Philosophy and Methodology

The attempt by the mainstream economics profession to create economic literacy has turned into a movement to promote economic illiteracy.

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.

As Murray Rothbard noted, reason is a powerful tool to help us discern how to thrive in our world. Government, through propaganda and interference with education, seeks to stifle reason and replace it with obedience to the state.

While conservatives and followers of Austrian economics often have much in common, many conservatives are against free trade and free exchange. Austrians need to carefully explain why those beliefs are harmful.

As Murray Rothbard noted, reason is a powerful tool to help us discern how to thrive in our world. Government, through propaganda and interference with education, seeks to stifle reason and replace it with obedience to the state.

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. 

Carl Menger is best known for his vital role in creating the marginal revolution of 1871. However, Menger’s insights ranged well beyond value theory, as he wrote excellent commentary on money and sociology.

According to Marx, all ideas represent class-based interests, leaving no room for objective truth. The problem is that Marxists claim to hold to objective truth, but manage to contradict themselves.

In his review of The Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination, David Gordon examines systems of ethical norms. The Misesians have the best insights, of course.