Murray N Rothbard: The Making of an Austrian Economist

The goal of this book is to fill the gap in Rothbardian scholarship and present an intellectual biography that shows Rothbard’s evolution from a neoclassical graduate student to a pioneer in Austrian economics. Our thesis is twofold. First, Mises was correct: Man, Economy, and State represents “an epochal contribution” to praxeology. The mainline of Austrian economics runs from the seminal writings of Carl Menger through Böhm-Bawerk to Mises and Hayek and then to Rothbard. Second, the culmination of Rothbard’s efforts was the creation of a postwar theoretical edifice that rivaled both the neoclassical synthesis and the Chicago School and was distinctly different from neoclassical economics. Given these contributions, Rothbard is Mises’s most important successor, or heir.

Murray N. Rothbard: The Making of an Austrian Economist is written for everyone interested in Rothbard’s economic theory and Austrian economics in general. We hope it will serve as a useful complementary volume to Man, Economy, and State by elucidating Rothbard’s many contributions and the process by which he developed an integrated structure of economic theory using the praxeological method.