ИПИ Библиотека

For the serious student, this exposition by Thomas C. Taylor of the essentials of Austrian economics is excellent. Taylor discusses all the fundamental aspects of Austrian thought, from subjectivism and marginal utility to inflation and the business cycle. This new and revised edition is widely influential among students of economics.
For the newcomer, this work represents a concise introduction both to the historical setting of the Austrian School and to the ideas espoused by its members.

Two important modern theorists in the Austrian school are Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek. Mises received widespread attention from other economists in the 1920s with his challenge that socialism was totally impossible in a modern economy because of its lack of market prices, for him the indispensable means of rational resource allocation. Both Mises and Hayek have contributed significantly in molding the Austrian theory into an integrated whole. Their explanation of cyclical swings in business as resulting from uncontrolled credit expansion at the hands of government added another significant block to the Austrian structure. Hayek's focus on the problem of "knowledge in society" and the vital need for coordinating the actions of interacting market participants has provided insights of crucial importance to the study of economics. This book will draw substantially from the ideas of Hayek and Mises, along with those of two students of Mises, Israel Kirzner and Murray Rothbard, both of whom have made significant contributions to the elucidation and elaboration of the Austrian analysis.

Thomas C. Taylor

Thomas C. Taylor is professor of the School of Business and Accountancy at Wake Forest University.

He received his BS and MA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his PhD from Louisiana State University. Professor Taylor is the author of many scholarly articles, and is a leading authority on accounting theory in the light of Austrian economics. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute.