Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Was Hayek an Austrian Economist? Yes and No. Was Hayek a Praxeologist? No

  • Chapter
Hayek and Behavioral Economics

Abstract

Before we can even begin to answer the question of whether Hayek was an Austrian economist, we must justify asking it in the first place. For, the reaction to the title of this chapter from some quarters is likely to be, “Who cares?” However, there are several good and sufficient reasons for caring. First of all, Hayek made important contributions to the dismal science.1 Any analysis that delves into his input to economics cannot help be of interest. Second, one of the basic elements of science, including social science, is categorization. It would be too extreme to say that biology and chemistry consist of nothing but classification, but the separation of flora and fauna into genus and species (in the former) and into the periodic table of the elements (in the latter) surely constitute a large part of the study of these two fields. Why should the history of economic thought be any different? Milton Friedman (Ebeling, 2006) has stated that there is only good economics and bad economics; i.e., that there are no distinct schools of thought. But this is a performative contradiction (Hoppe, 1993, 204–207; Kinsella, 2002) if ever there was one, as the statement is belied by the fact that this economist was for many years himself the leader of the Chicago School of Economics. No, Friedman to the contrary notwithstanding, there are schools of thought,2 and if we want to throw more light on the discipline, it behooves us to study it from many, many angles; including, certainly, the one now being undertaken in this chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Barnett, WilliamII and Walter Block. 2008A. “Economic Singularism.” Research in the History of Economic Thought & Methodology. Vol. 26-A, pp. 15–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, William and Walter Block. 2008B. “Economic categorization.” Laissez-Faire, Issue 28–29, March–September, pp. 4–12; http://fce.ufm.edu/Publicaciones/LaissezFaire/

  • Batemarco, Robert. 1985. “Positive Economics and Praxeology: The Clash of Prediction and Explanation,” Atlantic Economic Journal, July, 13(2), pp. 31–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, Gary. 1995. “It’s simple: Hike the minimum wage, and you put people out of work,” Business Week, Mar 6. p. 22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birner, Jack. 1995. “The surprising place of cognitive psychology in the work of F.A. Hayek.” Maastricht: METEOR, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization in its series. Research Memoranda; number 019; http://ideas.repec.org/p/dgr/umamet/1995019.html

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanchard III, James U. 1984. “Exclusive Interview with F. A. Hayek,” Cato Policy Report, vol. VI, no. 3, May/June; http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/cpr6n3-hayek.html

  • Block, Walter and Garschina, Kenneth M. 1996. “Hayek, Business Cycles and Fractional Reserve Banking: Continuing the De-Homoginization Process,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1995, pp. 77–94; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae9_1_3.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, Walter and Paul Cwik. 2007. “Teaching Business Ethics: A Classificationist Approach,” Business Ethics: A European Review. Vol. 16, No. 2 April, pp. 98–107; http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/beer/16/2

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, Walter, Christopher Westley and Alex Padilla. 2008. “Internal vs. external explanations: a new perspective on the history of economic thought,” Procesos De Mercado: Revista Europea De Economia Politica; issue 2, pp. 35–132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Block, Walter. 1973. “A Comment on ‘The Extraordinary Claim of Praxeology’ by Professor Gutierrez,” Theory and Decision, June, 3(4), pp.377–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, Walter. 1980. “On Robert Nozick’s ‘On Austrian Methodology’,” Inquiry, Vol. 23, No. 4, Fall, pp. 397–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Block, Walter. 1999. “Austrran Theorizing: Recalling the Foundatrons,” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 2, No. 4, Winter, pp. 21–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, James M. 1969. Cost and Choice: An Inquiry into Economic Theory, Chicago: Markham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, James M. and G.F. Thirlby. 1981. L.S.E. Essays on Cost, New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebeling, Rrchard. 1992. “Introduction.” In Richard Ebeling, ed. The Global Failure of Socialism. Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College Press, pp. 6–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebeling, Richard. 2006. “Milton Friedman and the Chicago School of Economics” The Freeman. December, Vol. 56, No. 10; http://www.thefreemanonline.org/from-the-president/milton-friedman-and-the-chicago-school-of-economics/

  • Fleetwood, Steve. 1995. Hayek’s Political Economy: The Socio-Economics of Order; Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Glenn. 1992. “The Pricing of Environmental Goods: A Praxeological Critique of Contingent Valuation,” Cultural Dynamics, Vol. V, No. 3, pp. 245–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frantz, Roger (2012). Frederrck Hayek as a Behavioral Economist. In…..

