The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
Spontaneous Order ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Market Process ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Business Cycle Theory ◽  
Capital Theory

The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics provides an overview of the main methodological, analytical, and practical implications of the Austrian school of economics. This intellectual tradition in economics and political economy has a long history that dates back to Carl Menger in the late nineteenth century. The various contributions discussed in this book all reflect this "tension" of an orthodox argumentative structure (rational choice and invisible hand) to address 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. The Handbook, which consists of nine parts, and 34 chapters, covers a variety of topics including: methodology, microeconomics (market process theory and spontaneous order), macroeconomics (capital theory and Austrian business cycle theory, and free banking), institutions and organizational theory, political economy, development and social change, and the 2008 financial crisis. The goals of the volume are twofold. First, to introduce readers to some of the main theories and insights of the Austrian school. Second, to demonstrate how Austrian economics provides a set of tools for making original and novel scholarly contributions to the broader economics discipline. By providing insight into the central Austrian theories, the volume will be valuable to those who are unfamiliar with Austrian economics. At the same time, it will be appealing to those already familiar with Austrian economics, given its emphasis on Austrian economics as a live and progressive research program in the social sciences.

Book Reviews

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-121
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Market Process ◽  
Florida State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Economic Calculation ◽  
The Core

Roger W. Garrison of Auburn University reviews “Advanced Introduction to the Austrian School of Economics”, by Randall G. Holcombe. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Provides an introduction and summary of the core principles, ideas, and diversity of modern Austrian economics. Discusses the market process; decentralized knowledge—the role of firms and markets; economic calculation; money, banking, and business cycles; and the resurgence of the Austrian school. Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University.”

Capital Valuation, What is it and Why does it Matter? Insights from Austrian Capital Theory

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lewin
Keyword(s):  
Social Systems ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Market Process ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Business Valuation ◽  
Future Earnings ◽  
Productive Activities ◽  
Austrian Capital Theory ◽  
Austrian Capital

AbstractThe ability to rationally evaluate time-consuming productive activities is what distinguishes capitalism from alternative social systems. Capital-accounting provides the framework for such evaluations that allow decision-makers to calculate the relative values to them of alternative productive activities. In this paper I show how insights from Austrian Capital Theory help to understand this process of evaluation. Austrian economics stresses that evaluation is an essentially subjective process. Entrepreneurs’ estimates of future earnings, which depend on the consumers’ subjective evaluations of the produced products, will vary and they must compete for productive resources in a dynamic trial and error social process. Entrepreneurial evaluations, nevertheless, can be described in terms of familiar financial concepts that encapsulate both the capital-value and the duration of any contemplated business venture. Value and time are the two essential dimensions of dynamic business valuation. I examine these concepts with a view to describing that social process, using what can be known and what needs to be imagined. I conclude that there is no silver bullet formula or method to evaluate a business that would give an objectively correct answer – obviously not, or else we would not have need of a competitive market process – but there

The Shift toward Secular Ideology

2021 ◽  
pp. 273-298
Author(s):  
Jon D. Wisman
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Natural Science ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
The State ◽  
Invisible Hand ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Economic Science ◽  
Late Nineteenth

Following the rise of the state, religion served to legitimate societies’ institutions, practices, and unequal distributions of income, wealth, and privilege. However, emerging capitalism and its expanding bourgeoisie in Western Europe challenged the Catholic Church’s monopoly on truth and meaning, opening space for secular legitimation. The science of political economy increasingly evolved as a principal body of social thought legitimating inequality. This transfer from religion to political economy begins with the mercantilists and is mostly complete by the end of the nineteenth century. Political economy’s principal inequality-legitimating doctrines include the utility of poverty, the justice of the invisible hand, the Malthusian population doctrine, the wages-fund doctrine, and the trickle-down thesis. Most of these doctrines take on more of a patina of “natural” science in the late nineteenth century when the neoclassical revolution in economics attempted to sever economic science from morality and politics and express itself technically with calculus.

scholarly journals From Karl Menger to Charles Menger? How Austrian economics (hardly) spread in France

