History of the Austrian School of Economics

A book-length manuscript based on notes taken by Bettina B. Greaves during the Mises Seminar in New York in the 1960s. 

Murray N. Rothbard explains why he wrote two huge volumes about the history of economic thought. Here is the full introduction to his magisterial works.

The essence of Austrian economics is based on the analysis of individual action. In other words, it is about individuals doing things, having purposes and goals and pursuing them. Other schools of economics deal with aggregates, groups, classes, wholes of one sort or another, without focusing on the individual first and building up from there.

In an essay that made his <a href="http://store.mises.org/Austrian-Perspective-on-the-History-of-Economic-Thought-2-volume-set-P273C0.aspx">masterpiece on the history of thought</a> famous, Murray Rothbard argues that Adam Smith should not be called the founder of economics, nor a theorist who improved on economic science, nor even a consistent defender of the market economy.

The Nobel award to F.A. Hayek in 1974 went directly against the tradition of that prize to go only to mathematical forecasters, left-liberals, and government central planners. Not only was Hayek’s work pioneering, but it is also the only correct analysis of business cycles past, present and future since they began in the mid-18th century.

Liberty cannot be imposed in the way that socialist systems of old were imposed, because genuine liberty is not just another form of government management, writes Lew Rockwell.

Mark Skousen has undertaken a valuable project, but his book is not altogether a success. He compares the Austrian and Chicago Schools on several topics, including methodology,

The exact date escapes my memory but many will know it.

In a dark hour of Mises's life, there was a glimmer of light: an invitation from New York University to speak about the contributions he had made to economic thought. The address was given in 1940, nine years before Human Action appeared on the scene.

Recorded at the Mises Institute, 7–8 October 2005.