Praxeology

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.

While Mises was a utilitarian, he believed people acted to improve their lot because of a felt uneasiness that could be rectified through free markets.

Mainstream economists believe that economic theory is valid when it “predicts” economic actions or trends. Austrian economists, however, say that the purpose of economic theory is to explain economic events.

Economists use time preference to explain the existence of interest, but the ability of people to postpone some present consumption in order to save for the future has much broader social ramifications. 

Economists use time preference to explain the existence of interest, but the ability of people to postpone some present consumption in order to save for the future has much broader social ramifications. 

Mainstream economists believe that economic theory is valid when it “predicts” economic actions or trends. Austrian economists, however, say that the purpose of economic theory is to explain economic events.

Henry Hazlitt's The Failure of the New Economics remains the best criticism of J.M. Keynes's General Theory.

Zachary Yost reviewed John Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato's recent book How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy. While the book is an excellent source of historical reflection, there are grounds to criticize its epistemology on Misesian grounds.