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The Austrian School of Economics
The Austrian School of Economics was founded by Carl Menger in Vienna during the last third of the nineteenth century. From that time until today, its vibrant teaching tradition has had a significant influence on the formation and further development of the modern social sciences and economics in Europe and the United States. Its research agenda was characterized by an astonishing multitude of diverse, and in some cases even contradictory, conclusions. All branches of the school shared the conviction that the subjective feelings and actions of the individual are those which drive economic activity. Based on this conviction, explanations for economic phenomena such as value, exchange, price, interest, and entrepreneurial profit were derived, and step by step expanded into a comprehensive theory of money and business cycles. Because of their subjectivist-individualistic approach, economists of the Austrian School regarded any kind of collective as unscientific in rationale. This led to fierce arguments with the Marxists, the German Historical School, and later with the promoters of planned economy and state interventionism. In the modern Austrian School of Economics, questions regarding knowledge, monetary theory, entrepreneurship, the market process, and spontaneous order placed themselves in the foreground. This book endeavors to trace the development of this multifaceted tradition, with all of its ideas, personalities, and institutions.
261 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 12, 2011
Amazon review:
The Austrian School is in the news as never before. It is discussed on business pages, in academic journals, and in speeches by public figures. At long last, there is a brilliant and engaging guide to the history, ideas, and institutions of the Austrian School of economics. It is written by two Austrian intellectuals who have gone to the sources themselves to provide a completely new look at the tradition and what it means for the future. This is the first such authoritative book that has appeared on this topic.
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterköfler appeared first in German. It has been a sensation: the first and most authoritative source on this hot topic. This new English translation, complete with a vast scholarly apparatus of citations and bibliographies, is academic at its core but also easy to read, entertaining, and fascinating on every page.
The authors set the stage with a discussion of the culture of 19th-century Vienna, and the striking innovation that came with Carl Menger's subjective theory of value. They discuss the titanic struggle over method that took place between the Viennese Mengerians and the German Historical School.
Next comes a thrilling account of the second generation of Austrians, their politics, their theories, their personal splits, their idiosyncrasies, their debates. The cast of characters here is far larger than most people in the English-speaking world have known. The authors operate as tour guides to a world that is mostly unknown to Americans due to the remoteness of time and the differences in language.
If you are like many people, you have been curious about the Austrian School but didn't know where to turn to discover more about it. This book is the one that makes sense of it all!
The Austrian School is in the news as never before. It is discussed on business pages, in academic journals, and in speeches by public figures. At long last, there is a brilliant and engaging guide to the history, ideas, and institutions of the Austrian School of economics. It is written by two Austrian intellectuals who have gone to the sources themselves to provide a completely new look at the tradition and what it means for the future. This is the first such authoritative book that has appeared on this topic.
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterköfler appeared first in German. It has been a sensation: the first and most authoritative source on this hot topic. This new English translation, complete with a vast scholarly apparatus of citations and bibliographies, is academic at its core but also easy to read, entertaining, and fascinating on every page.
The authors set the stage with a discussion of the culture of 19th-century Vienna, and the striking innovation that came with Carl Menger's subjective theory of value. They discuss the titanic struggle over method that took place between the Viennese Mengerians and the German Historical School.
Next comes a thrilling account of the second generation of Austrians, their politics, their theories, their personal splits, their idiosyncrasies, their debates. The cast of characters here is far larger than most people in the English-speaking world have known. The authors operate as tour guides to a world that is mostly unknown to Americans due to the remoteness of time and the differences in language.
If you are like many people, you have been curious about the Austrian School but didn't know where to turn to discover more about it. This book is the one that makes sense of it all!
April 14, 2012
The first book I read on my iPad.
A concise history, and it details authors and developments not covered elsewhere - but still, it misses a lot, too. Worth reading, and perhaps worth four stars. But not five.
A concise history, and it details authors and developments not covered elsewhere - but still, it misses a lot, too. Worth reading, and perhaps worth four stars. But not five.
December 6, 2021
Expansive and thorough. I am a better Libertarian for having read this.
May 28, 2020
Very interesting book, focused on the history and biographies of the most relevant academics, not limited to the well-known Menger, Mises, Hayek, etc. It also gives a brief summary of the key themes of the Austrian School. It is very detailed and thorough. The translation is good but, in some cases, you can sense the original book was written in German; some sentences are long and complex... Anyhow, the book is a must for anyone interested in the background and evolution of the Austrian School of Economics. I found a few of useful "leads" to take a close look at different topics.
February 20, 2018
A nice overview of the Austrian School of Economics. I'd have liked it to be a little more technical, but it covers the basic ideas in a manner that's relatively easy to understand. The chapter on praxeology is great and I would recommend that chapter be turned into it's own little pamphlet.
October 9, 2022
The part about interest theory was a real scorcher!
February 3, 2020
A good introduction to the Austrian school of economics. I found it helped me make a mental timeline and created an outline of what the various economists thought.
