History of the Austrian School of Economics

Recorded at Mises University 2009.

Recorded at Mises University 2009. Includes an introduction by Mark Thornton.

The precept of methodological individualism has shown its usefulness in the explanation of the origin of money.

Professor White's lecture showed that, historically, a free-market approach to the banking industry is less prone to crises and operates efficiently through the invisible hand of the market.

Price formation is the specific economic characteristic of the economy — as distinct from all the other social, historical, and technical characteristics — and that all specifically economic events can be comprehended within the framework of price formation.

As the misinterpretation of these facts has generated a whole mythology of "imperfect competition" and "monopolistic competition," it is necessary to enter into a more detailed scrutiny of the considerations of an entrepreneur who is weighing the pros and cons of an expansion of his business.
 

As the late 20th century's disastrous experiments with totalitarianism and interventionism showed, Mises's criticisms have most certainly stood the test of time.

The mathematical method must be rejected not only on account of its barrenness. It is an entirely vicious method, starting from false assumptions and leading to fallacious inferences."

Income is a category of action; it is the outcome of careful economizing of scarce factors.

On a competitive market there is no such thing as a price policy of the sellers. They have no alternative other than to sell as much as they can at the highest price offered to them.