Let’s face it. Ron Paul is no economist, as an OB/GYN he merely read a few books an d held the placard until someone else came along.
But they didn’t.
So the Austrians have a school in the DC area (George Mason) and Lew Rockwell - not much else.
Is the movement dead?
Sam Stone isn’t lurking but not really posting these days, but he went through a big Austrian phase on the boards. IIRC he kinda went silent on the subject after a while. Would be nice if he were to de-lurk to comment.
The Austrian School is a fad lots of undergrads go through.
Oh, the “Austrian School”, eh? Is that what they are calling it, these days?
The BBC World Service has been running a series called “Radical Economics” featuring prominent Austrian School economists. They and the Keynsians are being very civil to each other so far.
Episode 1 (MP3)
Episode 2 (MP3)
Highly recommended listening. You can grab more episodes here as they arise.
There’s even a Hayek vs Keynes rap.
It’s highly unlikely that it would die. Temperamentally, some modern conservatives need a theory that justifies government sitting on its hands while the economy burns. If Austrian economics doesn’t fit the bill, they will need something else. Smart businessmen know better. Pragmatic conservatives will also learn. But those seeking reassurance need something to latch on to.
Now there are alternatives to Austrian economics. Monetarism is one, but that was squelched by Goodhart’s Law. Then again, neo-monetarism (I’m thinking of Scott Summer or some followers of Taylor’s Rule) is alive and kicking and could even be true. Real business cycle theory is certainly rigorous, but its assumptions fail the laugh test, which makes it inappropriate for general consumption.
Don’t get me wrong: Austrianism is not cranky though it is fringey. That said, there’s no reason why solid work couldn’t be conducted in that tradition. To be clear, I was stating that Austrianism has pretty firm social and institutional underpinnings and for that reason is unlikely to disappear: Ron Paul’s influence in the movement is fairly tangential.
Rand Paul is in the senate now, so when Ron Paul retires, the hero worship will quite easily transition to his son.
If Ron Paul retires will this one trick pony retire too?
We get it, you hate Ron Paul. Whether you like it or not there will always be people that hold different economic view points from your own. Even in a liberal utopia, there is going to be a point where someone dares to suggest an alternative to government intervention, get over it.
If you want to bitch about Ron Paul, why not start a pit thread?
As far as I can tell, the Austrian school is limited to the fairly extreme and fringe libertarian movements in North America. Certainly general economics profession doesn’t take it seriously.
No, you are thinking of the “Spartan School.”
You know who else went to an Austrian School, right…
Arnold Shwarzenegger! Where’s my cookie?
The government will provide it for you, just fill out some forms.
If after a year the cookie doesn’t arrive, consider protesting in a park some where. I’m sure it will be easy to find hundreds of cookieless individuals willing to join you.
Until then, sit back and do nothing, safe and secure in the thought that someone will provide you with the cookie you so richly deserve.
Yeah, a flaming asshole named von Hayek.
Anyway, Ron Paul hasn’t retired yet, has he? Run this thread next year.
Right, and we can see how well the pros are handling things…
Just heard a story on NPR the other day about how pretty much every major Republican has claimed to be reading Hayek lately (I seem to recall it mentioning Bachmann, Perry, and Cantor, but I think there were others as well).
It ended by suggesting that Hayek himself would be horrified by their behavior.
The Pros? What possible sense does this response have? Or are you under some kind of sad and daft illusion that economics = management or = politics?
Yip. Unemployment is down to the lowest since the crash, and record sales were made on Black Friday.
Well, their university courses seem to be doing ok.
Oh, you meant politicians? Pretty sure there aren’t many professional economists in Congress as a percentage of the whole.