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| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.New book explains genesis and key contributions of Austrian school of economics
The Essential Austrian Economics
The Essential Austrian Economics is a new book, animated video series and website that explore the key tenets of Austrian economics and its foremost thinkers in an easily accessible way.
Published by the Fraser Institute, the book is authored by Christopher J. Coyne, professor of economics at George Mason University, and Peter J. Boettke, professor of economics and philosophy at George Mason University.
The Austrian school was founded in 1871 by Carl Menger, a journalist and economist, with his book Principles of Economics. He soon joined the University of Vienna where he taught economics, focusing on people, the incentives they face, their limited knowledge and the environment within which they make their decisions.
Menger’s teachings influenced other economists including Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and Friedrich von Wieser. The next generation of Austrian economists included Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974.
The most prominent living Austrian economist—Israel Kirzner, professor emeritus of economics at New York University—has helped shape our understanding of entrepreneurship and its contribution to economic progress.
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Christopher J. Coyne
Professor of Economics, George Mason UniversityChristopher J. Coyne is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University, the Associate Director of the F.A. Hayek Programfor Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center, and F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at the Mercatus Center. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University. He is the co-editor of The Review of Austrian Economics and The Independent Review, and the author or co-author of Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of U.S. Militarism; Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails; Media, Development and Institutional Change; and After War: The Political Economy of Exporting Democracy. He is also the co-editor of In All Fairness: Liberty, Equality, and the Quest for Human Dignity; Exploring the Political Economy and Social Philosophy of James M. Buchanan; Interdisciplinary Studies of the Market Order: New Applications of Market Process Theory; Future: Economic Peril or Prosperity?; The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics; and The Handbook on the Political Economy of War. He has written numerous academic articles, book chapters, and policy studies.… Read more -
Peter J. Boettke
Professor of Economics and Philosophy, George Mason University
Peter J. Boettke, Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute, is a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University, thedirector of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center. He received his Ph.D. from George Mason University. Prof. Boettke has developed a robust research program that expands an understanding of how individuals acting through the extended market order can promote freedom and prosperity for society, and how the institutional arrangements shape, reinforce, or inhibit the individual choices that lead to sustained economic development. His most recently published books include F. A. Hayek: Economics, Political Economy and Social Philosophy; and The Four Pillars of Economic Understanding. Prof. Boettke is the editor of numerous academic journals, including the Review of Austrian Economics, and the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, and of the book series, Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society. He has served as President of the Southern Economic Association, the Mont Pelerin Society, the Association of Private Enterprise Education, and the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics.… Read more