Can Austrian economics ever become mainstream?
Austrian econ is
not for everyone. Those who study economics in order to fine-tune
economies through public policy will not likely agree with it. Of
those who do, their only recourse is to admit their goals as being
unachievable, which would mean that they no longer care to implement
policy. How many politicians would run for office in order to give
up power? This is something which runs contrary to the
motivations for running for office itself.
The success of a school of economics seems to come from its use in
politics and its use in academia. But to what extent does one effect
the other? Does academia primarily effect politics, or is it the
other way around? Did Hayek "loose" to Keynes because of
intellectual reasons, or political ones? We all know that government
cannot make rational decisions in a great number of areas. Is it
capable of choosing good economic theories at all, and if not, what
does that say about economics as a science?
It seems to me that all sciences benefited greatly when they were
separated from politics. Galileos were no longer be persecuted for
their ideas. Freedom of speech erected a wall of separation between
thought and government which greatly increased the quality of
intellectual thought. Is such a thing even possible with economics?
According to this
study, there are far more economists employed in academia than
any other field, but also considerably more in government than
private business.
At least praxeology offers an alternative way for people to
examine the worthiness of economic theories if interpreting history
proves too subjective. But all of that matters little if economic
thought, due to its close kinship with politics, is more the result
of political action than scientific truth.