Theory of the Market Process I ECON 880-001 Fall 2020 Professor Christopher J. Coyne Department of [email protected]

COURSE STRUCTURE: This is a fully online course with an asynchronous-synchronous structure. The main course content listed below is asynchronous. All graded material for this class will come from content listed under each module. Links are provided below where available. Other materials will be posted on the Blackboard course page.

Each week there will be one optional synchronous meeting via Zoom. The optional synchronous class meeting will be held on Thursdays from 1 – 2:30pm. The class meeting, which is not required or graded, is intended to offer an opportunity for open-ended discussion around the week’s content. Students can choose to attend these synchronous course meetings according to their availability and interests. The details for accessing the Zoom meeting are posted on the Blackboard course page.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course investigates various aspects of the of economics. The main goal is to introduce you to the theories and insights of the Austrian school. In addition to introducing the ideas that constitute Austrian economics, a second aim is to demonstrate how Austrian economics provides a set of tools for making original and novel scholarly contributions to the broader economics discipline. Toward this end, another goal of this course is to help you develop the skills required to generate original applications and research in the field of Austrian economics. You will internalize important prevailing strands in the existing literature and work on developing, organizing, and conveying original insights that build on these ideas through written work.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon completion of this course, you will: 1. Understand the foundations of Austrian economics. 2. Understand the major historical figures in Austrian economics. 3. Understand the major strands of academic literature in Austrian economics. 4. Be able to synthesize existing ideas about Austrian economics and build on these ideas to generate novel contributions to this literature. 5. For MA students – be able to apply the core concepts in the field of Austrian economics to current events. 6. For PhD students – be able to write academic papers in the field of Austrian economics suitable for peer review.

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REQUIRED MATERIALS: The reading for this course comes from two sources: excerpts from books and journal articles listed below.

There is one required book for this course that is not available online: Don Lavoie, National Economic Planning: What is Left?

SCHEDULED OUTLINE OF COURSE EVENTS (ALL LISTED MATERIALS ARE REQUIRED READING/VIEWING/LISTENING):

1. Background and Historical Context (Week of August 24) Readings Boettke, Peter J. 2008. “Austrian School of Economics.” The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.

Boettke, Peter J., Christopher J. Coyne and Patrick Newman. 2016. “The History of a Tradition: Austrian Economics from 1871 to 2016,” Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology, 2016, 34A: 199-243

Weekly Biography Salerno, Joseph. 2000. “Biography of : The Founder of the Austrian School (1840- 1921)

Videos Christopher Coyne, The Continuing Relevance of Austrian Economics

Israel Kirzner, The History of Austrian Economics

2. (Week of August 31) Readings Leeson, Peter T. and Peter J. Boettke. 2006. “Was Mises Right?” Review of Social Economy LXIV(2): 246-265.

Martin, Adam. 2015. “Austrian Methodology: A Review and Synthesis,” In, and Christopher Coyne (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics, pp. 13-38.

Mises, . “The Logical Character of the Science of Human Action,” In, (ed.), Selected Writings of Ludwig von Mises, Volume 2. pp. 340-347.

Weekly Biography Kirzner, Israel. 1999. “Philip Wicksteed,” pp. 101-111.

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Videos Richard Ebeling, Introduction to Austrian Economics, Pt. 2

The Intellectual Portrait Series: The Life and Thought of Friedrich A. Hayek

3. Economic Calculation & Comprehensive Economic Planning (Week of September 7) Readings Boettke, Peter J. 1998. “Economic Calculation: The Austrian Contribution to ,” Advances in Austrian Economics 5: 131-158.

Mises, Ludwig von. 1949. Human Action, pp. Chapters 11, 12, 13, 26.

Hayek, F.A. 1948. Individualism and Economic Order, Chapters 7-9.

Weekly Biography Garrison Roger W. 2007. “Biography of Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (1851-1914)”

Videos Christopher Coyne, Value, Prices, and Economic Calculation

Don Lavoie, The Failure of Central Planning.

4. Non-comprehensive Planning (Week of September 14) Readings Don Lavoie, National Economic Planning: What is Left?, chapters 1-3, 6-7

Weekly Biography Morgenstern, Oskar. 1927. “, 1851-1926,” American Economic Review 17(4): 669-674.

Videos Peter Boettke & Christopher Coyne, How Don Lavoie Changed the Debate about

Christopher Coyne, Knowledge and Institutions

5. Entrepreneurship and The Market Process (Week of September 21) Readings Hayek, F.A. 1980. Individualism and Economic Order, Chapter 5.

