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[[Image:Ur8756.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ludwig von Mises]] ]]

[[Image:Ur8756.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ludwig von Mises]] ]]

The '''Austrian school of economics''' is a school of economic thought which supports the [[libertarian]] [[philosophy]] by pointing out the inefficiency and ineffectualness of government intervention.  However, Austrian economics is a positive, not a normative, school of thought and therefore has no inherent political leaning. It views all value as subjective, and that efficiency consists of maximizing value as sought by each individual.  It avoids [[mathematics]] because it does not feel math can capture the complexities of the economic world and, more importantly, because it views social sciences to be properly based on rationalism and ''[[a priori]]'' reasoning. Austrian economists, like many other free market economists including Chicago School and neo-classical economists, believe free trade is key to prosperity. Austrians, unlike many of the same economists however, also believe the free market can function in areas such as infrastructure (roads,<ref>http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/7_1/7_1_1.pdf</ref> electricity,<ref>http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE9_2_3.pdf</ref> etc), defense (police,<ref>http://mises.org/rothbard/newliberty11.asp</ref> military<ref>http://mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf</ref>), and dealing with "externalities" <ref>http://mises.org/pdf/asc/2003/asc9simpson.pdf</ref> (pollution,<ref>http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Storfner.pdf</ref> free riders,<ref>http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Murphy6.pdf</ref> etc). Austrian School reasoning starts from self-evident truths (human being acts) and deduces everything from there.

The '''Austrian school of economics''' is a school of economic thought which supports the [[libertarian]] [[philosophy]] by pointing out the inefficiency and ineffectualness of government intervention.  However, Austrian economics is a positive, not a normative, school of thought and therefore has no inherent political leaning. It views all value as subjective, and that efficiency consists of maximizing value as sought by each individual.  It avoids [[mathematics]] because it does not feel math can capture the complexities of the economic world and, more importantly, because it views social sciences to be properly based on rationalism and ''[[a priori]]'' reasoning. Austrian economists, like many other free market economists including Chicago School and neo-classical economists, believe free trade is key to prosperity. Austrians, unlike many of the same economists however, also believe the free market can function in areas such as infrastructure (roads,<ref>http://www.mises.org/journals/jls/7_1/7_1_1.pdf</ref> electricity,<ref>http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/RAE9_2_3.pdf</ref> etc.), defense (police,<ref>http://mises.org/rothbard/newliberty11.asp</ref> military<ref>http://mises.org/etexts/defensemyth.pdf</ref>), and dealing with "externalities" <ref>http://mises.org/pdf/asc/2003/asc9simpson.pdf</ref> (pollution,<ref>http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Storfner.pdf</ref> free riders,<ref>http://mises.org/journals/scholar/Murphy6.pdf</ref> etc.). Austrian School reasoning starts from self-evident truths (human being acts) and deduces everything from there.

The Austrian school of [[economics]] opposed the inflationary approach of [[Keynesian economics]], and thus is favored by many conservatives on that basis. It also completely refuted Marxism both on theoretical grounds (refuting the exploitation theory) and on practical grounds (showing why socialism will always fail in the famous "economic calculation debate" and why [[liberal]]-favored mixed economies are always fragile). Liberals so far have refused to engage the Austrians in argument, as evidenced by liberal economist Paul Krugman's continuous refusal to debate against proeminent Austrian Robert P. Murphy.

The Austrian school of [[economics]] opposed the inflationary approach of [[Keynesian economics]], and thus is favored by many conservatives on that basis. It also completely refuted Marxism both on theoretical grounds (refuting the exploitation theory) and on practical grounds (showing why socialism will always fail in the famous "economic calculation debate" and why [[liberal]]-favored mixed economies are always fragile). Liberals so far have refused to engage the Austrians in argument, as evidenced by liberal economist Paul Krugman's continuous refusal to debate against proeminent Austrian Robert P. Murphy.