Date: Sat, 24 Aug 1996 12:53:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gerald Levy <glevy-AT-pratt.edu>
Subject: Re: *Marx, Hayek, and Utopia*


An additional comment on this topic:

While the antagonism between the Austrian school of [marginalist,
neoclassical] economics and the classical [esp. Ricardian] and Marxist
schools is well-known (and was probably sparked in large part by
Bohm-Bawerk's attacks on Marx and the equally incendiary reply by
Hilferding) and certainly does have a political component [to the extent
that marginalism could be said to be, in part, a conservative reaction to
classical p.e., the Ricardian socialists, and Marx), less recognized is
the extent to which the Austrians (Hayek included) employed a dialectical
approach to social theory. This is, I take it, one of the themes of
Chris's book. One only has to compare Walrasian [general equilibrium]
theory to the Austrian school [Bohm-Bawerk, Menger, von Mises, Hayek,
etc.] to see that many of the aspects of the economy that the Walrasians
simply *assumed away* are incorporated into the Austrian analysis. I
would also add that the Austrians are not narrowly "economistic" (in the
sense that they do not subsume all of social reality into the economic) as
some branches of marginalism are and are also more understanding of
philosophical and methodological questions.

Where's Chris S?

Jerry



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