This section takes a brief look at many of the economists and scholars from the past and present to shape the Austrian School of Economics. Although the status quo and establishment of the current generation scoff at the Austrian Theory, these economists’ work aren’t all for naught as they continue to reject the common approach to the problems of today.
Frederic Bastiat
A French classical liberal theorist and political economist who lived from Jun. 30, 1801 to Dec. 24, 1858 and was born in the south of France, Bastiat served as a member of the French assembly following the French revolution in 1848. His ideas have contributed to the establishment and progression of Austrian Economics.
Economic Contributions: Bastiat has been attributed as the one to develop the economic concept of opportunity cost, but the term was later produced by economist Friedrich von Wieser in the early 20th century. Opportunity cost is defined as the cost of an opportunity that has been surrendered for something else. This an important theory because every business, person and government is forced to make this decision.
Major Works: “The Law,” “Economic Sophisms” and “Selected Essays on Political Economy.”
Walter Block
Walter Block is one of today’s most important American scholars of Austrian Economics. Born in Brooklyn, New York on Aug. 21, 1941. He has been a major influence to this generation’s Austrian economics, libertarian and freedom movement by holding the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at the J. A. Butt School of Business at Loyola University New Orleans and is a senior fellow at the Mises Institute.
Economic Contributions: Highway privatization has been an important contribution made to the liberty initiative by Block. He has often denounced government roads as causing thousands of deaths each year. Block has regularly called for the privatization of highways and to allow the free market to take over.
Another idea he has often discussed is the punishment of government employees. Block purports that there should be presumed guilty for all government workers as committing crimes against humanity.
Although these two economic theories have been an important element to the libertarian movement, his groundbreaking book “Defending the Undefendable” may perhaps be his crowning achievement, his magnum opus if you will. It defended individuals like slum lords, pimps, drug dealers, litterers, hoarders, inheritors and many others by using economic cases and theories.
Major Works: “Defending the Undefendable,” “The Privatization of Roads and Highways: Human and Economic Factors,” “Building Blocks for Liberty,” “Labor Economics from a Free Market Perspective: Employing the Unemployable” and “Economic Freedom of the World, 1975–1995.”
Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk
Born in Austria on Feb. 12, 1851 and died at the age of 63 on Aug. 27, 1914, Eugen von Bohm-Bawerk was one of the early fathers of Austrian Economics and contributed to the foundation of the economic theory. He also served as a federal Minister of Finance periodically between 1895 and 1904.
Economic Contributions: Described as one of the most important Austrian economists in history, Bohm-Bawerk often denounced Marxism and wrote several imperative papers contradicting the economics of Karl Marx. When he served in public office, he regularly presented platforms of tax reform that would transform the government’s heavy taxation.
Upon leaving office, Bohm-Bawerk returned to teaching and taught prominent economists Ludwig von Mises, Joseph Schumpeter and Henryk Grossman.
Major Works: “Karl Marx and the Close of His System,” “Capital and Interest” and “The Positive Theory of Capital.”
Richard Cantillon
Living in the age of reason in the United Kingdom and France, Richard Cantillon was both a successful businessman and a well-respected scholar. Born sometime in the 1680s and dead at the age of about 54 in May of 1734, Cantillon was an incredible influence on some of the world’s most well-known economists, including Adam Smith, Frederic Bastiat and Jean-Baptiste Say.
Economic Contributions: It is believed that Cantillon penned various manuscripts on economics, but only one remains alive today, which also happens to be his biggest published work: “Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général” (Essay on the Nature of Trade in General). His work has delved into population, determination of prices, wages and interest, the role of the entrepreneur, banking and the money supply’s impact on the economy.
Major Works: “Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général (Essay on the Nature of Trade in General).”
Friedrich Hayek
Believed to be the godfather of Austrian Economics, Friedrich Hayek is likely the most well-known economist of the 20th century. Sharing the Nobel Peace Prize in Economic Sciences, Hayek has defended and promoted the ideas of free market economics and has refuted many of the arguments put forward by liberals, communists, socialists, Keynesians and Marxists. The economist influenced people in various occupations, whether it was economics, politics, philosophy, business or entertainment.
Hayek was born in Austria on May 8, 1899 and lived until he was 92. He became an economist because he served in the first World War and he said that attempting to prevent the same mistakes that led to the war is what prompted him to become an economist.
Economic Contributions: Hayek has a long list of economic contributions that have helped both the globe and Austrian Theory move forward. Some of his contributions include the Business Cycle, spontaneous order, the economic calculation problem, collectivism opposition and scientism critique.
