Economics is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. It seeks to explain how economies work and how economic agents interact. We all have countless desires that we want to satisfy yet the resources we can use are limited so we are forced to use them in a rational way (or either we destroy them). The most effective way of using them is through the capitalist system based on private ownership of the means of production and division of labor. According to Ludwig von Mises, one of the famous Austrian school economists, the economy is the study of purposeful human action, the most advanced branch of praxelology. This action is intended to improve a certain condition (generally speaking the quality of life). If the individual does not assess the outcome of the action more favorably than his current condition, he will not take the action himself.
For several centuries the economy has been influenced by certain interests: bankers co-operate with state governors, subsequently legitimizing their immoral actions. An example of this it is the fractional reserve banking which is a huge theft. Bankers create money out of thin air and finance government spending, disregarding property rights over their accumulated funds, so called "demand deposits". From a legal point of view a commodity owned by two individuals at the same time is nonsense.
What should we aim for? To leave the economy in the hands of an individual, grant him personal and economic freedom, that is, reduce the size and impact of the state? It sounds like a winning move as this is the true recipe for prosperity. Instead of a slogan like "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", the proper one should be "Freedom to do anything, as long as it doesn't hurt others or their property".
It is highly probable that you were taught at universities with the so called "mainstream" economics, which is based on philosophical positivism. That's accepted to be correct and scientific and its advocates believe that it best explains the economic processes. But should social sciences use the same methodology as natural sciences? The substantial difference between the two is the research object - in the social sciences it is the man. The researcher has the same qualities as his research object. This should make him change his tools when doing research.
This is one of the aims of this blog - readers to get acquainted with the alternative to mainstream economics - the Austrian school of economics and its praxeology - and to decide for themselves whether the economy as a social science should be explored differently from the natural sciences.