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman, Milton. 1953. “The Methodology of Positive Economics,” in Essays in Positive Economics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press; http://academic2.american.edu/-dfagel/Class%20Readings/Friedman/Methodology.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison, Roger W. 2001. Time and Money: The Macroeconomics of Capital Structure. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, David. 2003. “Book review of Hayek’s political economy: the socio-economics of order. by Steve Fleetwood. Routledge. 1995,” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 6, No. 2, Summer, 99–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, Friedrich A. 1931. Prices and Production, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, Friedrich A. 1937. “Investment that raises the demand for capital” The Review of Economic Statistics, November, pp. 174–177; http://mises.org/daily/2477

  • Hayek, Friedrich A. 1999 [1952]. The Sensory Order: An Inquiry into the Foundations of Theoretical Psychology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Hayek, Friedrich. 1994

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, Friedrich A. 1994. Hayek on Hayek: An Autobiographical Dialogue; Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Herbener, Jeffrey M. 1991. “Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School of Economics.” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 33–50; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae5_2_2.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1989. “In Defense of Extreme Rationalism: Thoughts on Donald McClosky’s The Rhetoric of Economics,” Review of Austrian Economics, 3, pp. 179–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1991. “Austrian Rationalism in the Age of the Decline of Positivism,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, Vol.2, No. 2; reprinted as

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1994. “Austrian Rationalism in the Age of the Decline of Positivism,” in Austrian Economics: Perspectives on the Past and Prospects for the Future, Vol. 17, Richard M. Ebeling, ed., Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College Press, pp. 59–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1991. “Austrian Rationalism in the Age of the Decline of Positivism,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, Vol.2, No. 2; reprinted as

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1994. “Austrian Rationalism in the Age of the Decline of Positivism,” in Austrian Economics: Perspectives on the Past and Prospects for the Future, Vol. 17, Richard M. Ebeling, ed., Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College Press, pp. 59–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1992. “On Praxeology and the Praxeological Foundation of Epistemology and Ethics,” Herbener, J., ed., The Meaning of Ludwig von Mises, Boston: Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1993. The Economics and Ethics of Private Property. Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy, Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 204–207.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 1995. Economic Science and the Austrian Method. Auburn, AL: The Ludwig von Mises Institute; http://www.mises.org/esandtam/pesl.asp; http://www.mises.org/esandtam/pfe3.asp; http://mises.org/pdf/esam.pdf http://mises.org/ESANDTAM/PESI.ASP; http://www.mises.org/esandtam/pfe3.asp

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2001. Democracy — The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order, Rutgers University, N.J.: Transaction Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoppe, Hans-Hermann. 2006. “Austrian Rationalism in the Age of the Decline of Positivism” in The Economics and Ethics of Private Property: Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy, 2nd, ed., pp. 347–379; Auburn AL: The Mises Institute http://72.14.253.104/u/Mises?q=cache:qTUMZOPf0H0J:www.mises.org/esandtam.asp+Hoppe+praxeology&h1=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&ie=UTF-8

    Google Scholar 

  • Hülsmann, Jörg Guido. 1999. “Economic Science and Neoclassicism.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 2 Num. 4, pp. 1–20; http://www.mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae2_4_1.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinsella, N. Stephan. 2002. “Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan,” Anti-state.com, Sept. 19; http://www.anti-state.com/article.php?article_id=312

  • Kirzner, Israel M. 1996. “Reflections on the Misesian Legacy in economics.” Review of Austrian Economics. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 143–154; http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/R92_8.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mises, Ludwig von. [1912] 1953. The Theory of Money and Credit [originally published in German in 1912]. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mises, Ludwig von. 1969. Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mises, Ludwig von. 1998 [1949]. Human Action: The Scholar’s Edition, Auburn, Ala.: The Mises Institute; http://www.mises.org/humanaction.asp

    Google Scholar 

  • Mises, Ludwig von. 1998 [1949]. Human Action: The Scholar’s Edition, Auburn, Ala.: The Mises Institute; http://www.mises.org/humanaction.asp of order, by Steve Fleetwood. Routledge. 1995.” The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, vol. 6, no. 2, summer: 99–101; http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae6_2_4.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Polleit, Thorsten. 2008. “Mises’s Apriorism Against Relativism in Economics.” April 25; http://blog.mises.org/archives/008051.asp

