Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It's 1940. Ludwig von Mises, arguably the greatest economic mind of his generation, is sitting alone in a New York apartment. His library was stolen by the Gestapo. Harvard won't hire him. And the entire academic establishment has written him off.
This is the story of how the Austrian School of Economics survived an attempt to physically erase it from history. Forced into exile, marginalized by Keynesian dominance, and kept alive by private donors and alternative institutions, the Austrian School built an intellectual infrastructure that outlasted its enemies. Decades later, that same infrastructure reached a young economist in Argentina named Javier Milei — and he won the presidency with a chainsaw.
From Mises's private seminar in Vienna to the internet age, this is one of the greatest survival stories in intellectual history. Featuring insights from Alexander Linsbichler, Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, and the last "Austrian" Austrian economist.
Subscribe to Asher's channel: youtube.com/channel/UChgdcX4jVTpFoZLGM9Aq3Ew
Don't go it alone. Join Students For Liberty and build a liberty movement on your campus: studentsforliberty.org/join
Chapters:
0:00 - The Greatest Survival Story in Intellectual History
1:33 - Mises's Private Seminar and the Anschluss
5:03 - Exile in America: Building a Side Door
13:34 - Chicago vs. Austrian: Logic vs. Data
15:49 - Argentina, the Internet, and Milei's Rise
18:17 - Will Austrian Ideas Return to Europe?
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/.
It's 1940. Ludwig von Mises, arguably the greatest economic mind of his generation, is sitting alone in a New York apartment. His library was stolen by the Gestapo. Harvard won't hire him. And the entire academic establishment has written him off.
This is the story of how the Austrian School of Economics survived an attempt to physically erase it from history. Forced into exile, marginalized by Keynesian dominance, and kept alive by private donors and alternative institutions, the Austrian School built an intellectual infrastructure that outlasted its enemies. Decades later, that same infrastructure reached a young economist in Argentina named Javier Milei — and he won the presidency with a chainsaw.
From Mises's private seminar in Vienna to the internet age, this is one of the greatest survival stories in intellectual history. Featuring insights from Alexander Linsbichler, Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, and the last "Austrian" Austrian economist.
Subscribe to Asher's channel: youtube.com/channel/UChgdcX4jVTpFoZLGM9Aq3Ew
Don't go it alone. Join Students For Liberty and build a liberty movement on your campus: studentsforliberty.org/join
Chapters:
0:00 - The Greatest Survival Story in Intellectual History
1:33 - Mises's Private Seminar and the Anschluss
5:03 - Exile in America: Building a Side Door
13:34 - Chicago vs. Austrian: Logic vs. Data
15:49 - Argentina, the Internet, and Milei's Rise
18:17 - Will Austrian Ideas Return to Europe?
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/.
