It is my pleasure to endorse William Barnett II and Walter Block’s book Essays in Austrian Economics. Like Barnett and Block, I am a lifelong student of Austrian Economics. My work on behalf of sound money and limited, frugal government has been guided by the insights of Austrian economists like Ludwig Von Misses, F.A. Hayek, and Murray Rothbard.
Barnett and Block’s book reflects the depth and breath of their knowledge of Austrian Economics. However, Barnett and Block do more than demonstrate their ability to restate their predecessors’ insights. Instead the authors of this work aim to build onto Austrian Economics’ existing foundation, while challenging some of the accepted tenets of modern Austrian Economics. For example, Barnett and Block diverge from the earlier generations of Austrians regarding certain important (albeit highly technical) aspects of methodology and micro and macroeconomics. In this, they are following in the footsteps of Mises, Hayek, and Rothbard, each of whom never hesitated to challenge what they felt where oversights or errors in the works of the previous generations of Austrian Economists.
Only time will tell if Barnett and Block’s challenges to their intellectual forebears become incorporated into the mainstream of Austrian Economics. Whatever the outcome of these internecine struggles, I am confident that future students of the Austrian school will have to contend with Barnett and Block’s work. Anyone wishing to understand the economics of liberty can benefit from careful study of this book.
Dr. Ron Paul