Outlining the Austrian School

Well, I'm new to blogging, so I guess I will start out simply. The purpose of this blog is to provide insight on current events and historical phenomena, as well as offer economic commentary, through the lens of the Austrian School of Economics. I will also seek to provide an in-depth look at the Austrian School, as I find most people seem to know the Austrian School more through the descriptions of its detractors than its proponents. On that note, I guess I'll start:

The Austrian School of Economics, according to Wikipedia, is "a school of economic thought which bases its study of economic phenomena on the interpretation and analysis of the purposeful actions of individuals." This simply means that an Austrian economist looks to the incentives and choices which an individual faces, and the knowledge on which they base their decisions, to explain larger trends in the economy. This view deviates from more mainstream economic schools which rely on a basis in statistical models or aggregated values to explain these trends. It does so on the basis that the average economic actor is not necessarily concerned with the actions of other actors whose motivations he does not (or cannot) know, but rather on the information which he has on hand regarding his own wants and the resources he has on hand to attempt to satisfy them.

The Austrian School, therefore, also relies heavily on logical deduction and empirical analysis to reach conclusions. The actions of any individuals have consequences, and it is primarily through understanding the rationale of the individual in choosing those actions that we can determine how others will react in turn, thus showing us the greater impact on the economy, in a manner similar to the falling of many small dominoes. Many non-Austrians view this lack of statistic-based study as a hindrance in greater Economic study, but many Austrians favor it because it helps to separate Economics from the "purer" sciences such as Physics or Chemistry, which act on clear natural laws and immutable principles rather than the more muddled incentives and decisions of complex human lives. The Austrian School thus views the more "scientific" view of such schools as the Keynesian School negatively, not because they lack merit, but because they seek to overly simplify the field of economics to the interaction of aggregates and models instead of offering it the intensive look that it deserves as a field of study.

An important point of Austrian thought is that any decision that is made in an effort to direct the economy (such as a policy measure) is subject to unintended consequences (usually negative) due to a lack of complete information, which could easily overshadow the positive effects the policy was meant to generate. This leads to a more reserved approach in crafting economic policy, and more often advocates for allowing natural market forces to correct perceived shortcomings in the economy. Austrians look to the market with such deference because they feel that allowing many individuals to make small decisions, over time, produces a more preferable outcome in the long run than relying on a small group of planners to make big decisions, which may be undertaken with imperfect (or incorrect) information. To summarize this point, I want to end on a quote from notable Austrian economist, Friedrich von Hayek (or F.A. Hayek):

"The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design."

Feel free to comment or discuss, I will attempt to respond as best I can.