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| − | 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).
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| − | The Austrian school of [[economics]] opposed the inflationary approach of [[Keynesian economics]], and thus is favored by many conservatives on that basis.
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| − | The founder of the Austrian school of economics was [[Carl Menger]], who published in German in 1871 its leading text, ''Principles of Economics''. In the 1920s through 1940s, [[Ludwig von Mises]] and [[Friedrich A. Hayek]] advanced the movement by declaring the impossibility for socialism to succeed and also explaining the nature of the business cycle. Mises' most important student, [[Murray Rothbard]], lead the Austrian School after Mises' death and made many contributions to Austrian monopoly and monetary theory, along with expanding the traditional analysis of government interventionism to areas such as defense, police, and courts, concluding that socialism in these areas works no better than in others.
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| − | [[Category:Economics]]
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| − | [[Category:Libertarianism]]
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| − | == External links ==
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| − | * [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]
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| − | * [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
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| − | * [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
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| − | * [http://www.econlib.org/library/enc/AustrianEconomics.html "Austrian Economics," by Deborah L. Walker]
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| − | * [http://it.stlawu.edu/sdae/ Society for the Development of Austrian Economics]
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