Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

liberty student — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:09:57 GMT

eliotn:
Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

Great economists, lousy marketers.

We can fix this.

Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

lkassab — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:24:06 GMT

Exercising and lowering calorie intake are healthy the way to lose weight and stay fit.

Diet pills, fad diets, lipo-suction, stomach stapling... they're band-aids that may give the illusion of fixing the problem, but don't work in the long run, and can also exacerbate one's poor health.

Economics, in a strange way, is similar.

(BTW... I think you mean "prophet," not "profit")

Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

corpus delicti — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:15:28 GMT

Lack of knowledge?

I expect you are familiar with the saying:

"Give a man a fish an he will survive for a day; teach a man to fish and he will survive for a life time"

Whenever I hear it said, I always think to myself that whoever says it forgets to assert three things:

Who owns the fish?
Who is the teacher?
How would the teacher profit from conveying the knowledge of fishing?

You, being the austrian economist (anarchist/minarchist), would probably say:

I am a fisherman, I own fish
I or the State could teach the knowledge of fishing
I could profit twofold from this teaching of the knowledge of fishing: (a) I could prevent living in a world where an increasing lack of fish increases the risk of my own fish being taken, and (b) I could satisfy my mind in the happy circumstance that other men would learn how to survive on their own as a result of my teachings.

Now, collectivists ignore this completely, statists ignore the I in (1.), (2.) and (3.):

Collectivists: In Utopia all get to own fish; the fishermen catches and eats; the non-fishermen just eat; and profit is non-existant, because, apparently the fishermen are altruistic beings satisfied by all the honors and medals they get.

Statists, while knowing they themselves cannot teach the knowledge of fishing, ask/direct the fishermen to teach. Whoever cannot be taught in the proces, the fishermen must give some fish. Also, the statist being so hard-working and wise in the directing of fish-teaching must have some fish too... this is not profit, mind you, it is a marginal wage, a return on the effort of maximizing the amount of fish, the allocation of fish and knowledge of fishing.

Statists only disagreement is who would be the better maximizers overall. This they must convince/coerce all the fishermen and non-fishermen to put to a vote. This is a cumbersome affair demanding much effort and an ample supply of fish. The original idea of the State providing the knowledge of fishing becomes suspended. The original creed is changed to:

"Give Us and a man enough fish to survive until the day we can maximize the amount of fish, the allocation of fish and the knowledge of fishing"

The point of this tale?

The next time some statist tells you: "There is no I in team!", you can say: "Perhaps not, but there is an I in (1.), (2.) and (3.); you just lack the knowledge to see it", and add: "I know about austrian economics, come, let me teach you how to fish".

NB I'm sorry if it turned out to be a silly rant, but in the end I couldn't just discard it.

Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

eliotn — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:22:13 GMT

Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

People think that bank runs are bad, without knowing the evils of fractional reserve banking.

People think that this short recession should be fixed, without knowing what caused it or how the fix will make things worse.

People think that government is heroic, when it is really the biggest nemesis of the people.

Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

Economics Questions

Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

Re: Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?

Why are the Austrian Economists the profit nobody listens to?