Austrian School of Economics: Revisionist History and Contemporary Theory. A Seminar with Joseph Salerno

Joseph Salerno, professor of economics at Pace University, is a leading figure in today’s growing Austrian School. He has been a pioneer in many fields, including monetary theory, comparative systems, the history of thought, and the economics of war. After the death of Murray N. Rothbard in 1995, Salerno assumed the editorship of the Review of Austrian Economics, together with Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Walter Block. He is now editor of its successor and current flagship scholarly journal, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

The seminar will consist of two primary lectures per day for five days, June 6-June 10, 2005, and discussion time with the professor.

Schedule (Central Time Zone)

• 9:30 a.m. - Shuttle departs Commons Dorm and AU Hotel for Mises Institute
• 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. - Lecture
• Noon - Lunch
• 2:00 - 3:30 p.m. - Lecture
• 4:30 p.m. - Shuttle departs Institute for dorm and AU Hotel
• On Friday there will be a closing pizza party at 5:00 p.m. with shuttle departing at 6:00 p.m.

Lecture Topics:

1. Forerunners of the Austrian School: The French Liberal School
2. The Origin and Decline of the Austrian School: Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, and Wieser
3. The Revival of the Austrian School: Mises and Rothbard
4. The Theory of Monopoly Price: From Menger to Rothbard
5. Modern Monetary Theory: The Austrian Contribution
6. Keynes and the “New Economics” of Fascism
7. Chicago School: Libertarian or Jacobin?
8. The Debate on the Socialist Calculation Debate 
9. Money and Gold in the 1920s and 1930s: Defending the Rothbardian Position
10. The Gold Standard in Theory and Myth

The Seminar is open to full-time students (no charge for qualifying students), faculty, and current Members of the Mises Institute. Registration is $125 for Mises Institute Members and faculty, including daily boxed lunches and refreshment breaks, and the use of Mises Institute research libraries and computers. Dormitory rooms are available for $35 per person per night double-occupancy or $45 per night single-occupancy.

Students may apply for tuition scholarships.

Readings and Preparation

The readings for each lecture are labeled “preparatory,” “core” or “supplemental.” Depending on how well versed the student already is in the history and theory of the Austrian school, he may skip, quickly review, or carefully study the preparatory readings. The lectures will refer to topics covered in the preparatory readings but their main themes will be drawn from the core readings. Some of the issues and arguments in the core reading may be challenging, but difficult points will be addressed and clarified in the lectures and discussion periods. Supplementary readings are intended to permit the interested student to explore additional aspects of the subject and may be read at his discretion.

Austrian School:  The French Liberal School

Preparatory:

• Biography of Richard Cantillon
• Commerce and Government. By Etienne Bonnot, Abbe de Condillac, Hülsmann, Jörg Guido (Vol. 5 Num. 2)
• Biography of ARJ Turgot (1727-1781)
• Biography of Jean-Baptiste Say
• Biography of Frederic Bastiat
• David M. Hart, Gustave de Molinari and the Anti-statist Liberal Tradition: Part 1
• David M. Hart, Gustave de Molinari and The Anti-statist Liberal Tradition: Part 2

Core:

• Bastiat’s Legacy in Economics, Hülsmann, Jörg Guido (Vol. 4 Num. 4)
• Joseph T. Salerno, “Neglect of the French Liberal School in Anglo-American Economics: A Critique of Received Explanations, The” (1988) Review of Austrian Economics, 2, pp. 113-156.
• Joseph T. Salerno,  The Neglect of Bastiat’s School by English-Speaking Economists: A Puzzle Resolved , Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines 11 (June/September 2001), pp. 451-93.

Austrian School: Menger, Böhm-Bawerk, and Wieser

Preparatory:

• Ludwig Von Mises, Historical Setting of the Austrian School of Economics, The
• The Essential von Mises (Section I only)

Core:

• Biography of Carl Menger
• Biography of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)
• Joseph T. Salerno, “ Friedrich von Wieser and Friedrich A. Hayek: The General Equilibrium Tradition in Austrian Economics,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines 12 (June/September 2002), pp. 357-77.

Supplemental:

• Samuel Bostaph, Wieser on Economic Calculation under Socialism
• Joseph T. Salerno, “ Böhm-Bawerk’s Vision of the Capitalist Economic Process: Intellectual Influences and Conceptual Foundations,” presented at The Austrian Scholars Conference 10, Auburn, Alabama, March 2004.

Austrian School: Mises and Rothbard

Preparatory:

• All About Ludwig von Mises
• The Essential von Mises (Sections II-IX)
• Murray N. Rothbard: Economics, Science, and Liberty by Hans Hoppe

Core:

• Joseph T. Salerno, “Place of Human Action in the Development of Modern Economic Thought, The,”The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, vol. 2 (1999), no. 1: pp. 35-65.
• Joseph T. Salerno, “The Rebirth of Austrian Economics--In Light of Austrian Economics,”The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 2002), pp. 111-28.