Kirzner, Israel M. 1997. “Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach,” Journal of Economic Literature 35(1): 60-85. Econ 880 4

Mises, Ludwig von. 1949. Human Action, Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 (read only Section 8 “Entrepreneurial Profit and Loss”)

Weekly Biography Ebeling, Richard M. 2006. Ludwig von Mises (Part I and Part II).

Video , Entrepreneurship and the Market Process

6. Industrial Organization (Week of September 28) Readings Foss, Nicolai J. 1994. “The Theory of the Firm: The Austrians as Precursors and Critics of Contemporary Theory,” The Review of Austrian Economics 7(1): 31-65.

Hayek, F.A. 1968 [2002] “Competition as a Discovery Procedure”

Langlois, Richard. 2013. “The Austrian Theory of the Firm: Retrospect and Prospect,” Review of Austrian Economics 26(3): 247-258.

Rothbard, Murray N. 1962. Man, Economy and State, Chapter 10. (Alternatively, you can listen to Rothbard lecture below in lieu of reading this chapter)

Weekly Biography Kirzner, Israel M. “Friedrich A. Von Hayek, 1899-1992”, pp. 278-285.

Videos Ben Powell, Monopoly and Antitrust

Murray Rothbard, Competition and Monopoly (Alternatively, you can read the Rothbard chapter from Man, Economy, and State listed above)

7. Capital & Business Cycle Theory (Week of October 5) Readings Garrison, Roger. 1989. “The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle In the Light of Modern ,” Review of Austrian Economics 3: 3-29.

Hayek, F.A. 1989. “The Pretence of Knowledge,” The American Economic Review 79(6): 3-7.

Mises, Ludwig von. 1949. Human Action, Chapter 20.

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Weekly Biography Lewin, Peter. 2007. “ (1906-1990)”

Videos , The Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle.

8. Spontaneous Order (Week of October 12) Readings Benson, Bruce L. 1989. “The Spontaneous Evolution of Commercial Law,” Southern Economic Journal 55(3): 644-661.

Leeson, Peter T. and Christopher J. Coyne. (2012) “Conflict-Inhibiting Norms,” in Michelle Garfinkel and Stergios Skaperdas, eds., Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Peace and Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Menger, Carl. 1892. “On the Origins of Money,” Economic Journal 2: 239-255.

Weekly Biography Ebeling Richard M. 2020. “Happy 90th Birthday, Professor Israel Kirzner”

Video F.A. Hayek, On Social Evolution and the Origins of Tradition

9. Money & Banking (Week of October 19) Readings Selgin, George A. and Lawrence White. 1987. “The Evolution of a Free Banking System,” Economic Inquiry 25(3): 439-457.

White, Lawrence. 1989. “What Kinds of Monetary Institutions Would a Free Market Deliver?” Cato Journal 9(2): 367-391.

White, Lawrence. 2015. “What You Should Know About Free Banking History,” Alt-M.

Weekly Bio Gordon, David. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-1995)

Videos George Selgin, The Private Supply of Money.

Lawrence White, The Evolution of Money, Banking, and Central Banking.

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10. The Dynamics of Interventionism (Week of October 26) Readings Ikeda, Sanford. 2005. “The Dynamics of Interventionism,” Advances in Austrian Economics 8: 21-58.

Mises, Ludwig von, 1949. Human Action, Chapter 36.

Rothbard, Murray N. 1962. Man, Economy and State, Chapter 12 (Sections 1-4, pp. 875- 891).

Weekly Biography Jeffrey Tucker, 1999. “,” 167-179.

Video Israel Kirzner, An Austrian Case Against Government Regulation

11. Political Economy (Week of November 2) Readings Boettke, Peter J. and Peter T. Leeson. 2003. “An Austrian Perspective on Public Choice,” In Charles Rowley and Friedrich Schneider, eds. Encyclopedia of Public Choice. Boston: Kluwer.

Boettke, Peter J. and Peter T. Leeson. 2004. “Liberalism, Socialism, and Robust Political Economy,” Journal of Markets or Morality 7(1): 99-111.

Coyne, Christopher J., Thomas Duncan and Abigail Hall. 2020. “The Political Economy of State Responses to Infectious Disease”

DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 1988. “Competition and Political Entrepreneurship: Austrian Insights Into Public Choice Theory,” The Review of Austrian Economic 2(1): 59-71.

DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 1990. “The Subjectivist Roots of James Buchanan’s Economics,” The Review of Austrian Economics 4: 180-95.