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-30
Author(s):  
Gilles Campagnolo
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Austrian Economic ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
Carl Menger

The father of the “Austrian” Marginalist revolution and founder of the so-called “Austrian School of economics”, Carl Menger, had a mixed reception during different periods of development of French economics. Somewhat welcomed in the early days, he was rather forgotten later on. Even his major works were not published in translation until recently. What is the reason for such a situation? Criticisms of classical political economy have to be understood in their French context. In comparison to other countries, this paper details the case of France, besides showing how later Austrians, such as Friedrich Hayek, found a limited audience. This comparative study of economic ideas in France must start with the reception of the views of the founder and the role and impact of adopting/adapting or rejecting his views by French scholars. What place did they find in French academia? From Carl Menger to a “Frenchified” Charles Menger, how was Austrian economic thought disseminated in France? This essay starts by recalling the Belle-Époque and an astonishing letter by Charles Rist for the Jubiläum of Menger, in which he deplored the lack of translation of the latter’s works. The Austrian School in France is then discussed as pure economics replaces political economy in the Interwar period, with the 1938 Paris Congress of “liberal thinkers,” as the Vienna Circle became known, also comparing issues in philosophy. The paper considers how Austrian theories of “pure science” were received in Paris from the Vienna of the 1900s, at a time of ”Crossroads,” to the present day, through the Postwar and Cold War, until a revival since the 1990s and a rethinking of economic ideas after 2008.

The Capital-Using Economy

2015 ◽  
pp. 144-163
Author(s):  
Peter Lewin ◽  
Howard Baetjer
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Business Cycle ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Austrian Capital Theory ◽  
Austrian Capital ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Business Cycle ◽  
Main Ideas

Capital theory is fundamental to everything else in Austrian economics. It lies at its core, implicit in discussions of monetary policy, the business cycle, the entrepreneur, and the subjectivity of value and expectations. Prior to the Keynesian revolution, it was capital theory for which the Austrian school was most known among mainstream economists. With the advent of Keynesian macroeconomics, interest in capital theory all but disappeared. But it has recently been the subject of increasing attention. After a brief overview of the main ideas in Austrian capital theory (ACT) from its origins and extensions through the middle of the last century, this chapter notes this rekindled interest and surveys recent applications, including its connection to complexity studies, management studies, entrepreneurship, and macroeconomic policy.

Introduction

2015 ◽  
pp. xvi-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Boettke ◽  
Christopher J. Coyne
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Intellectual Tradition ◽  
Austrian School Of Economics ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Carl Menger ◽  
Practical Implications

This chapter provides context for the The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics. The Handbook was designed to give an overview of the main methodological, analytical, and practical implications of the Austrian school of economics. The contributors provide a brief history of the intellectual tradition of the Austrian school of economics starting with Carl Menger in the late nineteenth century. In tracing this intellectual tradition, the authors provide the necessary background to understand the main methodological, analytical, and practical implications of the Austrian school. They also argue that Austrian economics is a lively and progressive research program in the social sciences.

Hayekian Triangles: an application to financial assets

2017 ◽  
pp. 345-364
Author(s):  
Rafael García Iborra
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Securities Market ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Business Cycle Theory ◽  
Austrian Business Cycle Theory ◽  
Austrian Business Cycle

Hayekian trinagles are a device used by the Austrian school of eco-nomics, especially in the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). The purpose of this paper is to show how they can also be used to analyze the fluctuation of the securities market, by adding financial assets to the model. Keywords: Austrian Economics, business cycle theory, financial assets, Hayeki-an triangles. Classification JEL: E14, E32, E51, G01. Resumen: Los triángulos Hayekianos son una herramienta utilizada por la es-cuela de economía austriaca, especialmente en la teoría del ciclo económico. El objetivo de este trabajo es mostrar cómo también pueden ser empleados para analizar las fluctuaciones de los mercados de valores, añadiendo los activos financieros al modelo.

scholarly journals From Karl Menger to Charles Menger? How Austrian economics (hardly) spread in France

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-30
Author(s):  
Gilles Campagnolo
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Austrian Economic ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Classical Political Economy ◽  
Carl Menger

