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As an engineer with no background in economics, do you have any sources that discuss the pitfalls of Austrian economics from a layman’s perspective? It seems n
by anextio 13y ago
As an engineer with no background in economics, do you have any sources that discuss the pitfalls of Austrian economics from a layman’s perspective?
It seems nowadays that the internet is so rife with neo-Libertarians that it’s very difficult to find content discussing Austrian economics that is not biased towards it. I’d like to see a more balanced perspective, or at least a rundown of reasons why Austrian economics has failed to correspond with reality.
- jacques_chester 13y agoEverything by "Lorenzo", an Australian blogger: http://skepticlawyer.com.au/author/lorenzo/ http://skepticlawyer.com.au/author/lorenzo/ http://lorenzo-thinkingoutaloud.blogspot.com.au/ http://lorenzo-thinkingoutaloud.blogspot.com.au/ is a good starting point.
- DArcMattr 13y agoI have a Master's in Applied Math, and a Master's in Economics (educated by neo-Classicals). Keep in mind the Austrians are not a monolithic movement, this article was published on the Von Mises Institute site, which has more to do with the Rothbardian strain of Austrians. Core to Austrian-Rothbardian theory is a system of a priori axioms and a repulsion to mathematic formulations and empirical validation, so the argumentation can end up being along the lines of "because I said so!" The objection to mathematization comes from the belief that preference relations lead to a discontinuous utility curve, which the tools of differential calculus cannot crack (this is wrong, as a graduate-level mathematical analysis covering Lebesgue integration shows). A more detailed neoclassical analysis of what's wrong with Austrian economics is Bryan Caplan's [Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist](http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/whyaust.htm http://econfaculty.gmu.edu/bcaplan/whyaust.htm).