Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Carl Menger founded the Austrian School of Economics, but his ideas almost didn't survive. The second edition of Principles of Economics, the book Menger spent decades revising, exists today because of two people history largely forgot: Hermine Andermann, his partner of decades, and Karl Menger Jr., his son.
Learn Liberty traveled to Vienna to speak with historian Bernhard Beham, whose archival research, including diaries held at Duke University, reveals for the first time on camera how a family worked together to preserve one of the most important books in economic history.
From Menger's secret romance to his son's unlikely path from literary ambitions to world-class mathematics, this is the untold story behind the ideas you thought you knew.
Learn more about marginal utility theory here: youtu.be/o2M1YnBwOns
Link to the Bitcoin course: go.studentsforliberty.org/btc-month-2026
0:00 – The First Family of Austrian Economics
1:24 – What Carl Menger Actually Revolutionized
3:44 – The Secret Second Edition
5:49 – The Brother Who Argued Back
7:44 – Teaching the Crown Prince
9:11 – Hermine Andermann: The Mother of Austrian Economics
11:34 – Karl Menger Jr.: A Name to Live Up To
13:24 – From Writer to Mathematician
14:09 – Finishing the Book in Chaos
18:52 – Why Any of This Matters
LEARN LIBERTY:
Your resource for exploring the ideas of a free society. We tackle big questions about what makes a society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in. Watch more at learnliberty.org/.
Carl Menger founded the Austrian School of Economics, but his ideas almost didn't survive. The second edition of Principles of Economics, the book Menger spent decades revising, exists today because of two people history largely forgot: Hermine Andermann, his partner of decades, and Karl Menger Jr., his son.
Learn Liberty traveled to Vienna to speak with historian Bernhard Beham, whose archival research, including diaries held at Duke University, reveals for the first time on camera how a family worked together to preserve one of the most important books in economic history.
From Menger's secret romance to his son's unlikely path from literary ambitions to world-class mathematics, this is the untold story behind the ideas you thought you knew.
Learn more about marginal utility theory here: youtu.be/o2M1YnBwOns
Link to the Bitcoin course: go.studentsforliberty.org/btc-month-2026
0:00 – The First Family of Austrian Economics
1:24 – What Carl Menger Actually Revolutionized
3:44 – The Secret Second Edition
5:49 – The Brother Who Argued Back
7:44 – Teaching the Crown Prince
9:11 – Hermine Andermann: The Mother of Austrian Economics
11:34 – Karl Menger Jr.: A Name to Live Up To
13:24 – From Writer to Mathematician
14:09 – Finishing the Book in Chaos
18:52 – Why Any of This Matters
LEARN LIBERTY:
Your resource for exploring the ideas of a free society. We tackle big questions about what makes a society free or prosperous and how we can improve the world we live in. Watch more at learnliberty.org/.
