Praxeology

Trade-offs are made necessary by scarcity. Individuals must choose between the alternatives forced upon them by reality. A refusal to acknowledge this leads to big problems.  

The uneasiness that impels a man to act is caused by a dissatisfaction with expected future conditions as they would probably develop if nothing were done to alter them.

Demonstrated preference has everything to do with the choices an economic actor faces in a given moment, not all the conceivable options.

One must not forget that the scale of values or wants manifests itself only in the reality of action. These scales have no independent existence apart from the actual behavior of individuals.

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.

Austrian economics begins with universal axioms.

The new Nobel winners apparently think we can discover economic laws by crunching numbers. That's not how it works.

A history of statism and credit expansion that demonstrates the failure of Keynesian policy. (Analysis by Jeffrey Herbener)

Capital goods become available thanks to secure private property rights, and a class of people willing to save and invest. Without this, there can be no great progress in the standard of living. But, it all takes time. 

Presented at Mises University 2021.