Mises Wire

Fightin' Austrians

Fightin' Austrians

Milton Friedman has long accused Austrian economists, and Mises in particular, of "intolerance." Indeed, this seems to be his main problem with the Austrian school. (At the 1992 meeting of the Mont Pelerin society, during a tribute to Hayek, Friedman even managed to get in a few pot-shots on Mises's alleged intolerance.) Here's how he put it in a 1991 interview in Liberty magazine:

[In Mises's view, we] have absolutely certain knowledge of the motivations of human actions [sic] and . . . we can derive substantive conclusions from that basic knowledge. Facts, statistical or other evidence cannot, he argued, be used to test those conclusions. That philosophy converts an asserted body of substantive conclusions into a religion. Suppose two people who share von Mises's praxeological view come to contradictory conclusions about anything. How can they reconcile their difference? The only way they can do so is by a purely logical argument. One has to say to the other, "You made a mistake in reasoning." And the other has to say, "No, you made a mistake in reasoning." Suppose neither believes he has made a mistake in reasoning. There's only one thing left to do: fight.

You have to admire Friedman's chutzpah. As is painfully obvious from reviewing the mainstream literature in almost any field of economics, there are assuredly more disagreements among Friedmanite positivists about the interpretation of empirical data than among praxeologists about the conclusions of deductive reasoning. One could even say the following:

Suppose two people who share Friedman's methodological views come to contradictory conclusions about anything. How can they reconcile their difference? The only way they can do so is by appealing to the econometric evidence. One has to say to the other, "You made a mistake in your empirical analysis." And the other has to say, "No, you made a mistake in your empirical analysis." Suppose neither believes he has made a mistake in his empirical analysis. There's only one thing left to do: fight.

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