A young Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts fighter, Renato Moicano, has just kicked off a wave of interest in the teachings of a little known philosopher, Ludwig von Mises.

This has generated excitement among Boyd fans, who have long seen a connection between the philosophy of Mises and the attitudes and approaches of Boyd. Moicano has also been made a hero of the cryptocurrency community for the way he contextualized Mises.

Here is more on this story:

Renato Moicano competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who has been fighting in MMA since 2010.

on 13 April 2024 Moicano was the underdog in his fight against an opponent with a significant height and reach advantage known for his knockout punches. Moicano was losing in the first round and most of the second. Then came back to TKO his opponent. Totally unexpected.

But what was more unexpected was what happened in the post fight interview.

None other than Joe Rogan himself entered the ring with a microphone. Moicano doesn’t go off on what a tough guy he is. Nope. He goes deep into philosophy and the Austrian School of Economics. This is awesome:

“I love America! I love the Constitution. I love the first amendment, I love private property, and let me tell you something, if you care about your fucking country, I would read Ludwig von Mises and the six lessons of the Austrian economic school motherfuckers.”  

I love the recognition from Moicano that yes even with all our troubles America is great and worth of our love, and the Constitution and Bill of Rights are unique and we should reflect on what is special about them so we protect them for the future.

And Mises! So cool that Moicano is reading Mises!

Ludwig von Mises is an economist who developed an integrated, deductive approach to how economics really works. His is not the economics of governments and central banks. his is the economics of informed people making their own purchase decisions. His approaches are based on the belief that individual human beings act with purpose to achieve goals. His approach supports free markets and the unhampered exercise of the right of private property.

Since learning about Mises and the Austrian School I have come to believe that there are two types of economists:

1) Those like Mises who seek to understand how things really work, and

2) Those who make things up to influence fiscal spending by nations and national banks.

Moicano said that fare better than I ever could have.

Boyd’s approaches to strategy and action never cite Mises. But they sure resonate. Both saw humans as actors who make decisions to win. Both write about actors in environments that constantly change. Boyd goes heavier into how to compete and win in these environments, so we do not just survive but survive on our own terms. But both Mises and Boyd continuously hit on the point that actions and decisions are incredibly important.

Mises passed away long before the OODA Loop was articulated by Boyd. But I have to believe Mises would have taken to the concept right away.

“Everything is in a ceaseless flux, there is not permanent being; all is change and becoming”

— A summary of Heraclitus by Mises in by The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science.