Other Schools of Thought

This weekend, Jeff recaps his recent talk in Houston, which generated plenty of comments from libertarians, progressives, and the alt-Right.

The new trend among famous economists is pointing out the times they changed their views in light of new empirical findings. Far from defending economics as a science and a profession, this trend actually reveals the unscientific and ideological nature of mainstream economics.

Many people mistakenly think of Austrian economics as nothing more than a radical defense of free markets, though it's really a framework for studying human action and its social implications.

In his book Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, Philip Mirowski correctly diagnoses many problems with neoclassical economics. The reader soon notices, however, that Mirowski doesn't know the difference between Austrian economists and neoliberals.

As an exciting year comes to a close, we want to thank all of our incredible members that allow us to do the work we do in advancing Austrian economics, freedom, and peace.

In his new book Political Illiberalism Peter Simpson poses a fundamental challenge to John Rawls’s Political Liberalism. Though Simpson cannot be classified as a libertarian, his bold arguments will be of great use to all of us who oppose the state.

This week, the Federal Reserve raised the target Federal Funds Rate ever so slightly. The Fed perhaps felt it had to raise rates to protect its credibility, as credibility problems seem to be plaguing similar institutions worldwide.

In a capitalist world, socialists would be free to form their own socialist communities. They're largely free to do so now, although few do. This may be due to the fact that even the utopian version of socialism seems unpleasant.

The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee renewed its commitment to easy money this week. The Fed will pretend to be committed to raising rates while doing nothing, and its ongoing war against deflation will continue to make us poorer.

The fundamental divide between Austrian economics and the mainstream is apparent on the first page of many textbooks, in which the authors simply define economics.