Organisations

The Austrian School

Is a school of economic thought based on the concept of methodological individualism – that social phenomena result from the motivations and actions of individuals.  Although firmly within marginalist thought, it rejects mainstream econometrics and aggregate macroeconomic analysis and is generally considered to be ‘heterodox’ – outside of mainstream theory.

It originated in the late-19th and early-20th century Vienna with the work of Carl Menger, Eugen Böhm von Bawerk, Friedrich von Wieser, and others.  Economists working in this tradition today are located in many different countries, but their work is still referred to as Austrian economics.

Among the theoretical contributions of the early years of the Austrian School are the subjective theory of value, marginalism in price theory, and the formulation of the economic calculation problem, each of which has become an accepted part of mainstream economics.

To be continued