October 1, 2012
Amazon review:
The Austrian School is in the news as never before. It is discussed on business pages, in academic journals, and in speeches by public figures. At long last, there is a brilliant and engaging guide to the history, ideas, and institutions of the Austrian School of economics. It is written by two Austrian intellectuals who have gone to the sources themselves to provide a completely new look at the tradition and what it means for the future. This is the first such authoritative book that has appeared on this topic.
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterköfler appeared first in German. It has been a sensation: the first and most authoritative source on this hot topic. This new English translation, complete with a vast scholarly apparatus of citations and bibliographies, is academic at its core but also easy to read, entertaining, and fascinating on every page.
The authors set the stage with a discussion of the culture of 19th-century Vienna, and the striking innovation that came with Carl Menger's subjective theory of value. They discuss the titanic struggle over method that took place between the Viennese Mengerians and the German Historical School.
Next comes a thrilling account of the second generation of Austrians, their politics, their theories, their personal splits, their idiosyncrasies, their debates. The cast of characters here is far larger than most people in the English-speaking world have known. The authors operate as tour guides to a world that is mostly unknown to Americans due to the remoteness of time and the differences in language.
If you are like many people, you have been curious about the Austrian School but didn't know where to turn to discover more about it. This book is the one that makes sense of it all!
The Austrian School is in the news as never before. It is discussed on business pages, in academic journals, and in speeches by public figures. At long last, there is a brilliant and engaging guide to the history, ideas, and institutions of the Austrian School of economics. It is written by two Austrian intellectuals who have gone to the sources themselves to provide a completely new look at the tradition and what it means for the future. This is the first such authoritative book that has appeared on this topic.
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterköfler appeared first in German. It has been a sensation: the first and most authoritative source on this hot topic. This new English translation, complete with a vast scholarly apparatus of citations and bibliographies, is academic at its core but also easy to read, entertaining, and fascinating on every page.
The authors set the stage with a discussion of the culture of 19th-century Vienna, and the striking innovation that came with Carl Menger's subjective theory of value. They discuss the titanic struggle over method that took place between the Viennese Mengerians and the German Historical School.
Next comes a thrilling account of the second generation of Austrians, their politics, their theories, their personal splits, their idiosyncrasies, their debates. The cast of characters here is far larger than most people in the English-speaking world have known. The authors operate as tour guides to a world that is mostly unknown to Americans due to the remoteness of time and the differences in language.
If you are like many people, you have been curious about the Austrian School but didn't know where to turn to discover more about it. This book is the one that makes sense of it all!
April 12, 2012
I recently finished reading another history of the Austrian school. History of economic thought is slowly turning into my favorite area of economics- monetary policy is still #1. For me, history of economic thought combines two fascinating disciplines (I’ll let you guess which two).
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterkofler is an enjoyable read that is never enthralling. It captures the essence of the Austrian school, but gets bogged down in details. I did not want it for research purposes, so I do not need a short explanation of all of Menger‘s important students, beyond Bohm-Bawerk. Also, since it is translated from German, all titles to books, articles, and organizations are in German and then translated. It is small, but bothered me.
On the positive side, it covers the basic outline of the school which every economist should know. Who were the major players? Menger, Bohm-Bawerk, Hayek, Mises, Schumpter, and a few more. What are the major ideas? Subjective marginal utility, praxeology, and business cycle theory are all cover. It is clear and concise here.
If your looking for an intro to ideas Austrian economics and its history, I’d recommend The Great Austrian Economists by Randall G. Holcombe
The Austrian School of Economics: A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions by Eugen Maria Schulak and Herbert Unterkofler is an enjoyable read that is never enthralling. It captures the essence of the Austrian school, but gets bogged down in details. I did not want it for research purposes, so I do not need a short explanation of all of Menger‘s important students, beyond Bohm-Bawerk. Also, since it is translated from German, all titles to books, articles, and organizations are in German and then translated. It is small, but bothered me.
On the positive side, it covers the basic outline of the school which every economist should know. Who were the major players? Menger, Bohm-Bawerk, Hayek, Mises, Schumpter, and a few more. What are the major ideas? Subjective marginal utility, praxeology, and business cycle theory are all cover. It is clear and concise here.
If your looking for an intro to ideas Austrian economics and its history, I’d recommend The Great Austrian Economists by Randall G. Holcombe
August 12, 2014
The subtitle of this book is A History of Its Ideas, Ambassadors, and Institutions, however it is heavily skewed toward biography. I'd break it down as 70% on ambassadors & institutions and 30% on ideas, which is the inverse of what I would have preferred. Even so, this is a very useful introduction to the history of the school of Austrian economics. If you are aware of the existence of Austrian economics such that you are willing to read a book on it, then you have probably already heard of Mises and Hayek. This book also introduces you to their forerunners which you probably haven't heard of.
You can get the book for free from Mises.org as an ebook or audiobook. The production value of the audiobook is very high. The reader has excellent diction and German/French pronunciation for all the names and book titles cited.
You can get the book for free from Mises.org as an ebook or audiobook. The production value of the audiobook is very high. The reader has excellent diction and German/French pronunciation for all the names and book titles cited.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews