The Austrian school of economics

Description

Diving into the Austrian school

Why is the Austrian school of economics enjoying a spectacular revival with the emergence of Bitcoin? This intellectual tradition, born in Vienna in 1871, proposes a radically different vision of economics: it takes the individual, his or her choices and subjective assessments as the starting point for understanding economic phenomena. Where mainstream economics relies on mathematical models and statistical aggregates, the Austrians favor deductive logic and the study of human action.

From Carl Menger to Ludwig von Mises, via Friedrich Hayek, Austrian thinkers built a coherent theoretical edifice resting on four fundamental pillars: subjectivism, methodological individualism, praxeology and methodological dualism. Their theory of business cycles explains how monetary manipulation inevitably leads to crises, while their demonstration of the impossibility of socialist economic calculation remains one of the major intellectual contributions of the 20th century.

This course invites you to explore these theoretical foundations, which resonate today with the very principles of Bitcoin.