Philosophy and Methodology

According to Marx, all ideas represent class-based interests, leaving no room for objective truth. The problem is that Marxists claim to hold to objective truth, but manage to contradict themselves.

In his new book Abundance, Generosity, and the State: An Inquiry into Economic Principles, Guido Hülsmann explains how mutual economic exchanges create gratuitous benefits. As David Gordon notes, Hülsmann’s insight is an important addition to economic understanding.

The Methodenstreit between the Mengerian Austrian School and the German Historical School needs to be rejoined. Mainstream economists are embracing the historicist approach, which is not real economics at all.

Henry Hazlitt's The Failure of the New Economics remains the best criticism of J.M. Keynes's General Theory.

In his review of The Political Thought of David Hume: The Origins of Liberalism and the Modern Political Imagination, David Gordon examines systems of ethical norms. The Misesians have the best insights, of course.

Did scarcity begin with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Or were human beings and their surroundings already bound by time and space before they ate the forbidden fruit?

Progressives believe that restricting individual liberty permits better social outcomes. In truth, it is individual liberty that allows societies to function best.

Progressives believe that restricting individual liberty permits better social outcomes. In truth, it is individual liberty that allows societies to function best.

Behavioral economics operates on the assumption that human emotions play an important role in determining economic choices. However, while all of us have emotions, we ultimately use reason to determine what we need to sustain our lives.

When Adam Smith and the English classicals promoted division of labor as the most important ingredient in economic development, it took Carl Menger and his Austrian successors to point out that error and promote the proper economic theory of production.