This book deals with central elements of the cultural, political and social background of Austrian economic theory in general and Menger's version of it in particular. It draws on Menger's theoretical writings as well as on his explicitly methodological works as source material.
This book analyzes both the consistent and changing elements in the Austrian School of Economics since its foundation in the late 19th Century up to the recent offspring of this School. It investigates the dynamic metamorphosis of the school, mainly with reference to its contact with representatives of history of economic thought.
What if economics began with people? Choice is an essential feature of the human condition. Every time we embark on a given plan of action, big or small, we make a choice. Whereas many economists model people’s behavior using idealized assumptions, economists of the Austrian School don’t. The Austrian School of Economics takes people as they are and constructs economic theories by examining the logical structure of the choices they make. Austrian Economics: An Introduction book explains the Austrian School’s insights on a wide range of economic topics and introduces some of its key thinkers. It also explains the relationship between the Austrian School and mainstream economics and delves into the criticisms that Austrian School economists have mounted against communist and socialist economic thought.
On the Origins of Money is a discussion of the history of money and currency, from its crudest form as cowrie shells, animal pelts, and salt in early societies to the coin and paper money we use today. Rather than focusing on the type or shape of the money, author and economist Carl Menger looks at the reasons behind monetary exchange and why money is so valuable (or where it gets its inherent value). His argument centers on the "saleableness" of the goods or commodities being sold-in other words, the more "saleable" (or valuable or in demand) an item is, the more money it is worth. Hence, money gets its value from the objects it pays for. This short work is an insightful look into the history and value of money for any student or professional economist.
The Austrian School of Economics is an intellectual tradition in economics and political economy dating back to Carl Menger in the late-19th century. Menger stressed the subjective nature of value in the individual decision calculus. Individual choices are indeed made on the margin, but the evaluations of rank ordering of ends sought in the act of choice are subjective to individual chooser. For Menger, the economic calculus was about scarce means being deployed to pursue an individual's highest valued ends. The act of choice is guided by subjective assessments of the individual, and is open ended as the individual is constantly discovering what ends to pursue, and learning the most effective way to use the means available to satisfy those ends. This school of economic thinking spread outside of Austria to the rest of Europe and the United States in the early-20th century and continued to develop and gain followers, establishing itself as a major stream of heterodox economics. The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics provides an overview of this school and its theories. The various contributions discussed in this book all reflect a tension between the Austrian School's orthodox argumentative structure (rational choice and invisible hand) and its addressing of a heterodox problem situations (uncertainty, differential knowledge, ceaseless change). The Austrian economists from the founders to today seek to derive the invisible hand theorem from the rational choice postulate via institutional analysis in a persistent and consistent manner. Scholars and students working in the field of History of Economic Thought, those following heterodox approaches, and those both familiar with the Austrian School or looking to learn more will find much to learn in this comprehensive volume.
A group history of the Austrian School of Economics, from the coffeehouses of imperial Vienna to the modern-day Tea Party The Austrian School of Economics--a movement that has had a vast impact on economics, politics, and society, especially among the American right--is poorly understood by supporters and detractors alike. Defining themselves in opposition to the mainstream, economists such as Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Joseph Schumpeter built the School's international reputation with their work on business cycles and monetary theory. Their focus on individualism--and deep antipathy toward socialism--ultimately won them a devoted audience among the upper echelons of business and government. In this collective biography, Janek Wasserman brings these figures to life, showing that in order to make sense of the Austrians and their continued influence, one must understand the backdrop against which their philosophy was formed--notably, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a half-century of war and exile.
This book examines the development of the ideas of the new Austrian school from its beginnings in Vienna in the 1870s to the present. It focuses primarily on showing how the coherent theme that emerges from the thought of Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig Lachmann, Israel Kirzner and a variety of new younger Austrians is an examination of the implications of time and ignorance (or processes and knowledge) for economic theory.