Introduction (Vol. 2 No. 4)

In this issue of the Humane Studies Review we continue some of the themes we developed in the previous issue, in particular that of government intervention. Following the great Austrian economist and classical liberal Ludwig von Mises, we argue that once the government begins intervening in the economy the inevitable failure of these interventions leads to demands for additional government measures to correct the original ones. The net result of gradually increasing the amount of intervention in the economy over many years is an economic system which Mises termed “interventionism.” We will briefly describe what Mises meant by this term, how various forms of interventionism have been the norm of history, and how political control of the economy creates deep-seated social conflict and antagonism.

Richard Ebeling continues his series on Austrian Economics with a discussion of its unique methodology. It is a pity that students of economics do not give sufficient attention to methodological questions. If they did they would be aware of how insecure the basis of such orthodox economic thought is. They would also appreciate the fact that, although the Austrian approach has considerable similarities to other free market economic doctrines, it has a very different conception of the economic actor. This different conception leads to completely new and original areas of research.