Acton Line Peter Boettke Is Teaching the Humanistic Foundations of Austrian Economics
Dec 10, 2025
Peter J. Boettke, a Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University, shares his insights into the Austrian School's significance in today's economic landscape. He discusses why reading classic economic texts is crucial for understanding current theories. The conversation explores the humanistic approach of Austrian economists and their historical ties to early modern religious thought. Boettke also highlights how education at Mercatus and GMU supports the next generation of scholars while emphasizing the intertwining of economics, philosophy, and politics.
01:02:49
Why Read The Classics
- Reading classical economists restores perspectives lost to modern formalism and improves students' scientific reasoning.
- Peter Boettke argues classics belong to an "extended present" that advances current research programs.
Austrian Ideas And What Mainstream Models Lost
- The Austrian tradition once led the profession and offered enduring insights on prices, entrepreneurship, and capital structure.
- Boettke explains mainstream macro and formal models obscured the market-process view Austrians emphasize.
Austrians Have Academic Footprints
- Austrian scholars have made inroads into top journals and fields like entrepreneurship and monetary studies.
- Boettke notes influence exists but hasn't fully dislodged mainstream approaches.
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Intro
00:00 • 1min
Guest Introduction and Topic Overview
01:16 • 48sec
Why Read the Classics in Economics
02:04 • 3min
Extended Present and Contra-Wig History
04:48 • 2min
Austrian School's Historical Standing
06:29 • 4min
Core Austrian Contributions to Economics
10:24 • 4min
Austrians' Academic Inroads and Public Influence
14:29 • 4min
Bifurcation Between Scholarship and Public Influence
18:55 • 6min
Economics as Moral Science
24:43 • 3min
Austrians' Humanistic Scientific Method
27:56 • 4min
Mainline vs Mainstream Economics
32:24 • 1min
Prehistory: Spanish Scholastics' Influence
33:37 • 4min
Mises, Hayek, and Debating Socialism
37:22 • 3min
Religion, Institutions, and Economic Life
40:20 • 7min
Kenneth Boulding and Moral Imagination
47:07 • 2min
Mercatus and GMU's Educational Model
49:00 • 8min
Secret Sauce: Avoiding Careerism and Cynicism
56:34 • 5min
Personalist Education and Humanistic Economics
01:01:44 • 47sec
Outro
01:02:32 • 10sec
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In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Peter J. Boettke, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as the director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about the importance of the history of economic thought and the Austrian School of economics.
Why read the classics in economics? What is the place of the Austrian School in economics today? How is the humanistic and scientific nature of the Austrian School related to political ideology and commitments? What is the prehistory of the Austrian School in the theologians and jurists of early modern Europe? How do figures in the Austrian tradition relate economics to religion? Why have GMU and Mercatus been so successful in fostering research and educating the next generation of scholars in the Austrian tradition?
Why Read the Classics in Economics? | Peter J. Boettke
After Samuelson, Who Needs Adam Smith? | Kenneth E. Boulding
Competition and Entrepreneurship | Israel M. Kirzner
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics | Ludwig von Mises
Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (First Series)
Sources in Early Modern Economics, Ethics, and Law (Second Series)
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