The Best Use for Your $600 Government Check
By Todd Steinberg
Like so many Americans who have received or are expecting their tax rebate check, you probably imagined what you'd purchase once you got the windfall in the mail. As reported on many cable news shows, ordinary Americans are spending their money at Wal-Mart, paying down bills, or filling up their gas tanks to capacity.
If you are reading this article, you are probably no ordinary American; you are most likely someone extremely interested in learning as much as you can about liberty and its economic counterpart, the Austrian School.
If you were like me, you probably have or had a natural aversion to the subject of economics since the mainstream school of it deals with (gulp) math and reduces the individual down to a mere digit in some statistician's graph. Just turning a few pages in your average economics primer is enough to induce the gag reflex.
Of course, I had no idea that economics had four major schools and that the Austrian school was one of them. It's no wonder I never heard the likes of Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Henry Hazlitt until last year, since a cursory look in the index of any mainstream economics book will reveal that there are only two economists of note cited: John Maynard Keynes and Karl Marx.
It wasn't until last summer when I heard Ron Paul use certain phrases such as the gold standard, inflation tax, the business cycle, and several others that persuaded me to learn more. While researching, the sites that popped up first were LewRockwell.com and Mises.org. In the following months, learning about liberty and the Austrian school morphed into a hobby of sorts, where I spent many hours of my spare time reading books on economics and libertarianism, writing a few articles for LewRockwell.com, and having a myriad of conversations with friends and family about our future economic landscape.
Still, I want to learn more. I know that as a busy teddy bear wholesaler and an aspiring cartoon series creator, I have no will to return to school to get an advanced degree in economics. Nor do I want to spend the rest of my days simply scanning for new books and articles that match my interest. Thankfully, the Ludwig von Mises Institute has put together a self-directed program that is the best course of action for a person such as myself.
Therefore, when I receive my $600 government check in the mail, my first purchase will be the Mises Institute Home Study Course in Austrian Economics. If the government wants us to use our checks to jumpstart the economy, then I shall multiply its impact by jumpstarting my own economic education.
That same day, I will use another $50 to renew my membership early in the Ludwig von Mises Institute and the remaining $200 I will use towards a road trip I will take this fall to attend the Supporters Summit in Auburn.
Maybe you will be like me and make this kind of investment towards your education. But if you are not as ambitious, I ask you to at least donate what you can to the Mises Institute. The institute works on voluntary contributions alone and does not, as you might expect, accept government grants. Even if you cannot donate today, maybe one day you will, and in the meantime give yourself a goal and read as many of the free books and essays you can at Mises.org. For it was Ludwig von Mises himself who said,
Whether we like it or not, it is a fact that economics cannot remain an esoteric branch of knowledge accessible only to small groups of scholars and specialists. Economics deals with society's fundamental problems; it concerns everyone and belongs to all. It is the main and proper study of every citizen.
Comments (10)
Jeeez...I could have written this article. Sounds like my story and how I discovered Austrian Economics.
The only difference is that I'm a South-African. The rest is all the same...including Ron Paul. :-D
Thank you Todd !
Published: June 19, 2008 2:02 PM
I'm halfway through my economics degree and up til now its been predominantly Keynesian. A lot of my friends are steering themselves towards the 'new economics' of Galbraith.
I sometimes wonder that after 4 years I will be broken and beyond repair.
Published: June 19, 2008 4:36 PM
MatthewWilliam: "I sometimes wonder that after 4 years I will be broken and beyond repair."
I got a masters in Keynesian econ and it took about five years of Austrian therapy before I could think straight.
Published: June 19, 2008 5:07 PM
I am guessing the author didn't come up with the title for this post, but "The Best Use for YOUR $600 Government Check" made me wonder if this guy had learned anything from Austrian economics. Wouldn't the "best" use of "YOUR" money be whatever YOU want to spend (or save) it on?
As for me, I'll be saving mine... wealth and capital is built by saving for the future, not consuming in the present.
Published: June 20, 2008 12:27 AM
This is my first comment here. I have mixed opinions about the Mises Institute and the Austrian School. My preeminent concern is the middle class, as you will note from my email and web site address. Many of the suggestions I read on the site seem to be right on, yet there are some lingering issues. For example, what struck me about this blog was the omission of Friedman as an economic icon everyone has heard about. If I ask one hundred of my middle class friends if they have heard of Friedman, at least 90 will say yes. That total would be no where near as high for Keynes. I think everyone reading this knows that to be true. Why, then, claim otherwise? There are problems with the economics of Friedman for the middle class as well. Is it that those types of problems are not to be considered?
Published: June 20, 2008 5:19 AM
I understand this is like a sales pitch and Austrian Economics is very important.
But this not the best way to "spend" that money.
Actually the best way to use the money is not to spend it but invest it.
First you have to understand what that money is where it comes from.
US government doesnt have any money to give back. Therefore it borrows all the money that is given back as tax rebate. What the US government doing is forcing every tax payer in the US to borrow and since they think spending brings prosperity, it wants the people to spend this borrowed money.
And since the same people who are receiving the money will have to pay for the US Government debt in a later date, either through direct taxation or inflation, the smart thing to do is to invest the money instead of spending.
And since this borrowed sum will be payed through inflation rather than direct taxes, the best way to invest is putting the money in a NON Dollar denominated assest, like gold or foreing currency bonds or stocks.
In short if you are forced to borrow, at least use it wisely and invest it in production rather than consumption.
Published: June 20, 2008 5:26 AM
Sad to note that people believe that an "investment" in education (especially economics) is a waste.
After all, the rebate cheques Americans are getting from Government, is money that was stolen from them by the same Government.
The only difference is that the $600 was worth more at the time when the Government stole it.
Published: June 20, 2008 7:34 AM
My first inclination as to what to do with the $600 was to send it back to the government. They need it FAR worse than I do. I did not accept either of the other two "rebates" given by this "administration." But I doubt if $600 will help them much. Nor will it mean much to me invested. I'll think I'll just do what they want me to, and spend it on something I want. At least that will provide inflow to some company, and thereby some workers trying to support their family. These are the guys who've been screwed the wost with the economic mess we have anyway.
Published: June 20, 2008 8:01 AM
"Sad to note that people believe that an "investment" in education (especially economics) is a waste. "
I dont think that at all. But since the said investment is going to be done with borrowed money, the costs are important.
I believe the cost will be too high. That 600 dollars will be paid back as thousands of dollars.
And if someone forces you to borrow money with huge interest you should be as defensive as you can with that money.
Published: June 20, 2008 1:22 PM
How defensive can you invest with $600??? Maybe a 1/2 oz Gold Bullion coin or some silver (if you can get it)
This is going to sound cheesy, but my investment in literature from Mises and the time spent studying it, has yielded a handsome return for me.
(This is the cheesy part) Thanks to Austrian Economics, I've managed to increase my annual income into six figures, measured in $.
It's been my best investment ever. Knowledge is power.
Published: June 20, 2008 2:07 PM