History of the Austrian School of Economics

The field of our science is human action, not the psychological events which result in an action. It is precisely this which distinguishes the general theory of human action, praxeology, from psychology.

In such proposals as let us raise farm prices, let us raise wage rates, let us lower profits, let us curtail the salaries of executives the "us" ultimately refers to the police.

What is the proper sphere of law, property rights, and the state?

The core concepts of contemporary Austrian economics—human action, means and ends, subjective value, marginal analysis, methodological individualism—all flow from Menger's pathbreaking work.

On the rise, decline, and rise again of one of the great American economic theorists, Frank Fetter, as well as the Austrian school itself and its rise, decline, and renaissance.

It is a common idea that an increased quantity of money in an economy decreases the rate of interest. This idea is not always true or accurate.

Quite unlike the Christian view, Hegelian and Marxist thought depends on the idea of a universe in which a cosmic blob  of "humanity" is reunited with God through the "dialectic."

Once public opinion is convinced that the increase in prices will continue, everybody becomes eager to buy as much as possible and to restrict his cash holding to a minimum size. 

We wrap up our look at Murray Rothbard's sprawling two volume An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought with Dr. Joe Salerno, Rothbard's friend and colleague. 

Was Rothbard's harsh criticism of Adam Smith justified, or was Smith actually an early and valiant proponent of laissez-faire? Hunter Hastings and Jonathan Newman join Jeff Deist to discuss.