It’s a peculiar sight, witnessing a menacing UFC fighter like Renato Moicano expound on the teachings of one of the world’s most renowned economists. Yet, that’s exactly what happened after his TKO victory over Jalin Turner at UFC 300 ten days ago.

I’m not a UFC fan, nor am I that into mixed martial arts. But I admire athletes in general, especially those who know anything about the way the real world works. Not many do.

So when Moicano’s advice hit the airwaves, I was stunned. He said, “I love America, I love the Constitution...I want to carry...guns. I love private property. Let me tell you something. If you care about your...country, read Ludwig von Mises and the six lessons of the Austrian Economic School.”

Wow. Just, wow…

Dr. Jonathan Newman wrote on mises.org that they’d seen 50,000 downloads of Mises’s book, Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow, and the hardcover copies have sold out since Moicnao’s speech.

If only all athletes had such a positive influence!

What’s so special about Mises’ book? It’s a series of lectures Mises gave in Argentina in 1959. The book serves as an excellent introduction to Mises's views on economic principles, with a special urgency as he encouraged Argentina to turn from dictatorship and socialism towards full liberty.

The lectures cover topics such as capitalism, socialism, interventionism, inflation, foreign investment, and economic policies and ideas.

Let me give you a taste of each.

1st Lecture: Capitalism

Today, in the capitalist countries, there is relatively little difference between the basic life of the so-called higher and lower classes; both have food, clothing, and shelter. But in the eighteenth century and earlier, the difference between the man of the middle class and the man of the lower class was that the man of the middle class had shoes and the man of the lower class did not have shoes. In the United States today the difference between a rich man and a poor man means very often only the difference between a Cadillac and a Chevrolet. The Chevrolet may be bought secondhand, but basically, it renders the same services to its owner: he, too, can drive from one point to another. More than fifty percent of the people in the United States are living in houses and apartments they own themselves.

2nd Lecture: Socialism

The fact is that, under the capitalistic system, the ultimate bosses are the consumers. The sovereign is not the state, it is the people. And the proof that they are the sovereign is borne out by the fact that they have the right to be foolish. This is the privilege of the sovereign. He has the right to make mistakes, no one can prevent him from making them, but of course, he has to pay for his mistakes. If we say the consumer is supreme or that the consumer is sovereign, we do not say that the consumer is free from faults, that the consumer is a man who always knows what would be best for him. The consumers very often buy things or consume things they ought not to buy or ought not to consume.

But the notion that a capitalist form of government can prevent people from hurting themselves by controlling their consumption is false. The idea of government as a paternal authority, as a guardian for everybody, is the idea of those who favor socialism. In the United States, some years ago, the government tried what was called “a noble experiment.” This noble experiment was a law making it illegal to buy or sell intoxicating beverages. It is certainly true that many people drink too much brandy and whiskey, and that they may hurt themselves by doing so. Some authorities in the United States are even opposed to smoking. Certainly, there are many people who smoke too much and who smoke in spite of the fact that it would be better for them not to smoke. This raises a question which goes far beyond economic discussion: it shows what freedom really means.

3rd Lecture: Interventionism

What is interventionism? Interventionism means that the government does not restrict its activity to the preservation of order, or—as people used to say a hundred years ago—to “the production of security.” Interventionism means that the government wants to do more. It wants to interfere with market phenomena.

If one objects and says the government should not interfere with business, people very often answer: “But the government necessarily always interferes. If there are policemen on the street, the government interferes. It interferes with a robber looting a shop or it prevents a man from stealing a car.” But when dealing with interventionism and defining what is meant by interventionism, we are speaking about government interference with the market. (That the government and the police are expected to protect the citizens, which includes businessmen, and of course their employees, against attacks on the part of domestic or foreign gangsters, is in fact a normal, necessary expectation of any government. Such protection is not an intervention, for the government’s only legitimate function is, precisely, to produce security.)

4th Lecture: Inflation

There can be no secret way to the solution of the financial problems of a government; if it needs money, it has to obtain the money by taxing its citizens (or, under special conditions, by borrowing it from people who have the money). But many governments, we can even say most governments, think there is another method for getting the needed money; simply to print it.

5th Lecture: Foreign Investment

Foreign investment meant that British capitalists invested British capital in other parts of the world. They first invested it in those European countries which, from the point of view of Great Britain, were short of capital and backward in their development. It is a well-known fact that the railroads of most European countries, and also of the United States, were built with the aid of British capital. You know that the same happened in this country, in Argentina.

6th Lecture: Politics and Ideas

What had taken place? What was the problem? What was it that caused the disintegration of an empire which, in every regard, had attained the highest civilization ever achieved before the eighteenth century? The truth is that what destroyed this ancient civilization was something similar, almost identical to the dangers that threaten our civilization today: on the one hand, it was interventionism, and on the other hand, inflation. The interventionism of the Roman Empire consisted in the fact that the Roman Empire, following the preceding Greek policy, did not abstain from price control. This price control was mild, practically without any consequences, because for centuries it did not try to reduce prices below the market level.

Wrap Up

I bet that last one sent a chill up your spine… Of course, comparing Rome's downfall to what’s happening now is nothing new. Remember, these lectures were given in 1959!

Honestly, I hadn’t read this pamphlet until I heard some big fighter tell the world to read more Mises. It’s a fantastic and easy refresher.

You can find it right here, in many html, epub, and pdf forms.

It’s free, and if you have some free time, this book is well worth your while.