The father of the “Austrian” Marginalist revolution and founder of the so-called “Austrian School of economics”, Carl Menger, had a mixed reception during different periods of development of French economics. Somewhat welcomed in the early days, he was rather forgotten later on. Even his major works were not published in translation until recently. What is the reason for such a situation? Criticisms of classical political economy have to be understood in their French context. In comparison to other countries, this paper details the case of France, besides showing how later Austrians, such as Friedrich Hayek, found a limited audience. This comparative study of economic ideas in France must start with the reception of the views of the founder and the role and impact of adopting/adapting or rejecting his views by French scholars. What place did they find in French academia? From Carl Menger to a “Frenchified” Charles Menger, how was Austrian economic thought disseminated in France? This essay starts by recalling the Belle-Époque and an astonishing letter by Charles Rist for the Jubiläum of Menger, in which he deplored the lack of translation of the latter’s works. The Austrian School in France is then discussed as pure economics replaces political economy in the Interwar period, with the 1938 Paris Congress of “liberal thinkers,” as the Vienna Circle became known, also comparing issues in philosophy. The paper considers how Austrian theories of “pure science” were received in Paris from the Vienna of the 1900s, at a time of ”Crossroads,” to the present day, through the Postwar and Cold War, until a revival since the 1990s and a rethinking of economic ideas after 2008.

scholarly journals On Hayekian Triangles

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-142
Author(s):  
William Barnett II ◽  
Walter Block
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Economic Thought ◽  
Austrian Economics ◽  
Business Cycle Theory ◽  
Geometrical Figure ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Austrian Business Cycle Theory ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
Austrian Business Cycle ◽  
History Of

The triangle is an integral part of the history of economic thought. It has been used by writers such as Jevons (1871), Taussig (1896), Wicksell (1934, 1969) to illustrate and to help us understand capital theory. Since Hayek (1931) this geometrical figure has been used as a basic pedagogical device to explain the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT). The purpose of the present paper is to argue that the triangle is highly problematic, if not fatally flawed, and that if ABCT is to be made intelligible this tool of analysis must be either completely jettisoned, or heavily supplemented with a list (see below) of its shortcomings. Moreover in some ways the triangle has been responsible for the relative lack of development of ABCT for over a half century. Key words: Austrian economics, business cycle theory, praxeology, economic geometry, triangles. Clasificación JEL: E3, E32. Resumen: El triángulo es una parte integral de la historia del pensamiento económico. Ha sido utilizado por escritores como Jevons (1871), Taussig (1896), Wicksell (1934, 1969) para ilustrar y ayudarnos a comprender la teoría del capital. Desde Hayek (1931) esta figura geométrica se ha utilizado como un instrumento pedagógico básico para explicar la teoría austriaca del ciclo económico. El propósito de este trabajo es sostener que el triángulo es altamente problemático, sino fatalmente defectuoso, por lo que si deseamos que la teoría austriaca del ciclo económico sea comprendida debemos desecharlo comple-tamente, o complementarlo fuertemente con una lista de sus limitaciones. Además, en algunos casos el triángulo ha sido responsable de la relativa falta de desarrollo de la teoría austriaca del ciclo durante un periodo de medio siglo. Palabras clave: Economía austriaca, teoría del ciclo económico, praxeología, geometría económica, triángulos.

TWO ACCOUNTS OF THE RELATION BETWEEN POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ECONOMICS (AND WHY IT MATTERS WHICH ACCOUNT IS BETTER)

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Shaun P. Hargreaves Heap
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
The Other ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Rational Choice Model ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

AbstractIn a providential account of the changing relation between political economy and economics, the late nineteenth-century development of economics is identified with the rational choice model; and the revival of political economy in the late twentieth century comes with the export of this model to politics and the other social sciences. An alternative prudential account locates the revival of political economy with a significant qualification to the rational choice model. This qualification restores an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century view of rule-following to human agency. This essay sets out these accounts and draws the conclusion that the choice of one over the other matters, not least for the practice of contemporary politics.

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