• Our Purpose

    To invest in a new generation of students who understand how economic freedom, voluntary
    exchange, and market institutions create prosperity and peaceful social order. The Carl Menger
    Institute exists to cultivate the thinkers and leaders who will carry these ideas into the future with
    intellectual depth, courage, and resolve.

  • Our History

    Founded in 2024 by Professor Daron Djerdjian alongside his students Ethan Akimoto, Peter
    Vartanian, and Matthew Geiger, the Carl Menger Institute was established in response to an
    academic culture increasingly shaped by conformity, and ideological indoctrination. The Institute
    is committed to advancing freedom of thought, intellectual diversity, and a scholarly
    environment grounded in open inquiry rather than enforced uniformity.

  • Our Program

    Our program is organized around eight pillars that offer a comprehensive and interdisciplinary
    study of market economics. Starting from human action, our distinguished faculty guide
    students from the foundations of economic science through the most advanced questions
    in market coordination, private governance, and the emergence of social order through
    the lenses of economics, philosophy, history, and political economy. Our lectures are held on
    alternating Saturdays — live in Los Angeles and open remotely to students worldwide.
    No prerequisites. No tuition.
Apply for Fall 2026Fund the Mission
 

The Eight Pillars — Spring 2026, 11am - 4pm PT

  • Pillar I

    Human Action and the Fundamentals of Social Order

    (Jan 10)

  • Pillar II

    History and Methodology

    (Jan 24)

  • Pillar III

    The Division of Labor and Medium of Exchange

    (Feb 7)

  • Pillar IV

    Catallaxy and Market Coordination

    (Feb 21)

  • Pillar V

    Market Institutions and the Evolution of Human Cooperation

    (Mar 7)

  • Pillar VI

    The Myth of Market Failure

    (Mar 21)

  • Pillar VII

    Governance and Property in a Polycentric Order

    (Apr 4)

  • Pillar VIII

    Praxeonomic Ethics and Philanthropy

    (Apr 18)
Full Descriptions
 

Faculty

  • Daron O. Djerdjian

    Founder & President

    Teaching Associate Professor, UCLA

    Ph.D., Economics, Syracuse University

  • David D. Friedman

    Professor Emeritus, Santa Clara University school of Law

    Ph.D., Theoretical Physics, University of Chicago

  • Michael Huemer

    Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado Boulder

    Ph.D., Philosophy, Rutgers University

  • Walter Block

    Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair, Loyola University New Orleans

    Ph.D., Economics, Columbia University

  • Mark Skousen

    Doti-Spogli Chair in Free Enterprise, Chapman University’s Argyros School of Business and Economics

    Ph.D., Economics, George Washington University

  • Thaddeus Russell

    Historian, Founder of Unregistered Academy

    Ph.D., History, Columbia University

  • Per L. Bylund, Johnny D. Pope Chair and Associate Professor at Oklahoma State University, is an expert in entrepreneurship and Austrian economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Missouri. Bylund's book How to Think about the Economy promotes economic literacy and critiques mainstream economics. His career spans roles as a systems developer, consultant, and entrepreneur.

    Per Bylund

    Senior Fellow, Mises Institute. Johnny D. Pope Chair and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business
    Ph.D., Applied Economics, University of Missouri

  • David Gordon

    Senior fellow, Mises Institute

    Ph.D., Intellectual History, UCLA

  • Robert Murphy

    Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute. Senior Fellow, Mises Institute

    Ph.D., Economics, New York University

  • Mark Thornton

    Senior Fellow, Mises Institute

    Ph.D., Economics, Auburn University

  • Łukasz Dominiak

    Associate Professor of Political Philosophy, Nicolaus Copernicus University. Fellow, Mises Institute

    Ph.D., Political Philosophy, Nicolaus Copernicus University

  • Matthew J. Geiger

    Ph.D. student, Economics, Rey Juan Carlos University
All Faculty
 

Testimonials

  • "Professor Djerdjian unequivocally changed the direction of my son's life."

    - Thomas G. (Parent)

  • "The institute's reach extends way beyond economics, although economics is at the heart of every discussion. I cannot emphasize enough how rare an opportunity like this is."

    - Ablai K.

  • "Austrian Economics is one of the only classes that I still think about on a weekly basis and find myself discussing with others 8+ years after graduating."

    - Lauren M. C. P. (Former student of Prof. Djerdjian)

  • "Austrian Economics is the single course that proposed ways of thinking I still use daily in my work in equity markets"

    - Charlie M. (Former student of Prof. Djerdjian)

  • "I disagreed with almost every economic philosophy he proposed — yet in doing so, I had to interrogate my own beliefs to a level never repeated in any other course"

    - Jaydon L. (Former student of Prof. Djerdjian)

  • "Djerdjian is the actual GOAT. He's made me into the student and Econ enthusiast I am today."

    - Tommy W. (Former student of Prof. Djerdjian)
 

Join Our Program in Market Economics

Apply for Fall 2026Fund the Mission