Philosophy and Methodology

Rothbard’s method: no abstract “forces,” only individual actors.

Murray Rothbard entered Columbia University at age 16 and by the time he was graduated from that institution with a Ph.D. in economics, he already had done path-breaking work in economics. His legacy has only grown since then.

While not as effective an economist as Ludwig von Mises or Murray N. Rothbard, Ludwig Lachmann played an important role in the revitalization of Austrian economics after 1974.

Statistics can be interesting and informative, but only if one can properly understand them through sound economic theory.

Statistics can be interesting and informative, but only if one can properly understand them through sound economic theory.

The beauty of Austrian economics is that it springs from real human action and does not depend upon the construction of abstract mathematical models meant to parallel reality.

Murray Rothbard’s economic perspective changed significantly in 1949 when he met Ludwig von Mises and read his magnum opus, Human Action. 

Egalitarians mock Adam Smith's invisible hand as free-market superstition, then explain every billionaire with an invisible hand of their own. Joshua Mawhorter on the luck argument for redistribution.

Build a model no real market could ever match, call it the ideal, then diagnose every real market as a failure for falling short. Jonathan Newman on the equilibrium trap Mises warned against.

Dr. Wanjiru Njoya argues that private property is the indispensable cornerstone of liberty and civilization, and that anti-discrimination laws—however well-intentioned—are a form of aggression against property.