The Theory of Monopoly Price: From Menger to Rothbard

Preparatory:

• D. T. “ Critique of Neoclassical and Austrian Monopoly Theory, A”  New Directions in Austrian Economics, Louis Spadaro, ed., Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, 1979, 94-110.
• Walter Block, “Austrian Monopoly Theory: A Critique,” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Fall 1977, 1(4), pp. 271-280.
• Ludwig Von Mises,  “Monopoly Prices,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Summer 1998, 1.2, pp.1-28.

Core:

• Diana Costea, “A Critique of Mises’s Theory of Monopoly Prices,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Fall 2003, 6(3), pp. 47-62.
• Joseph T. Salerno, “The  Development Of The Theory Of Monopoly Price: From Carl Menger To Vernon Mund,” Southern Economic Association Conference November 21-23, San Antonio, Texas.

Modern Monetary Theory: The Austrian Contribution

Preparatory:

• Murray N. Rothbard, “Austrian Theory of Money, The” The Foundations of Modern Austrian Economics, Edwin G. Dolan, ed., Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1976, pp. 160-184.See also in The Logic of Action One: Method, Money, and the AustrianSchool (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 1997), pp. 297-320
• Murray N. Rothbard,  “Austrian Definitions of the Supply of Money,” New Directions in Austrian Economics, edited and with introduction by Louis M. Spadaro. Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel (1978), pp. 143–56. Also published in The Logic of Action, Vol. I.

Core:

• Joseph T. Salerno, “Ludwig von Mises’s Monetary Theory in Light of Modern Monetary Thought,”  Review of Austrian Economics, 1995, 8(1), pp. 71-116.
• The “True” Money Supply: A Measure of the Supply of the Medium of Exchange in the U.S. Economy, Salerno, Joseph (Vol. 6 Num. 4)
• Frank Shostak, “Mystery of the Money Supply Definition, The,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics vol. 3 (2000), no. 4: pp. 69-76

Keynes and the “New Economics” of Fascism

Preparatory:

• Murray N. Rothbard, Keynes, the Man
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe, “Misesian Case Against Keynes, The” in Dissent on Keynes: A Critical Appraisal of Keynesian Economics, Mark Skousen, ed., New York: Praeger, 1992, pp. 199-223. 

Core:

• Joseph T.  Salerno, “Development of Keynes’s Economics: From Marshall to Millennialism, The,” (1992) Review of Austrian Economics, 6(1), pp. 3-64.

Chicago School: Libertarian or Jacobin?

• Joseph T. Salerno, “The Political Economy of the Chicago School: Libertarian or Jacobin?”

The Debate on the Socialist Calculation Debate

Preparatory:

• Ludwig Von Mises, “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth”
• MurrayN. Rothbard, “End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited, The”

Core:

• Joseph T. Salerno, “Postscript: Why a Socialist Economy is ‘Impossible,’”(1990) to Ludwig von Mises, Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, pp. 51-71.
• Joseph T. Salerno,  “Ludwig von Mises as a Social Rationalist,” Review of Austrian Economics, 1990, 4, pp. 26-54 (read pp. 36-49 only).
• Leland B. Yeager, “Mises and Hayek And Calculation and Knowledge,” Review of Austrian Economics, 1994, 7(2), pp. 93-110.
• Joseph T. Salerno, “Reply to Leland B. Yeager on “Mises and Hayek on Calculation and Knowledge,” Review of Austrian Economics, 1994, 7(2), pp. 111-126.
• Odd J. Stalebrink “The Hayek and Mises Controversy: Bridging Differences,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Spring 2004, 7(1), pp. 27-38.

Money and Gold in the 1920s and 1930s: Defending the Rothbardian Position

Core:

• Money and Gold in the 1920s and 1930s: An Austrian View by Joseph T. Salerno
• Austrian “Inflation,” Austrian “Money,” and Federal Reserve Policy by Richard H. Timberlake
• Inflation and Money: A Reply to Timberlake by Joseph Salerno
• Final Comment on Salerno’s Monetary Program by Richard H. Timberlake

The Gold Standard in Theory and Myth

Preparatory:

• Murray N. Rothbard, Taking Money Back
• Central Banks, Gold, and the Decline of the Dollar by Robert Batemarco

Core:

• Murray N. Rothbard “Case for a Genuine Gold Dollar, The” (PDF edition of this article), The Gold Standard: Perspectives in the Austrian School. Edited with an Introduction by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. 1992. The Ludwig von Mises Institute. Auburn, Ala. Pp. 116-130.
• Joseph T. Salerno, Gold Standards: True and False (pp. 250-61 only)
• Joseph T. Salerno, The Gold Standard: An Analysis of Some Recent Proposals
• Jörg Guido Hülsmann “Optimal Monetary Policy,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Winter 2003, 6(4), pp. 37-60.
• Jeffrey M. Herbener, “After the Age of Inflation: Austrian Proposals for Monetary Reform,”  The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol 5, No. 4 (Winter 2004), pp. 5-19

Supplemental

• Joseph T. Salerno, “An Austrian Taxonomy of Deflation—With Applications to the U.S.”  The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Winter 2003, 6(4), pp. 81-109.