Why do cultures degenerate? At the recent Natal Conference, Robin Hanson cites biological and evolutionary factors. However, if one looks to Mises and the Austrians, we look squarely at human action that begins with the human mind and purposeful action.
Mainstream economists define inflation as the increase in an imaginary “price level” that is relatively neutral in its effects. Austrian economists, however, know better, as they realize that the effects of inflating the money supply are anything but neutral.
Mainstream economists claim that in order to “do economics,” they must collect data and then see where it leads them. However, data by itself is economically useless without a guiding theory to explain what is happening.
J.B. Say deserves to be remembered, especially by Austrian economists, as a pivotal figure in the history of economic thought. Yet, one finds him discussed very briefly, if at all.
Why do we study history? Some study it as a way to confirm their own political ideologies, something that often happens when historians look at the US Civil War and its Reconstruction aftermath. According to Ludwig von Mises, one cannot bring an ideological lens and honestly approach history.
One important difference between the Austrian and other schools of thought is the emphasis Austrians place upon purposeful human behavior. Consumption by individuals is not random, but rather purposeful action driven by subjective individual preferences.
It should be clear from the articles in this book that the Austrian School is thriving. Per Bylund has rendered a great service in bringing the scholarship in A Modern Guide to Austrian Economics to our attention.
The focus is on individual human action makes Austrian economics unique, as well as logically valid and compelling. It is a system of economic analysis based upon praxeology and causal-realism.
It is hard to find an article in the past century more influential in economic methodology than Milton Friedman’s “The Methodology of Positive Economics.”
As a human endeavor like any other, war making is the product of reason, purpose and choice. A proper analysis of war must take into account the goals of the war makers.