Weekly Biography Austrian Economics Newsletter. 1987. “An Interview with James M. Buchanan.”

Videos Don Boudreaux, Virginia Political Economy I: An Introduction to Public Choice

Don Boudreaux, Virginia Political Economy II: The Continuing Relevance of Public Choice

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Randall Holcombe, Political Capitalism How Economic and Political Power is Made and Maintained

12. The Social Aspects of the Market (Week of November 9) Readings Chamlee-Wright, Emily and Virgil H. Storr. 2015. “Social Economy as an Extension of the Austrian Research Program,” in Peter J. Boettke and Christopher J. Coyne (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics, (Oxford University Press), pp. 247-271.

Storr, Virgil H. 2008. “The Market as a Social Space: On the Meaningful Extreconomic Conversations that Occur in Markets,” The Review of Austrian Economics 21(2-3): 135-150.

Boettke, Peter J. and Virgil Storr. 2002. “Post Classical Political Economy,” American Journal of Economics & Sociology 61(1): 161-191.

Lewis, Paul and Emily Chamlee-Wright. 2008. “Social Embeddedness, Social Capital and the Market Process,” The Review of Austrian Economics 21(2/3): 107-118.

Weekly Biography Egger, John B. 1999. William Harold Hutt (1899-1988).

Videos Peter Boettke, Bloomington School of Political Economy I: The Science & Art of Association

Virgil Storr, Defending the Market: The Market as a Social and Moral Space

13. The Law of Association (Week of November 16) Reading Donald J. Boudreaux, “Deirdre McCloskey and Economists’ Ideas about Ideas,” July 2014, Online Library of Liberty (read the entire symposium – lead article, responses, and discussion)

Horwitz, Steve. 2008. “Monetary Calculation and the Extension of Social Cooperation Into Anonymity,” Journal of Private Enterprise 23(2): pp. 81-93.

Manish, GP and Benjamin Powell. 2015. “From Subsistence to Advanced Material Production: Austrian Development Economics,” in Peter J. Boettke and Christopher J. Coyne (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics, (Oxford University Press), pp. 698-712.

Mises, Ludwig von. 1949. Human Action, Chapter 8.

Rajan, Raghuram 2004. “Assume Anarchy,” Finance & Development, September: 56-57. Econ 880 8

Weekly Biography Ritenour, Shawn. “Wilhelm Röpke (1899 - 1966)”

Videos & Podcast Peter Boettke, Bloomington School of Political Economy II: Rules in Form vs. Rules in Use

Peter Boettke, Bloomington School of Political Economy III: The Continuing Relevance of Institutional Analysis

Chris Coyne, The Political Economy of Development

14. No class, Week of November 23, Thanksgiving Break

15. The Economics of War and Foreign Intervention (Week of November 30) Readings Coyne, Christopher J. 2015. “Lobotomizing the Defense Brain,” The Review of Austrian Economics 28(4): 371-396.

Coyne, Christopher J. and Adam Pellillo. 2012. “The Political Economy of War and Peace,” in Michael Reksulak, Laura Razzolini, and William F. Shughart II, (eds.), The Elgar Companion to Public Choice, 2nd Edition (Edward Elgar Publishing), pp. 469-493.

Duncan, Thomas K. and Christopher J. Coyne. 2015. “The Political Economy of Foreign Intervention,” in Peter J. Boettke and Christopher J. Coyne (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics, (Oxford University Press), pp. 678-697.

Weekly Biography The Research Program of (read the text and watch “Professor Higgs’s Intellectual Background” and “On Austrian Economics”)

Video Peter Boettke, “Austrian Economics Today”

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GRADING AND ASSIGNMENTS: MA Students Your grade will be based on weekly reflections assignments (50%) and current event journals (50%). Details on both assignments are posted on the Blackboard course page in two separate documents. Please read each of those documents carefully.

MA students may opt into the PhD requirements listed below. If you choose this option, please let me know during the first week of class. After the first week of class no changes are permissible.

PhD Students Your grade will be based on weekly reflections assignments (50%) and a final paper (50%). Details on both assignments are posted on the Blackboard course page in two separate documents. Please read each of those documents carefully.

SPECIAL ACCOMODATIONS: If you require any special accommodations, please see me immediately following the first class so that we can work together to make sure that you have what you need to succeed in this course.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: Cheating will not be tolerated and can result in a failing grade, dismissal from class, and expulsion from the university. If I suspect you of cheating, I will seek the appropriate punishment under George Mason University guidelines. Please review the George Mason University Honor System and Code.