Books Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought  by Murray N. Rothbard (Author)

"Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought" by Murray N. Rothbard is a comprehensive two-volume scholarly work that traces the history of economic ideas from the ancient Greeks to the 19th century, emphasizing the Austrian School's praxeological approach to economics. Rothbard rejects the conventional Whig view of economics as a story of continuous progress; instead, he sees it as a conflict between two schools: those explaining prices by subjective value (culminating in the Austrian School) versus those explaining prices by cost, especially labor cost.

The first volume stresses the contributions of Spanish Scholastics, Turgot, and Cantillon to subjective value theory, while criticizing Adam Smith and the British classical tradition for their labor cost theories, which Rothbard regards as a setback for economic thought. The second volume includes a vigorous critique of Ricardo’s and John Stuart Mill’s methods and a merciless analysis of Marxism, showing its roots in metaphysical speculation rather than scientific economics. Rothbard also highlights the French classical liberals, such as Bastiat, for their contributions to subjectivist economics.