Foundation for Economic Education » audiobooks http://www.fee.org Home to freedom and prosperity, and free-market education for over 50 years Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:49:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Great Myths of the Great Depression (Audio Book) http://www.fee.org/media/audio/great-myths-of-the-great-depression-audio-book/ http://www.fee.org/media/audio/great-myths-of-the-great-depression-audio-book/#comments Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:29:11 +0000 admin http://fee.org/?p=111000824 Many volumes have been written about the Great Depression of 1929-1941 and its impact on the lives of millions of Americans. Historians, economists and politicians have all combed the wreckage searching for the “black box” that will reveal the cause of the calamity. Sadly, all too many of them decide to abandon their search, finding it easier perhaps to circulate a host of false and harmful conclusions about the events of seven decades ago. Consequently, many people today continue to accept critiques of free-market capitalism that are unjustified and support government policies that are economically destructive.

How bad was the Great Depression? Over the four years from 1929 to 1933, production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities fell by more than half. People’s real disposable incomes dropped 28 percent. Stock prices collapsed to one-tenth of their pre-crash height. The number of unemployed Americans rose from 1.6 million in 1929 to 12.8 million in 1933. One of every four workers was out of a job at the Depression’s nadir, and ugly rumors of revolt simmered for the first time since the Civil War.

“The terror of the Great Crash has been the failure to explain it,” writes economist Alan Reynolds. “People were left with the             feeling that massive economic contractions could occur at any moment, without warning, without cause. That fear has been           exploited ever since as the major justification for virtually unlimited federal intervention in economic affairs.”[1]

Old myths never die; they just keep showing up in economics and political science textbooks. With only an occasional exception, it is there you will find what may be the 20th century’s greatest myth: Capitalism and the free-market economy were responsible for the Great Depression, and only government intervention brought about America’s economic recovery.

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]]> http://www.fee.org/media/audio/great-myths-of-the-great-depression-audio-book/feed/ 7 I, Pencil http://www.fee.org/media/audiobooks/i-pencil-4/ http://www.fee.org/media/audiobooks/i-pencil-4/#comments Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:26:36 +0000 admin http://fee.org/?p=110000677

“Eloquent. Extraordinary. Timeless. Paradigm-shifting. Classic. Half a century after it first appeared, Leonard Read’s ‘I, Pencil’ still evokes such adjectives of praise. Rightfully so, for this little essay opens eyes and minds among people of all ages. Many first-time readers never see the world quite the same again.” -Lawrence W. Reed

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Download I, Pencil Full Audio

Download I, Pencil Chapter 1

Download I, Pencil Chapter 2

Download I, Pencil Chapter 3

Download I, Pencil Chapter 4

Download I, Pencil Chapter 5

]]> http://www.fee.org/media/audiobooks/i-pencil-4/feed/ 3 The Law, Audiobook http://www.fee.org/media/audiobooks/law-audiobook/ http://www.fee.org/media/audiobooks/law-audiobook/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 14:18:44 +0000 admin http://fee.org/?p=6794 The Law has been acclaimed for more than a century as the classic moral defense of individual and limited government. Now it is available in an easy to download audio format.

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