The Essential Austrian Economics

The labour theory of value held that the value of a com- modity is a function of the labour required to produce the item. [...] Following the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Hayek in 1974, there was a revival of interest in the ideas of the Austrian School. [...] What unequalled advantage to the naturalist, could he, too, appeal to the voice of nature for their confirmation of the laws prevailing in the organic and inorganic world! Where the natural sciences can only offer proof, the theory of economics can persuade; it can enlist the unquali- fied inner consent of readers. [...] At each moment of choice, the individual chooser weighs the expected benefits of one course of action against the expected benefits of other courses of action (the expected benefits of the next best alternative is the same as the cost foregone). [...] From the perspective of economics as a science, the ethical content of the ends is irrelevant as is the personal ethical or political positions of the economic analyst.