Schools of Economics


Economists seem to have difficulty agreeing on even basic assumptions about market behavior. They tend to classify their thinking according to various "schools." The study of economics has several schools of thought. This section describes some of those schools as a comparison with the Austrian methodology advocated here.

People divide the study of economics into different "Schools of Thought." The ideas advocated by these many schools vary from reasonable to absurd. They can all, however, contribute something to the study of economics and markets. Even examining unreasonable, yet popular ideas, can help to clarify a person's thinking.

For the record, I generally subscribe to the principles and theories advocated by the Austrian School. After studying the points of view of the most popular concepts in economics, I have found that those espoused by the prominent "Austrian" thinker have the greatest level of logical consistency.

I will address many of these concepts throughout this website, but in this section I will briefly describe the distinctions between the more popular "schools."

Through the generations economists have failed to come to a consensus on some of the most basic principles and theories that describe economic activities. The source and measure of value stands out as a major difference in economic theories.

The Free Market Center believes that the Austrian School espouses the best principles and theories to describe free markets. 

I will discuss the Austrian methodology in detail, but I cannot ignore the other schools because they seem to dominate economic thinking. If you want to research other schools beyond my brief summaries, you are on your own.