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Topic outline
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The Austrian school of economics has for a century and a half maintained a rich tradition and a unique methodological approach to economics, which sets it apart from other traditions. Unlike other economic schools of thought, the Austrian School acknowledges that there are no constants in human action. Accordingly, the methodology used for economic analysis is different to that employed in natural sciences such as physics. Rather than positing hypothetical relationships between statistical aggregates that break down when scrutinized, the Austrian School treats the actions of individual humans as the ultimate causal explanations of economic phenomena, and analyzes them using deductive methods. The Austrian School does not advocate a particular political programme – it was described by Mises as “value-free” – it merely aims to help humans to understand the consequences of action. Although not currently a mainstream school of economic thought, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Austrian School since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (which many mainstream economists failed to predict) and the invention of bitcoin.
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Time: 24 hours
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CEUs: 2.4
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Free Certificate
As an introductory course to Austrian economics, the content draws heavily on some of the school’s defining texts authored by Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. It touches on the ideas of Nobel Prize Winner F. A. Hayek, who was a proponent of the Austrian School and strongly influenced by the work of Menger and Mises. Although not covered in this course, Nobel nominees such as Israel Kirzner were also influential figures in the school’s modern development. Students will learn about some of the Austrian School’s most important concepts including time preference, marginal utility and the subjective theory of value.
The starting point of this course is understanding that all value is subjective, and dependent on the individual making the valuation. With this foundation laid, it becomes possible to understand how people willingly engage in trade. The second part of the course then describes how humans economize, by focusing on some of the most important economizing actions: labor, property, capital, technology, trade, and money. Students will explore the economic motivation and rationale behind each of these topics, along with its impact on human time.The third section of the course introduces the market economy and the capitalist system as the social order in which individuals are able to engage in the aforementioned economizing acts. We study how individual decisions translate to a market-wide price. The Misesian conception of the capitalist system as an entrepreneurial system is then explained, along with the concept of economic calculation, and how free market prices, and free enterprise with private property are the motivator and coordinator of economic activity.
The final section of the course examines the economic impact of violent intervention in the market order, and the introduction of coercive imposition on exchange. The course will explain the theoretical and logical reasons such economizing acts will have a different impact from those that are conducted peacefully. The course concludes with a critical assessment of the meaning of economic growth.
After completing this course students will have the methodological grounding required to undertake sound economic reasoning in the Austrian tradition. They will also be well-positioned to undertake further study of some of the more complex ideas of the Austrian School, such as Austrian business cycle theory and capital-based macroeconomics.
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Students mustMark as done
BEFORE YOU START THE COURSE, READ THIS FOREWORD. It is a brief primer on the conceptual framework and the theoretical aspects of the Austrian school of economics , and it puts the school's main views in context of the broader economics discipline
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