Adam G. Martin - Böcker

The modern school of Austrian economics took shape in the 1970s, and reflects the social science questions of its time. Is it still relevant today, considering that the theories that drive contemporary social science have evolved dramatically over the past few decades? While Austrian concerns such as property rights and imperfect cognition have become more common, other aspects of the Austrian thought are even more idiosyncratic than ever. In the ten chapters included here, leading economists explore whether Austrian economics still has unique insights to offer the world of today. Starting with Peter Boettke’s lead essay, “What is Wrong with Austrian Economics?”, chapters include an array of perspectives responding to this question, ranging from economics, to intellectual history, to political science, and to philosophy. At the end of the volume, Boettke offers a rejoinder, asking, “What is Right About Austrian Economics?” Together, these essays explore the barriers to the spread of Austrian ideas, ask which disciplines might be receptive to them, examine the role of ideology and funding in helping and hindering the school, and consider the advantages and disadvantages of different strategies for expanding engagement with other scholars.

Austrian economics is known for extensive—and many economists would say excessive—ruminations on methodology. Attempting to steer a middle course between radical forms of historicism (there are no economic laws) and scientism (economic laws are as precise as physical laws), this approach often appears to diminish the importance of empirical testing and quantitative methods more generally. Since the Austrian revival of the 1970’s, social scientists have developed a number of new theoretical and empirical approaches to studying the social world. Experimental and behavioral economics have exploded in popularity. Econometrics has arguably taken a more central role in the discipline than even formal economic theory. And, most prominently, econometricians have developed quasi-experimental techniques for examining real-world data as part of the “credibility revolution.”This volume, Contemporary Methods and Austrian Economics, examines the relationship between Austrian economics and these new social scientific methods. Do Austrian critiques of the excessive ambitions of formal theory and empirical measurement still hold water (if they ever did)? Do the findings of these new approaches bolster or undermine distinctively Austrian theories? How should we update our views on the relationship between abstract economic theory and empirical investigations?