Hello,
First time poster here. I've been doing some reading on mises for the last several months and am looking for the basic introductory texts for Austrian Econ. Specifically I will begin taking an economics course in about a week that will be using Gregory Mankiw's Principles of Economics text. I would like a good text or two to use to contrast some of the ideas in the basic econonmics class for my essays. So if you guys could suggest one or two books from the Austrian school I'd be much abliged.
I currently intend to use Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowel as a suppliment for this class as well.
Thanks in advance!
Mankiw's book is great as far as neoclassical econ goes, Moss has a nice small book called The Concise Guide to Macroeconomics that is really worth checking out, and the Sowell book you mentioned is rather good too. That'll give you a good basis for mainstream economics, a lot of which is good to have in mind when you're reading Austrian works.
As far as Austrianism goes begin with Callahan's Economics for Real People, Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson and Menger's Principles of Economics. In that order, once you're done with that you'll be ready to tackle Rothbard's MES, at which point your understanding of mainstream economics will come in useful.
It may also be useful to compare the methodology, there's many works on the praxeology reading list regarding works on Austrian methodology (Hoppe's Economic Science and The Austrian Method and Mises' numerous works probably being the best introductions), however you might also want to read Mark Blaug's The Methodology of Economics and Friedman's essay The Methodology of Positive Economics.
My advice is this, don't dismiss mainstream economics because it isn't Austrianism, evaluate it on its merits as you would any other work. Austrian economics is not something to recite to the heretics who doubt libertarianism.
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Bob Dylan
http://mises.org/Community/forums/p/7947/152019.aspx#152019
The book mentioned in that thread, and the book by Gene Callahan referenced in that post seem to be good choices.
Awesome, thanks guys.
I found all of those except the Menger PoE book. Any idea where I might be able to find a copy of that?
It's available on the site for free, just search for "Menger" in the literature section and you'll find it.
Even better, thanks again!
Ok, one more question.
If I wanted to submit my essays for review/critique/feedback to the mises crowd what would the best method of doing so be?
Just post them on the forums.
GilesStratton: Mankiw's book is great as far as neoclassical econ goes, Moss has a nice small book called The Concise Guide to Macroeconomics that is really worth checking out, and the Sowell book you mentioned is rather good too. That'll give you a good basis for mainstream economics, a lot of which is good to have in mind when you're reading Austrian works.
I"m entering the final week of my class and while I haven't had time to dig into the Austrian titles (chomping at the bit for those) the Moss recomendation was superb. Mankiw's title is, like most text books, fairly dry. Using's Moss to tie the concepts together has been a god send. I must also note the Mankiw does a better job of pointing out when neo-classical thought is questionable than most introductory econ books (yes I have actually read multiple intro economics titles). Mankiw, being a text, does get rather granular and it can be difficult, at times, to keep the big picture in mind. That's where Moss shines. Moss clears the fog that lays around fundamental economics, the Keynsian influence and provides just enough history to bring the story into focus.
Thank you so much for that recommendation. I'm looking at an A for this class.
Hazlitt is on deck!
jed.green:I"m entering the final week of my class and while I haven't had time to dig into the Austrian titles (chomping at the bit for those) the Moss recomendation was superb. Mankiw's title is, like most text books, fairly dry. Using's Moss to tie the concepts together has been a god send. I must also note the Mankiw does a better job of pointing out when neo-classical thought is questionable than most introductory econ books (yes I have actually read multiple intro economics titles). Mankiw, being a text, does get rather granular and it can be difficult, at times, to keep the big picture in mind. That's where Moss shines. Moss clears the fog that lays around fundamental economics, the Keynsian influence and provides just enough history to bring the story into focus.
Mankiw's book is dry, but all economics books are to some extent (Austrian works included), compare it with Sloman's Principles of Economics and you'll really begin to appreciate Mankiw's book. It's also free of a lot of Keynesian anachronisms, I liked it a lot, he explains well and clearly. As for Moss' book, I'm glad it helped you, I read it in two sittings and it clarified a lot of issues, even if it didn't go in depth, it's a good work for a lot of Austrians to read.
As for Austrian works, don't worry about it, forget about "Austrian" economics and mainstream economics, they're all part of neoclasical thought in the end, in that they attempt to explain economic phenomena (formation of prices, primarily) in terms of decisions of individual actors subjective appraisal of marginal units. The difference lies in that the Austrians use verbal logic whereas the mainstream uses a formalism and positivism, however, at the end of the day, it's the means that differ, not the ends. Read up on all of them and see which makes most sense to you, meaning, read both Rothbard's Man, Economic and State and Varian.