Rahim Taghizadegan
The last Austrian representative of the Austrian school in direct tradition. A personal student of Roland Baader and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, he was the first academic to integrate Bitcoin into university curricula. Author of more than fifteen books, founder of scholarium, nuclear physicist with roots in space research, today based in Zug.
The unusual point is the overlap of teaching and practice: he teaches entrepreneurship as an entrepreneur, is a successful investor, and builds the places others merely discuss.
Austrian school
A personal student of Roland Baader and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, he stands in the last direct line of the Viennese tradition through Hayek and Rothbard. Beyond economics, he was shaped by the last Viennese representatives of the other disciplines in which the school was originally interdisciplinary.
Lecturer at universities in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He studied at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, whose predecessor, the Hochschule für Welthandel, had housed original representatives of the school. Later lecturer at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. Author of the standard works Wirtschaft wirklich verstehen and Alles, was Sie über die Österreichische Schule wissen müssen. Two academic articles develop praxeology further toward a "kratic", a praxeology of violence useful for (geo-)political analysis.
Roland Baader Prize, member of the Hayek Society. Roland Baader, Hans-Hermann Hoppe and the Viennese salonier Rainer Ernst Schütz entrusted parts of their libraries to him. These became the largest private library on the Austrian school and liberalism, the Roland-Baader-Bibliothek in the Alps near Vienna, and the world's most complete collection of first editions from the first four generations, the Karl-Heinz-Muhr-Bibliothek in the Alps near Kitzbühel.
Teachers, mentors and formative encounters
His work stands in a direct personal tradition, not only in a textual one. Roland Baader and Hans-Hermann Hoppe were his personal teachers and mentors, through whom he took up the direct line through Hayek and Rothbard. He also learned directly from figures such as Israel M. Kirzner, Vernon M. Smith, James Buchanan, Antal Fekete and Anthony de Jasay, and was shaped by the last Viennese representatives of disciplines that once made the Austrian tradition interdisciplinary: medicine, physics, biology, philosophy and education.
- Roland Baader †entrepreneur and student of F. A. Hayek
- Hans-Hermann Hoppeprofessor and student of Murray N. Rothbard
- Israel M. Kirznerstudent of Ludwig von Mises
- Vernon M. SmithNobel laureate in economics
- James Buchanan †Nobel laureate in economics
- Antal Fekete †contrarian Austro-Hungarian economist of the Austrian School
- Anthony de Jasay †political philosopher in the tradition of F. A. Hayek
- Peter Pühringerinvestor and philanthropist
- Rainer Ernst Schütz †host of the last classical liberal salon of Vienna
- Herbert B. Schmidt †follower of Ludwig Erhard and economic adviser in post-Soviet Estonia
- Karl Hermann Spitzy †last representative of the Vienna School of medicine
- Erhard Oeser †collaborator of Konrad Lorenz and student of Karl Popper
- Franz M. Wuketits †Austrian biologist and pioneer of evolutionary epistemology
- Harald Moristudent and collaborator of Viktor Frankl
- Helmut Rauch †nuclear physicist, teacher of Nobel laureate Anton Zeilinger
- Karl Socherstudent of Hans Mayer and Gottfried Haberler
- Wolfgang Somary †son of Felix Somary
- Laurence Hayek †son of F. A. Hayek
Investment
Author of the standard works Österreichische Schule für Anleger and Die Nullzinsfalle. Since 2006 he has taught and published on financial markets and wealth management. Member of the scientific advisory board of the Incrementum fund in Liechtenstein, adviser and speaker for institutions such as Julius Bär, ZZ Vermögensverwaltung, Capitalbank and the DZ Bank Global Central Bank Conference.
He is himself an active investor in entrepreneurial ventures around the world. What he teaches about allocation and uncertainty he also risks with his own capital.
Bitcoin
The first academic economist to take Bitcoin seriously and understand its monetary-theoretical background. The first to integrate Bitcoin into university curricula. Author of the first economics book that mentioned Bitcoin.
He has observed Bitcoin since 2009 and has been involved in teaching and publishing on it since 2011. A regular speaker at international Bitcoin conferences since 2018. Elected board member of Bitcoin Association Switzerland, one of the oldest Bitcoin associations.
Technology
Studies in physics at TU Vienna and EPFL Lausanne, specialising in atomic physics and complex systems. Work in space research. Deep knowledge of digital technologies: programming languages, LLMs, robotics and process automation. Investor in AI and robotics.
Founder of deedsats, which develops the first fully decentralised, Bitcoin-native technology for digital assets based on RGB and Nostr.
Entrepreneurship
An entrepreneur himself. Author of the books Helden, Schurken, Visionäre and Handbuch der Unternehmerethik. Expert on geo-arbitrage, international entrepreneurship and digitisation. Mentor and business partner of Christoph Heuermann, one of the best-known advisers for digital nomads.
He has accompanied numerous entrepreneurs as a coach and opened the way for many young people into an entrepreneurial career.
Geopolitics
Founding president and chief economist of the Free Cities Foundation, which works on the development of special economic zones. Regular speaker on geopolitical topics and history. Family ties to Iran and Lebanon, with his own insights into the Middle East.
With a special bond to the Alpine region: author of Alpenphilosophie, which opens up the cultural and historical background of the region. His bestseller Vom Systemtrottel zum Wutbürger inspired Roland Düringer to his widely noted "Wutrede" on Austrian television.
Active in journalism and politics in his youth, he studied the EU institutions in Brussels. He speaks five languages fluently and has travelled through most parts of the world.
Education
An educational entrepreneur for more than fifteen years and active in education for almost thirty. He has held teaching assignments at numerous universities and works on alternative forms of education.
He supports unschooling, develops alternative educational locations and advises schools and families.