pinkballoons Posted April 1, 2013 Posted April 1, 2013 Are there any differences between classical liberalism and the austrian school? The reason I ask is because I am doing an assignment for school where I am to compare the perspectives from two schools of thoughts - namely the marxist and classical liberals on various issues and I want to know whether authors such as Mises, Hayek, Hazlitt, Bastiat falls under the label of classical liberals. Thanks!
Flake Posted April 2, 2013 Posted April 2, 2013 Classical Liberalism was a political school of thought while the Austrian school was a economic school of thought. Mises, Hayek, Hazlitt, and Bastiat would all fall under the label classical liberal. Just to be clear though, it's possible for someone to have been a classical liberal but not part of the Austrian school, however the conclusions reached by the Austrian school would entail classical liberalism or something similar.
Pepin Posted April 8, 2013 Posted April 8, 2013 However the conclusions reached by the Austrian school would entail classical liberalism or something similar. This is provided that you have a concious. As Walter Block likes to point out, the theory is inteneded to be solely predictive, meaning that there can logically be no political conclusion. One way to think about it is to pretend if an evil psychopathic dictactor came across an accurate and predictive economic theory. Would the theory change his moral compass? Would he use this new found knowledge to create a better world?
st434u Posted April 10, 2013 Posted April 10, 2013 If you can get access to the book "Democracy: The God That Failed" by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, I recommend chapter 11: "On the Errors of Classical Liberalism and the Future of Liberty". Also consider the following lecture by the same author: "The Hayek Myth" which you can watch/listen to here: http://propertyandfreedom.org/2012/11/hans-hermann-hoppe-the-hayek-myth-pfs-2012/ , where the case is made that Hayek was in fact part of the left.
Connor Posted April 15, 2013 Posted April 15, 2013 However the conclusions reached by the Austrian school would entail classical liberalism or something similar. This is provided that you have a concious. As Walter Block likes to point out, the theory is inteneded to be solely predictive, meaning that there can logically be no political conclusion. One way to think about it is to pretend if an evil psychopathic dictactor came across an accurate and predictive economic theory. Would the theory change his moral compass? Would he use this new found knowledge to create a better world? yes, i believe he said that a nazi-austrian would recognize that price controls cause shortages qnd death, but would view that as a good thing
Recommended Posts