Read by Javier Milei
What books does Javier Milei recommend?
An Austrian-School shelf almost entirely defines Javier Milei's book recommendations, fitting for the President of Argentina and a self-described anarcho-capitalist economist. These 14 titles, drawn largely from his marathon appearance on the Lex Fridman Podcast along with prologues he has written, a gift to Pope Francis, and official publisher lists, form a coherent ideological library. Economics and finance lead, inseparable here from philosophy and society and politics. The pivotal book is Murray Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State, which he says forced a reckoning: "after reading it carefully I said: everything I've taught about market structure in the last 20 years is wrong." He describes Ludwig von Mises's Human Action as "a true revolution in my head," and recounts gifting Hayek's The Fatal Conceit to the Pope. Milei has also authored four books of his own on economics and Argentine politics.
Last updated January 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
Man, Economy, and State
A Treatise on Economic Principles
byMurray N. Rothbard
19621441 Pages“I remember reading it like it was today, and after reading it carefully I said: everything I've taught about market structure in the last 20 years is wrong. This caused a very strong internal commotion in me.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
Read by Javier Milei
Human Action
A Treatise on Economics
byLudwig von Mises
19491128 Pages“I started to read this book right from the first page, and I didn't stop until I finished it, and that was a true revolution in my head.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
Read by Javier Milei
The Fatal Conceit
The Errors of Socialism
byFriedrich A. Hayek
1988194 Pages“I gave the Pope... 'The Fatal Conceit' [which explains] why socialism, by attempting to wipe the slate clean of all that institutional tradition... condemns society to failure.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Gift to Pope Francis
Read by Javier Milei
byJesús Huerta de Soto
2009885 PagesSource: Union Editorial Official List
Read by Elon Musk, Javier Milei, Charlie Kirk and 2 others
The Road to Serfdom
Text and Documents: The Definitive Edition
byF. A. Hayek
2007304 Pages“I am a person who follows the ideas of Friedrich Hayek.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
byMurray N. Rothbard
1998308 PagesSource: Union Editorial Official List
Economics in One Lesson
The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics
byHenry Hazlitt
1979218 PagesSource: Prologue by Javier Milei (Spanish Edition)
Democracy: The God That Failed
The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order
byHans-Hermann Hoppe
2001304 Pages“I am an anarcho-capitalist in theory... and the best discussion on this is in the works of Hoppe and Rothbard.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
Read by Javier Milei
byCarl Menger
1871328 Pages“Another book that was a very significant influence and impact on me was the Principles of Economics by Menger. It was truly eye-opening.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
Read by Javier Milei
byRobert Nozick
2013400 PagesSource: Fin.Guru Analysis
Read by Javier Milei
The Fatal Ignorance
The cultural anorexia of the right facing the progressive ideological advance
byAxel Kaiser
2017209 Pages“Axel has a wonderful book called 'La fatal ignorancia'.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Fundación Faro Speech
Read by Javier Milei
Free to Choose
A Personal Statement
byMilton Friedman, Rose Friedman
1980338 PagesSource: Hoover Institution Profile
Read by Javier Milei
Against Modern Monetary Theory
Warren Mosler's Seven Inflationary Frauds
byJuan Ramón Rallo
2015172 PagesSource: Union Editorial Official List
byLudwig von Mises
1981596 Pages“When I found Mises and I read Human Action and then I read Socialism... that was my conversion.”
— Javier Milei
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast #453
Also recommends books in
Frequently asked questions
What books does Javier Milei recommend?
His 14 recommendations include Man, Economy, and State by Murray Rothbard, Human Action by Ludwig von Mises, The Fatal Conceit and The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek, Principles of Economics by Carl Menger, and Free to Choose by Milton Friedman.
What is Javier Milei's most recommended book?
Rothbard's Man, Economy, and State is his top pick. He says that after reading it, "everything I've taught about market structure in the last 20 years is wrong," a realization that caused "a very strong internal commotion" in him.
Where do Javier Milei's book recommendations come from?
Many were named during his long conversation on the Lex Fridman Podcast (episode 453). Others come from prologues and forewords he has written, official Union Editorial reading lists, a speech at Fundación Faro, and a book he gifted to Pope Francis.
Has Javier Milei written any books?
Yes, four, including Libertad, libertad, libertad (2019), Pandenomics (2020), and Capitalism, Socialism, and the Neoclassical Trap (2024). Most extend the free-market and Austrian economic arguments that define his reading.
Why does Javier Milei recommend so many economics books?
He credits the Austrian economists with his intellectual conversion. Describing his discovery of Mises, he says that reading Human Action and then Socialism "was my conversion," and he names Hayek, Rothbard, and Hoppe as the thinkers whose ideas he follows most closely.
All 14 Books Javier Milei Has Recommended
- Man, Economy, and State · Murray N. Rothbard
- Human Action · Ludwig von Mises
- The Fatal Conceit · Friedrich A. Hayek
- Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles · Jesús Huerta de Soto
- The Road to Serfdom · F. A. Hayek
- The Ethics of Liberty · Murray N. Rothbard
- Economics in One Lesson · Henry Hazlitt
- Democracy: The God That Failed · Hans-Hermann Hoppe
- Principles of Economics · Carl Menger
- Anarchy, State, and Utopia · Robert Nozick
- The Fatal Ignorance · Axel Kaiser
- Free to Choose · Milton Friedman
- Against Modern Monetary Theory · Juan Ramón Rallo
- Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis · Ludwig von Mises