Austrian Economics with Walter Block | EP178

Working Capital The Real Estate Podcast

Walter is an American Austrian School economist and anarcho-capitalist theorist. He was the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the School of Business at Loyola University New Orleans and a senior fellow of the non-profit think-tank Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama
In this episode, we talked about:
•⁠ ⁠Walter’s Bio & Background
•⁠ ⁠Friedrich Hayek Works
•⁠ ⁠Austrian Approach to Business Cycles and Economy Recession
•⁠ ⁠Free Speech
•⁠ ⁠Monopolies
•⁠ ⁠Rent Control
Useful links:
Friedrich Hayek “Prices and Production”, “Human Action”, “Man Economy”
Transcriptions:
Jesse (0s): Welcome to the working capital real estate podcast. My name's Jessica Galley And. on this show, we discuss all things real estate with investors and experts in a variety of industries that impact real estate. Whether you're looking at your first investment or raising your first fund, join me and let's build that portfolio one square foot at a time. ladies and gentlemen, my name's Jesse Fragale. You're listening to Working Capital. The Real. Estate Podcast. It is my special honor to have Walter Edward Block on the show. Walter is an American, Austrian School economist, and anarcho capital theorist.

He was the Herald e worth eminent scholar, endowed chair in economics at the School of Business at Loyola University in New Orleans, and a senior fellow of the non profit think tank, Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. How's it going? Walter? Pretty

Walter (50s): Good. I want to add, I'm not just an American economist, I'm also a Canadian. I worked for the Fraser Institute for about 12 years from 1979 to 1991. And I am a, a Canadian citizen, so I'm, I'm also, I don't know how to say out and about yet correctly, but otherwise I'm a Canadian as well. You're

Jesse (1m 12s): Out of the, out of the closet. Out of the closet on the Canadian front that, yeah, that is, that is news to me. Were you born in, in Canada or just citizenship?

Walter (1m 22s): Brooklyn.

Jesse (1m 23s): Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn. Okay. That's what I thought. Interesting. Okay. Well, you know, for those that don't know on the podcast, we mainly talk real estate with, as listeners know, we sprinkle in economists. I think you're, you're definitely unique in the sense that some of your thoughts may not be in the mainstream of, of your typical left right kind of political ideology. I, I kind of discovered you in, in high school actually, with, with some of the works that I think you wrote in the seventies, if I remember correctly.

And I just think that the, some of the concepts that you talk about touch on real estate, rent control, some of the economic aspects, minimum wage. But for those that that don't know your work, don't know you Walter, maybe you could give a bit of a background, you know, how, what was your journey, you know, become an economist and, and what you do today?

Walter (2m 14s): Well, it all started with me and Bernie Sanders. Bernie and I went to high school together for, we overlapped for four years, and we were sort of buddies because we were on the same track team and we ran the same events. I have to tell you, my Bernie Sanders joke, it's not at his expense. Bernie Sanders joke is that Bernie doesn't run away from much, he didn't run away from socialism even before socialism became as popular as it is now.

Banks, in part to his efforts, he didn't run away not only for ex-cons voting, but even convicts voting. But there's one person that he ran away from, and that's me. Why? Because we both did the same event about a mile, and his time was about four 30 and I never broke five minutes.