Murray Rothbard remarks in his posthumous book The Progressive Era that it is in stark contrast to today that the 19th century was marked by party systems that were deeply ideological with a public that even cared about monetary policy. Today, that couldn’t be further from the truth. To interest people in discussions of monetary policy and central banking is akin to asking them to watch paint dry.
Dr. Jonathan Newman—already an accomplished academic and children’s book author—seeks to bring back an interest in monetary theory starting from a young age with his latest book: The Magic Coin.
The Magic Coin is a children’s adaptation of Rothbard’s What Has Government Done To Our Money? It tells the story of a girl named Lily who is taken on a journey by a magic coin named Newton (a nod to the “N” of Murray N. Rothbard) to learn what happened to penny candy. Newton takes her through a story of how money comes to be and how it comes to be ruined on account of government. There is no greater tool to educate younger people than with a story or an example. Rothbard’s original monograph illustrated the history of monetary manipulation in the United States to demonstrate the disastrous effects of inflationism as a political ideology.
Dr. Newman’s adaptation takes a similar approach. Newton walks Lily through a history of money, starting first with Robinson Crusoe. There is an ever-running joke at Mises University to see how soon Robinson Crusoe will be mentioned by one of the faculty speakers. Crusoe is used as an example in many works to demonstrate how humans make decisions. He provides a perfect example for complex texts like Man, Economy, and State and ones simple enough for a young child like The Magic Coin.
The world has become apathetic to economics as a field of study and especially so as it pertains to understanding how money functions. Eyes glaze over if you even begin to bring up the actions taken by the Federal Reserve. Increasingly, the world begins to lose sight of the importance of monetary policy. The only way to bring back an interest is to reach young people in their formative years.
As a high school student, I read Rothbard’s What Has Government Done To Our Money? and had my worldview radically changed as a result. It set me on the path to study economics more deeply, to read texts like Human Action and Man, Economy, and State. Adaptations that reach even younger peoples are sure to create more economists and more Austrians than before. The importance of reaching young people cannot be understated.
Every parent with an interest in economics and an interest in freedom should purchase a copy of The Magic Coin for their child. Building a free society must start with the formation of every child and thus from the ground up. Dr. Newman provides us this valuable service with his new book but also with his Lessons for the Young Economist series. We should be incredibly grateful for his work.
I have to agree with the thesis of this article. We have been dumbed down to the point where we don’t even consider monetary theory as having anything to do with us, therefore the instant shutting down of reasoning faculties when the subject comes up. So, the best way would be to start with children with a story they can appreciate to understand the consequences of the state on the coin of the realm. When did you start taking economics seriously?