Friends or Rivals: The Debate Between the Austrian School and the Chicago School

Author: (USA) Mark Skousen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The Austrian School and the Chicago School have clashed and collaborated, been rivals and friends, and mutually benefited each other throughout their long history spanning hundreds of years. These two schools hold strong disagreements in areas such as monetary theory, business cycle theory, government policy, and economic methodology. At times, scholars from both schools cannot even agree on their views of economists they both admire. Despite numerous differences, both schools have played successful roles in developing classical free-market economics and countering critiques of capitalism during severe ideological struggles. Additionally, economists from both major schools have won the Nobel Prize in Economics for their research achievements. Based on author Mark Skousen's interviews with economists from both schools, this book reveals their respective strengths and weaknesses, offering judgments on "who is right and who is wrong" at the end of each chapter. In the end, the book's analysis reaches an unexpected conclusion, as the author hopes in the final chapter, these two contentious schools may enhance their shared theoretical foundations.