Austrian Economics: Knowledge, Prices, and Entrepreneurship

Menger, Mises, and Hayek on knowledge, prices, entrepreneurship, and time. Study the calculation debate, Austrian business cycle theory, and spontaneous order, 1-on-1 with professors who know the tradition from the inside.

Austrian Economics is one of the focuses you can choose in Elton's Heterodox Economics graduate certificate and master's concentration. Study it in depth, compare it with other traditions, or build your own synthesis, guided by professors who know each school well.

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What Is Austrian Economics?

The Austrian school began in Vienna in 1871, when Carl Menger argued that value comes from the subjective judgments of individuals, not from labor or cost. His successors, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek, built on that idea to study capital, money, and how markets coordinate knowledge no single mind could hold.

Hayek's 1945 essay "The Use of Knowledge in Society" remains one of the most cited papers in economics, and he won the Nobel Prize in 1974. Israel Kirzner later developed a theory of the entrepreneur as the person who notices opportunities others have missed.

You will read the Austrians in their own words, understand their method and their famous debates with Keynes and the market socialists, and see how their ideas have shaped mainstream economics, public choice, and policy.

Markets as discovery

See How Prices Carry Knowledge

These are the kinds of questions you can explore with your professors:

How do millions of strangers coordinate their plans without anyone in charge?
Why did socialist planners struggle to set prices, and what does that teach us?
Can central banks cause booms and busts by setting interest rates too low?
Where do entrepreneurial opportunities come from?

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People shopping for fresh produce at an outdoor farmers market

In their own words

Key Thinkers You Will Read

You read the classic texts alongside today's research, so you understand not just what these economists argued but why.

Carl Menger

Founder of the school and co-discoverer of marginal utility.

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

Capital, interest, and time, and a famous critique of Marx.

Ludwig von Mises

Economic calculation, money and credit, and human action.

F. A. Hayek

Knowledge, prices, spontaneous order, and the business cycle.

Israel Kirzner

Entrepreneurship as alertness to overlooked opportunities.

Ludwig Lachmann

Radical subjectivism, expectations, and capital structure.

What you study

Core Ideas

Subjective Value

Why value lies in individual judgment, and how marginal utility emerged in the 1870s.

The Knowledge Problem

Hayek on dispersed knowledge and prices as signals that coordinate it.

The Calculation Debate

Mises and Hayek against Lange and Lerner on whether socialism can calculate rationally.

Entrepreneurship & Discovery

Kirzner's alert entrepreneur and the market as a process rather than an equilibrium.

Austrian Business Cycle Theory

How credit expansion can distort the structure of production, and the evidence for and against it.

Spontaneous Order

How language, law, and markets emerge from human action but not from human design.

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Debates and Critiques

Critics question the Austrian method of reasoning from first principles rather than testing hypotheses, and empirical support for the business cycle theory is contested. The Hayek-Keynes debate of the 1930s still divides economists. At the same time, Hayek's insights on knowledge have been absorbed into mainstream economics. You will study the school's strengths and limits with equal care.

Elton's program is pluralist: your professors help you understand each school on its own terms, weigh it fairly against the evidence, and reach your own conclusions.

How it works

Learn 1-on-1 With Expert Professors

Map Your Interests

With your advisor, build a learning plan around Austrian Economics and the fields and questions you care about most.

Meet Your Professors

Meet each week in tutorials of one to three students. Read, discuss, and get feedback on your work from economists who know the tradition well.

Build Real Work

Write policy briefs, build models, analyze data, and research the questions that matter to you, with your professors guiding every step.

Graduate With a Portfolio

Leave with research papers, analyses, and policy proposals that show how you think, ready to share with employers or journals.

Admissions

Eligibility

To enroll in a master's program or graduate certificate, you need one of the following:

A bachelor's degree, or
Some college and 5 years of relevant work experience, or
Proof of your ability to engage in master's-level study.

No standardized tests are required: no GRE, no GMAT.

Tuition

Same Tuition as the Economics Program: $18,000

Austrian Economics is a focus within Elton's economics graduate certificate and master's concentration, so it shares the same tuition, financial aid, and timeline: $18,000 total, with a 10% discount if you pay in full upon enrollment. The graduate certificate on its own is $8,000.

Start Immediately - Other programs require you wait until September or January to start. With Elton you can start immediately.
No Risk First Month - If during the first month you or Elton decide that you are not a fit for the university, you will receive a full refund.
Stacking Credentials - If you stop the program early, you still earn your graduate certificate in economics if you have completed 1/3 of the program.

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Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About Austrian Economics

What is Austrian economics?

Austrian economics is a school of thought founded by Carl Menger and developed by Böhm-Bawerk, Mises, Hayek, and Kirzner. It emphasizes subjective value, dispersed knowledge, entrepreneurship, and the market as a process of discovery.

Is Austrian economics heterodox?

Yes. Although many Austrians are pro-market, the school works outside the mainstream's mathematical equilibrium framework, which places it among the heterodox traditions alongside schools with very different politics.

Is Austrian Economics a separate degree?

No. It is a focus within Elton's economics graduate certificate and master's concentration. You earn the same credential, with your reading, tutorials, and portfolio centered on this tradition.

Can I study other schools of thought too?

Yes. Many students compare two or three traditions, or study mainstream economics alongside a heterodox school. Your advisor helps you build the mix that fits your goals.

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