Abstract
Lachmann occupies a strange position within modern Austrian economics. He is viewed as something of an outsider and his views are often regarded as outside the mainline of modern Austrian thought. But, on several key issues – especially subjectivism and institutions – Lachmann’s positions are the dominant positions within the school. This article argues that, with little fanfare but in several important respects, Austrian economics has moved in a decidedly Lachmannian direction.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
I am also not ignoring the fact that there have been conferences dedicated to Lachmann’s legacy, including “The Legacy of Ludwig Lachmann” at the University of the Witwatersrand which gave occasion to this article.
This borrows phrasing from Friedman ([1949] 1953, 489) who said with some regret that modern economists might “curtsy to Marshall” but they “walk with Walras.”
While McCloskey does not substantively engage Lachmann, she does cite him a few times. See, for instance, McCloskey (2010, 304).
References
Boettke, P. J. (1989). Evolution and economics: Austrians as institutionalists. In L. Fiorito, S. Scheall & C. Suprinyak (Eds.), Research in the history of economic thought and methodology Vol. 6 (pp. 73–89).
Boettke, P. J. (1993). Why perestroika failed: The politics and economics of socialist transformation. London: Routledge.
Boettke, P. J. (2001). Calculation and coordination: Essay on socialism and transitional political economy. London: Routledge.
Boettke, P. J., Coyne, C. J., & Leeson, P. T. (2008). Institutional stickiness and the new development economics. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 67(2), 331–358.
Chamlee-Wright, E. (2002). The cultural foundations of economic development: Urban female entrepreneurship in Ghana. London: Routledge.
Chamlee-Wright, E. (2007). The long road back: Signal noise in the post-Katrina context. The Independent Review, 12(2), 235–259.
Chamlee-Wright, E., & Storr, V. H. (2009a). Club goods and post-disaster community return. Rationality and Society, 21(4), 429–458.
Chamlee-Wright, E., & Storr, V. H. (2009b). ‘There’s no place like New Orleans’: Sense of place and community recovery in the ninth ward after hurricane Katrina. Journal of Urban Affairs, 31(5), 615–634.
Chamlee-Wright, E., & Storr, V. H. (2009c). The role of social entrepreneurship in post-Katrina community recovery. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2(1-2), 149–164.
Chamlee-Wright, E., & Storr, V. H. (2011). Social capital as collective narratives and post-disaster community recovery. The Sociological Review, 59(2), 266–282.
Foss, N. J., & Klein, P. G. (2005). Entrepreneurship and the economic theory of the firm: Any gains form trade? In S. A. Alvarez, R. Agarwal, & O. Sorenson (Eds.), Handbook of entrepreneurship research (pp. 55–80). Boston: Springer.
Foss, N. J., & Klein, P. G. (2012). Organizing entrepreneurial judgement: A new approach to the firm. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foss, N. J., Klein, P. G., & Linder, S. (2015). Organizations and markets. In P. J. Boettke & C. J. Coyne (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of Austrian economics (pp. 272–295). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Friedman, M. [1949] 1953. The marshallian demand curve. The Journal of Political Economy, 57(6): 463–495.
Hayek, F. v. (1952). The counter-revolution of science. London: The Free Press of Glencoe.
Hodgson, G. (1999). Evolution and institutions: On evolutionary economics and the evolution of economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Hodgson, G. (Ed.). (2007). The evolution of economic institutions: A critical reader. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Horwitz, S. (2015). Hayek’s modern family: Classical liberalism and the evolution of social institutions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kirzner, I. M. (2002). The driving force of the market: Essays in Austrian economics. New York: Routledge.
Koppl, R., & Mongiovi, G. (Eds.). (1999). Subjectivism and economic analysis: Essays in memory of Ludwig M. Lachmann. New York: Routledge.
Lachmann, L. M. [1956] 1978. Capital and its structure. Arlington: Institute for Humane Studies.
Lachmann, L. M. (1971). The legacy of Max Weber. Berkley: The Glendessary Press.
Lachmann, L. M. (1977). Capital, expectations, and the market process: Essays on the theory of the market economy. Kansas City: Sheed, Andrews, and McMeel.
Lachmann, L. M. (1978). An Austrian stocktaking: Unsettled questions and talkative answers. In L. Spadaro (Ed.), New directions in Austrian economics (pp. 1–18). Kansas City: Sheed, Andrews, and McMeel.
Langlois, R. N., & Robertson, P. L. (2002). Firms, markets and economic change: A dynamic theory of business institutions. New York: Routledge.
Lavoie, D. (1991). The discovery and interpretation of profit opportunities: Culture and the Kirznerian entrepreneur. In B. Berger (Ed.), The culture of entrepreneurship (pp. 33–51). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lavoie, D. (1994). Expectations and the meaning of institutions: Essays in economics by Ludwig M. Lachmann. New York: Routledge.
Leeson, P. T. (2009). The invisible hook: The hidden economics of pirates. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lewin, P. (2002). Capital in disequilibrium: The role of capital in a changing world. New York: Routledge.
Lewis, P. (2008). Solving the “Lachmann problem”: Orientation, individualism, and the causal explanation of socioeconomic order. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 67(5), 827–857.
McCloskey, D. (2007). The bourgeois virtues: Ethics for an age of commerce. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCloskey, D. (2010). Bourgeois dignity: Why economics can’t explain the modern world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCloskey, D. (2016). Bourgeois equality: How ideas, not capital or institutions, enriched the world. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Menger, C. (1892). On the origins of money. Economic Journal, 2(6), 239–255.
Mises, L. v. (1998). Human action. Auburn: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
O’Driscoll, G. P., & Rizzo, M. J. (1996). The economics of time and ignorance. New York: Routledge.
Powell, B. (2014). Out of poverty: Sweatshops in the global economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rothbard, M. N. (1989). The hermeneutical invasion of philosophy and economics. The Review of Austrian Economics, 3(1), 45–59.3.
Storr, V. H. (2004). Enterprising slaves and master pirates: Understanding economic life in the Bahamas. New York: Peter Lang.
Storr, V. H., Haeffele-Balch, S., & Grube, L. E. (2016). Community revival in the wake of disaster: Lessons in local entrepreneurship. New York: Springer.
Stringham, E. P. (2015). Private governance: Creating order in economic and social life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Vaughn, K. (1998). Austrian Economics in America: The migration of a tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Young, A. T. (2016). What does it take for a roving bandit to settle down? Theory and an illustrative history of the Visigoths. Public Choice, 168(1-2), 75–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article was delivered as a keynote address at The Third World Interdisciplinary Network for Institutional Research Symposium on “The legacy of Ludwig Lachmann: interdisciplinary perspectives on institutions, agency and uncertainty,” Johannesburg, South Africa, April 2017. I would like to thank the participants at this conference for their useful questions and comments. The standard disclaimer remains.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Storr, V.H. Ludwig Lachmann’s peculiar status within Austrian economics. Rev Austrian Econ 32, 63–75 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-017-0403-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11138-017-0403-2