Peter Boettke, Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University, talks about the history and the main methodological and epistemological tenets of the Austrian school. He argues that good economics is the mainline tradition of "squaring rational choice with the invisible hand theorem through institutional analysis".

The module is designed to first present some of the main schools of thought from a historical and methodological perspective. Each week we explore and critically assess the main tenants of each school of thought. In the second part of the module we link history of economic thought and methodology to a specific and contemporary economic question. The second part allows you to engage with current economic issues with an awareness of methodology and methodological differences and with some knowledge of the history of economics.

Exploring Economics, an open-access e-learning platform, giving you the opportunity to discover & study a variety of economic theories, topics, and methods.

Das Modell des homo oeconomicus erklärt in der Mainstream-Ökonomik das Verhalten des Individuums nach der Logik der Situation. Auch wenn Vertreter*innen des Konzepts betonen, dass es sich um eine wissenschaftliche Abstraktion handelt, fungiert der homo oeconomicus auf der gesellschaftlichen Makroebene jedoch als repräsentativer Akteur und stellt somit eine Reduktion des Menschen dar. Ein Essay von Elena Goschin.