Dieser Beitrag geht der Frage nach, wie Wissenschaft als Wissenschaft in einer Gesellschaft wirksam werden kann, wenn die Ideen der öffentlichen Meinung über die Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten der Gesellschaftspolitik entscheiden. Die These dieses Beitrags lautet, dass Ludwig von Mises‘...

In recent academic and to some extent public debates, mainstream economics has been accused of excessive mathematization. The rejection of mathematical and other formal methods is often cited as a crucial trait of Austrian economics. Based on a systematic discussion of potential benefits and...

Beyond private ownership of the means of production, what is the most important, or essential, fact of capitalism? Friedrich A. Hayek thought it was the economy of knowledge with which the system operated, whereas for Joseph A. Schumpeter it was the process of creative destruction. To our...

Carl Menger published Principles of Economics ([1871] 1976) 150 years ago in 1871, and he died 100 years ago in 1921 at the age of 81. Yet, what Joseph Schumpeter said of Menger after his death we could argue is still true today, “Menger is nobody's pupil and what he created stands”...

Some economists in the Austrian tradition interpret the Arrow Impossibility Theorem (AIT) as support for their laissez-faire standpoint. They presume that the AIT cannot be applied in market settings, but in the context of voting, it adds weight to their arguments against the possibility of...

Should law be provided centrally by the state or by some other means? Even relatively staunch advocates of competition such as Friedrich Hayek believe that the state must provide law centrally. This article asks whether Hayek’s theories about competition and the use of knowledge in society...