Have you noticed that many academic fields have a pseudo-science analogue?
Like astronomy has astrology, mathematics has numerology, chemistry has alchemy, etc?
Is 'Austrian Economics' a baloney version of regular economics? I know very little of either, except that Ron Paul has explicitly mentioned Austrian economic theory a number of times. I do, however, have a friend who is a PhD economics student at Iowa state, which is a top 50 university in that field.
I have not specifically asked him about the Austrian school of economics, but he did say that the Federal Reserve is a crucial and important part of our economy, and that people who say otherwise are kooks and don't know much about econ.
He has also said numerous times--Along with other econ students I've met--that something called econometrics is one of the most central tools used in economics to test and verify models and theories. It is stated in the Wikipedia entry that Austrian economics does not use econometrics.
On the other hand, this same friend has attended some Ron Paul rallies (he lives in Iowa, after all) and has said many times how he is a free-market capitalist. Even Alan Greenspan has stated that the dollar definitely needs to adopt a gold standard.
In my very rough understanding of Austrian Economics, it seems so far that it is more related to philosophy than economics. It reminds me a bit of a book I read by David Gauthier called 'Morals by Agreement'. It is more a philosophy of free-market capitalism than a real economic model. But I still know virtually nothing about it.
Is this a correct assessment?
Please no responses about how I and non-Austrian economists are new world order controlled reptilian zombies of the mainstream media. Thank you.
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