Major Works: “The Road to Serfdom,” “Individualism and Economic Order,” “Law, Legislation and Liberty,” “The Fatal Conceit: The Errors of Socialism” and “Profits, Interest and Investment: And other essays on the theory of industrial fluctuations.”
Henry Hazlitt
Henry Hazlitt was a man who brought Austrian Economics to the forefront of the mainstream. Writing for the likes of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsweek and The American Mercury, Hazlitt opined on a number of topics in an Austrian slant, which have been consistently cited by many conservatives and libertarians of the past and present. Hazlitt was a prolific writer that had been admired by so many men: former President Ronald Reagan, economist Ludwig von Mises, former Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul and media mogul Steve Forbes.
Economic Contributions: “Economics in One Lesson” is the biggest contribution Hazlitt ever made to the world of economics. It was lauded by many big names of the 20th century, such as Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell. Hazlitt was also commended for his treatise on ethics defending utilitarianism.
Major Works: “Economics in One Lesson,” “The Failure of the ‘New Economics’: An Analysis of the Keynesian Fallacies,” “The Foundations of Morality,” “Man vs. The Welfare State,” and “The Inflation Crisis, and How To Resolve It.”
Israel Kirzner
At the age of 84, Israel Kirzner continues to write on the subject of economics. Born in London, England, Kirzner isn’t only an economist from the Austrian School, but he is also an ordained rabbi and Talmud scholar. Kirzner received the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research in 2006 and was given the Honorary Doctorate Degree for his contributions to economic theory by Universidad Francisco Marroquín.
Economic Contributions: To this date, his defense of the important role of the entrepreneur in economic life remains one of the greatest works regarding the business world. In addition, he has coalesced entrepreneurial action with neoclassical economics, an important merger for economists of every background.
Major Works: “Entrepreneurial Discovery and The Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach,” “The Economic Point of View: An Essay in the History of Economic Thought,” “Perception, Opportunity and Profit: Studies in the Theory of Entrepreneurship” and “Competition and Entrepreneurship.”
Carl Menger
Carl Menger will always be known as the founder of the Austrian School of Economics. Born in today’s Poland and died in Austria from 1840 to 1921, Menger not only created Austrian Economics but also contributed to numerous theories, including marginal utility and the subjective theory of value. He published several important works that are still read in the 21st century.
Economic Contributions: Menger is responsible for instituting the Austrian viewpoint on an array of economic matters, like the theory of goods, the theory of value, entrepreneurship, the theory of price and property.
Major Works: “Principles of Economics,” “The Errors of Historicism in German Economics,” “The Theory of Capital” and “Money.”
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises in the premier Austrian Economist and has influenced many of today’s libertarian economists. He was a philosopher, economist, teacher, sociologist and author of numerous published works. He was born in today’s Ukraine on Sept. 29, 1881 and died at 92 in New York City on Oct. 10, 1973. Mises will always be identified by everyone as the greatest mind to ever aver on economics.
Economic Contributions: Although he didn’t speak English when he arrived to the United States – he left his home of Switzerland over fears of a Nazi invasion – he taught himself the language and translated many works on Austrian economics penned in Europe into English and published them to be available to the English-speaking world. Mises also published a large amount of articles, essays and books. Those who surrounded themselves around him often described him as one of the most educated and informed men they ever knew.
Major Works: “The Theory of Money and Credit,” “Nation, State, and Economy,” “Epistemological Problems of Economics,” “Omnipotent Government: The Rise of Total State and Total War,” “On the Manipulation of Money and Credit,” “Money, Method, and the Market Process” and “Economic Freedom and Interventionism.”
Murray N. Rothbard
Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt and Carl Menger are usually regarded as the Austrian thinkers to peruse, but Murray N. Rothbard is likely to be the personal favorite of today’s economists and libertarians. Rothbard wrote so much, spoke very often and lectured regularly, and could very well be a more consistent libertarian than someone like Hayek (the ladder was in favor of national social insurance).
Economic Contributions: Rothbard was one of the economists to reject the application of science in the realm of economics. In other words, Rothbard revamped the world of economics by performing this drastic measure. Although he mused on a variety of matters, such as ethics, anarcho-capitalism, war, civil rights and science, Rothbard will mostly be remembered for his works lambasting the Federal Reserve System.
Rothbard was the chief critic of central banks, particularly the Fed. He contributed to today’s growing anti-Fed movement, and an important citation for articles, essays and books published by individuals like Lew Rockwell, Robert Wenzel and Ron Paul.
Major Works: “America’s Great Depression,” “Man, Economy and State,” “The Case Against the Fed,” “For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto,” “The Ethics of Liberty” and “An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought.”
Please note: this is the first edition of this growing list of revered economists a part of the Austrian School of Economics.
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