  • Rizzo, Mario. 1979. “Praxeology and Econometrics: A Critique of Positivist Economics,” New Directions in Austrian Economics, Louis Spadaro, ed., Kansas City: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, pp. 40–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1951. “Praxeology: Reply to Mr. Schuller.” American Economic Review, December.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1957. “In Defense of Extreme Apriorism,” Southern Economic Journal, January, 23(1), pp. 314–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1970. Power and Market: Government and the Economy, Menlo Park CA: Institute for Humane Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1971. “Lange, Mises and Praxeology: The Retreat from Marxism.” Toward Liberty. Vol. II, Menlo Park, CA: Institute for Humane Studies, pp. 307001E321. Reprinted in The Logic of Action One: Method, Money, and the Austrian School. Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 1997, pp. 384–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1973. “Praxeology and the Method of Economics,” Phenomenology and the Social Sciences, M. Natanson, ed., Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, vol. 2, pp. 311–342; and Austrian Economics: A Reader Vol. 18, Richard M. Ebeling, ed., Hillsdale, MI.: Hillsdale College Press, 1991, pp. 55–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1976. “l’raxeology: l he Methodology ot Austrian Economics,” in The Foundations of Modern Austrian Economics. Edwin G. Dolan, ed., Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, pp. 19–39. http://www.econlib.org/library/NPDBooks/Dolan/dinFMAContents.html

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1991. “The End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited.” The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 51–76. Reprinted in The Logic of Action One: Method, Money, and the Austrian School. Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 1997, pp. 408–437; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae5_2_3.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1992. “The Present State of Austrian Economics.” Working Paper from the Ludwig von Mises Institute, November. Reprinted in The Logic of Action One: Method, Money, and the Austrian School. Glos, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., 1997, pp. 111–172. Reprinted in Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, Vol. 6, No. 1 (March 1995), pp. 43–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1993. Man, Economy, and State, 2 vols., Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1997a. “Praxeology as the Method of the Social Sciences,” in The Logic of Action One. Murray N. Rothbard, ed., UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, pp. 28–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1997b. “Praxeology: The Methodology of Austrian Economics,” in The Logic of Action One. Murray N. Rothbard, ed., UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, pp. 58–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1997c. “Praxeology, Value Judgments, and Public Policy,” in The Logic of Action One. Murray N. Rothbard, ed., UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, pp.78–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rothbard, Murray N. 1997d. “In Defense of ‘Extreme Apriorism’,” in The Logic of Action One. Murray N. Rothbard, ed., UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, pp.100–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1990A. “Ludwig von Mises as Social Rationalist,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 4, pp. 26–54; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae4_1_2.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1990B. “Postscript: Why a Socialist Economy is Impossible,” in Ludwig von Mises, Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth. Auburn AL: Praxeology Press, pp. 51–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1991. “Commentary: The Concept of Coordination in Austrian Macroeconomics,” in Richard M. Ebeling, ed., Austrian Economics, Perspectives on the Past and Prospects for the Future. Champions of Freedom Series. Vol. 17. Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1993. “Mises and Hayek Dehomogenized,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 113–146; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae6_2_5.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1994. “Reply to Leland B. Yeager on ‘Mises and Hayek on Calculation and Knowledge.’” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 113–146.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 1995. “A Final Word: Calculation, Knowledge and Appraisement,” Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 141–142; http://www.mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae9_1_8.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salerno, Joseph T. 2002. “Friedrich von Wieser and Friedrich A. Hayek: The General Equilibrium Tradition in Austrian Economics,” Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, Vol. 12, No. 2; http://www.bepress.com/jeeh/vol12/iss2/art11/

  • Selgin, George A. 1988. “Praxeology and Understanding: An Analysis of the Controversy in Austrian Economics,” Review of Austrian Economics, (2), pp. 19–58; reprinted as Praxeology and Understanding, Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sima, Josef. 2004. “Praxeology as law & economics.” Journal of Libertarian Studies, Vol. 18, no. 2, Spring, pp. 73–89; http://mises.org/journals/jls/18_2/18_2_5.pdf

    Google Scholar 

  • Stalebrink, Odd J. 2004. “The Hayekand Mises Controversy: Bridging Differences.” Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring, pp. 27–38 Vol. 18, no. 2, Spring, pp. 73–89; http://mises.org/journals/jls/18_2/18_2_5.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, Lawrence H. 1998. “Methodology of the Austrian Economists, Friedrich A. Hayek; The Methodology of the Austrian School Economists”; http://mises.org/mofase/ch5.asp

    Google Scholar 

  • Woods, Thomas E. Jr. 2009. Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse. Washington D.C.: Regnery Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Walter E. Block
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego State University, USA

    Roger Frantz (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

  2. Stanford University, USA

    Robert Leeson (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

  3. University of Notre Dame Australia, Australia

    Robert Leeson (Professor of Economics) (Professor of Economics)

Copyright information

© 2013 Walter E. Block

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Block, W.E. (2013). Was Hayek an Austrian Economist? Yes and No. Was Hayek a Praxeologist? No. In: Frantz, R., Leeson, R. (eds) Hayek and Behavioral Economics. Archival Insights into the Evolution of Economics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137278159_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation