54 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined 13 May 2023 \ on: What is a good book to learn about the story of money? bitcoin
Bob Murphy's one of the best explainers of economics. Understanding Money Mechanics has both history and theory of money.
im not sure about the Austrian economist talking about money .... they have been proven wrong all the way (market) .... which I find very interesting as I sympathize with their rationale but still cant deny they have lost the battle (so far) .... are they a cult ... I have no clue but I learned not to be married to my own ideas!
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Can you elaborate on "they have been proven wrong all the way"? I'm an economist with mainstream training and I'm aware of no such proof.
I'll grant that there is at least a cult-adjacent quality in the Austrian school, similar to Objectivism, in that they tend to overrate the insights of their scholars and underrate the insights of others.
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good question .... so the rivalry between 2 schools of Keynesian economics Vs Aust. economics has been won by Keynesians ..... now you and I can argue why it has and we can agree/disagree but it doesnt change the fact who won (so far)
I personally sympathise with the Austrians as its speaks to my mind (rationale) but i cant deny Keynesians as its all about control and power and maybe, thats why they wont the battle (not necessarily the war)
please enlighten me if you have different views?
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I disagree on two points.
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"it's all about control": The point of scientific theories is to describe reality. Keynesian theories (or more accurately, mainstream economics) have actually been proven false, and not only by Austrians. Those views are opportunistically pushed by those in power, because they justify what the ruling class were going to do anyway.
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"they have been proven wrong": This implies a rigorous logical demonstration of an inconsistency in Austrian Theory that I'm unaware of and that you haven't provided.
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u disagree as an opinion which isnt my point .... the main point is that the market has dominated how we function today despite what you think is proven false and you justify it by POWER which i agree with.
Im no economist and cant claim to be an expert ... but let me ask you this: why the Austrians have lost their ground?
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As I said, Keynesianism is cynically adopted by politicians as a rationale for expanding state action. There is strong demand for academics to provide politicians with rationales for what they want to do, so there are people who do it. Austrian Economics correctly describes the state as a drain on society, so politicians don't support Austrian scholars.
I also don't know that it's correct to describe the Austrian School as having lost ground. There is more work being done and more scholars in the Austrian School than ever before, as well as more people studying it. There may have been a very brief period in the late 19th century when it was more prominent amongst academics.
Further, my disagreement is not simply over an opinion. You made a strong claim that Austrian Economics has been proven wrong. As it is a school of economic philosophy that rigorously deduces conclusions from first principles, such a proof could only come in two forms: 1) a demonstration of logical inconsistency, or 2) a clear example of an Austrian theory being violated in the real world. I'm unaware of either existing, as you seem to be.
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