philadelphia is facing a metabolic health crisis that can no longer be ignored. The numbers speak for themselves: That means only 4 in 10 adults in our city are truly…

When the U.S. left the gold standard in 1971, the dollar became fiat—backed only by confidence in the government and the Federal Reserve. To see the impact, look at something…

The final lecture reinforces Bitcoin’s role as apolitical, immutable, decentralized money. Its energy use is not waste but progress; its volatility does not prevent monetization; and its immutability is proven…

Bitcoin is the first and only strictly scarce asset in history. All other resources can be increased with more effort; Bitcoin cannot. This makes it the hardest money, uniquely suited…

Bitcoin introduces digital scarcity: money that is both digital and strictly limited in supply. By merging cash-like finality with digital transferability, Bitcoin disintermediates central banks and payment processors. Its breakthrough…

Governments abandoned gold not for economic progress but to fund wars. Keynesianism then provided intellectual cover, turning inflation and government spending into policy tools. Fiat money empowers states at the…

Capitalism’s genius lies in prices, which transmit dispersed knowledge across society. Hayek showed why central planning fails; Mises demonstrated that without private capital markets, rational calculation is impossible. Sound money…

Time preference is the key concept linking money, productivity, and civilization. Humans naturally value the present over the future, but the ability to lower time preference through reason and hard…

Government money is not money by decree; it is always born as a redeemable claim on market money. The suspension of gold in 1914 birthed fiat, enabling governments to wage…

Metals became money because they were durable, divisible, and portable. Gold emerged as the hardest money due to its indestructibility and high stock-to-flow ratio, while silver fell behind once banking…

Primitive monies like Yap stones and glass beads worked temporarily, but their low hardness made them vulnerable to supply inflation. Metals outcompeted them due to durability and uniformity, with gold…

Money arises as a spontaneous market solution to the coincidence of wants. The most saleable goods — durable, divisible, portable, and hard to produce — emerge as money. Gold dominated…

Civilization is not a given — it is the emergent result of human beings using reason to lower time preference, specialize, and invent. It requires curbing destructive instincts and respecting…

Defense is not a special case requiring state monopoly — it is simply another scarce good. Markets already provide more defense than governments, from security guards to arbitration courts. Aggression…

Violence is the alternative to voluntary cooperation. It destroys property rights, trade, and civilization itself. Only when violence is restricted to defense — never initiation — can markets, capital accumulation,…

Monetary expansion through fiduciary media creates financial claims without real resources. While it initially fuels booms by lowering interest rates and encouraging long-term projects, these projects are unsustainable. Rising input…

Credit and banking arise from declining time preference and saving. Banks specialize in safekeeping (deposits) and capital allocation (investment banking). The Austrian distinction between commodity credit (backed by real savings)…

Time preference measures how much we value the present over the future. Humans always prefer present goods, but lower time preference fosters saving, investment, and civilization itself. Hard money (gold,…

Capitalism is the system of private ownership of capital goods, where individuals freely allocate capital through markets. The stock market is its defining feature, enabling capital to be traded and…

Markets are the emergent order of money, trade, and voluntary cooperation. They transform self-interest into peaceful service of others, making civilization possible. Supply and demand curves reveal how prices equilibrate…

Money emerges to solve the coincidence of wants problem in large societies. The most saleable goods — durable, divisible, portable, and resistant to debasement — outcompete others to become money.…

Trade is the peaceful, voluntary exchange of goods that makes both parties better off. Unlike coercion, which destroys value, trade creates value through specialization, subjective valuation, and comparative advantage. The…