Menger and Economics

I am beginning Carl Menger's Principles of Economics. This is the formative text of the Austrian School, and, I believe, the formative text of all logos-rooted economics. Menger's theory of utility and value, while still influential, have been overcome in the West by the doctrines of Keynes; specifically his General Theory. (that work I shall read, but only after finishing Principles, Human Action, Socialism, and Theory of Money and Credit) Menger roots his theories in Aristotle's reasoning that humans act towards their perceived happiness, and this principle is the only assumption that the Austrians make. Any theory of state, economics,or regulation is grounded ultimately in human action.

I personally love Menger's prose. He is clear, methodical, and precise. Everything comes under his grasp in his little book that shook the "classical" school to its roots. Ever after, however discredited his theories become, his and the Austrian's School remains in my opinion the only reasonable and consistent method of thought with respect to economics.

Too many people do not study economics and thus are easily seduced by the promises of the socialist state. Menger and Mises obliterate this state in their writings and lay out the case for laissez faire government, stronger than anything I've ever read. Their writings are the foremost reason I abandoned the conservative camp and joined the libertarians, at least in name. After coming to St. John's and reading The Republic and Thucydides, I became convinced that man's problem is moral, not political problem and thus cannot be solved by means of politics. Whether it is a socialist utopia or a free-market paradise man's problem - injustice - remains. Socialism is inefficient and ultimately totalitarian, but capitalism, when untempered by morality, will consume itself. Man's problem may be solved by Christ and his Church alone. Thus I will work to that end and abandon politics. In the meantime I will enjoy Menger, Mises, and Rothbard.