Praxeology

While F.A. Hayek saw human ignorance as the basis for what he called spontaneous order, Ludwig von Mises saw human reason as the basis for praxeology.

One of the great lessons of Mises’s Human Action is that the institutions of the free society—private property and sound money—make up the environment enabling economic progress, and hence, human flourishing. It is the book that made me an economist.

At our conference celebrating the 75th anniversary of Human Action, several of the speakers reflected on how Human Action has influenced their own personal economic thinking, their writing, and their careers. Enjoy their recollections.

The socialist elites that dominate our institutions insist that private property is nothing more than a social construct held together by violence. As usual, they misunderstand that scarcity itself, which is the basis for economics, is also the basis for private property.

The socialist elites that dominate our institutions insist that private property is nothing more than a social construct held together by violence. As usual, they misunderstand that scarcity itself, which is the basis for economics, is also the basis for private property.

Mainstream economists insist that data alone can explain economic events, permitting them to test economic theories. In truth, without sound theory, data is meaningless.

Contra critical theorists, who claim human reason is nothing more than a social construct, reason is both understandable and universal. We cannot abandon it, for if we do, we abandon liberty itself.

Mainstream economists insist that data alone can explain economic events, permitting them to test economic theories. In truth, without sound theory, data is meaningless.

Contra critical theorists, who claim human reason is nothing more than a social construct, reason is both understandable and universal. We cannot abandon it, for if we do, we abandon liberty itself.

Praxeology is the key to understanding economic relationships. While Ludwig von Mises emphasized human action while making economic observations, Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer emphasized the importance of how individuals view the world.