A new book from the economist Philipp Bagus, professor of economics at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, has just been published in Germany. The insightful foreword was penned by none other than Javier Milei himself, who recounts how he became a follower of the Austrian School of Economics: After being captivated by a book from the economist Murray Rothbard, Milei went to a bookshop and spent all the money he had on 20 books by Austrian School theorists. He then calculated exactly how much he would need for food, for taxis, and for travelling to work, and went back to the bookshop the next day and bought even more books – spending every last bit of money he had. “I must have bought about 50 books in just two days,” recalls Milei.
One of these books was "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises: “I locked myself away for two or three days until I had finished it. I only got up to eat, go to the bathroom, and take Conan, my dog, for a walk.” He was “dazzled” by the book, and many others followed, including works by Friedrich August von Hayek and Milton Friedman. “The theory of the Austrian School is fundamental. It is like a compass that guides me in every decision I make,” writes Milei in his foreword. This episode alone demonstrates how grossly misleading it would be to compare Milei with Trump – who would surely rather watch two days of wrestling than read books by Mises........