The Austrian school of economics derives most of it’s teachings from logic and philosophy. Austrians, students of this branch of economics, don’t create new rules, rather they observe and interpret the natural interactions in the market that were already there.
Think of it as Isaac Newton “discovering” the laws of gravity. He didn’t create those laws and then gravity suddenly behaved the way he described it, he’s simply concretizing natural phenomenons that already occurred.
A few months ago, my dad surprised me with his knowledge of economics. He described how the entire economy is directed through choices people make and he calls this “human activity.” Little did he know what he described was praxeology, the core foundation of the Austrian school of economics.
I’m surprised because he wasn’t aware of Austrian economics and had no formal economic education, so I asked him how he reached that conclusion.
He learned through personal experiences, observations from his everyday life, and common sense. Since 2001, he noticed patterns such as the expansion of the housing market before each recession. My dad said a few years before every recession he would see a lot more houses being built and sold. Later, on he learned from Ron Paul that irresponsible credit lending helped create this bubble.
Now here’s the incredible thing about my dad’s discovery of Austrian economics. He grew up under Mao Zedong and never had the option to pursue an economics degree because schools in China closed during the Cultural Revolution, causing many like him to be academically behind.
My dad taught himself economics through YouTube lectures and Ron Paul’s Liberty Report podcast.
It’s amazing what a self-led education can do.