Blocking progress in Austrian economics: a rejoinder
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52195/pm.v14i2.79Abstract
This paper shows that Block and Barnett (BnB) critique of Gross Out-put (GO) is wrong-headed and misguided, and is another sad example of why their limited version of Austrian economics is blocking the progress of the best that Austrian economics has to offer to the profession.
I reject BnB’s assertion that GO is a «new threat to economic freedom» and «another government con.» To the contrary, the quarterly release of GO data has gone a long way to dispel falsehoods about the economy and government policies, while adding important information about how the economy works. It’s a triumph in supply- side Austrian economics, and should be celebrated by free-market economists everywhere.
Keywords: Gross Output (GO), Austrian economics, structure of production, Hayek triangle, consumer spending.
JEL Classification: B53, E23, E25.
Resumen: Este trabajo muestra que la crítica de Block y Barnett (BnB) a la pro-ducción bruta (GO) es errónea y equivocada, y es otro triste ejemplo de por qué su versión limitada de la economía austriaca está bloqueando el progreso de lo mejor que la economía austriaca puede ofrecer a la profesión.
Concretamente, este trabajo rechaza la afirmación de BnB de que GO es una «nueva amenaza a la libertad económica» y «otra estafa del gobierno». Por el contrario, la publicación trimestral de datos de GO ha recorrido un largo camino para disipar falsedades sobre la economía y las políticas gubernamen-tales, al tiempo que proporciona información sobre cómo funciona la econo-mía. GO representa un triunfo para la economía austriaca de la oferta, y debe ser celebrado por los economistas del mercado libre en cualquier parte.
Palabras clave: Producto bruto (GO), economía austriaca, estructura de la pro-ducción, triángulo de Hayek, gasto del consumidor.
Clasificación JEL: B53, E23, E25.
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