War and the Austrian School: Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek

Abstract

The Austrian school of economics is generally considered an antiwar school. The Austrian view is not derived from a religious or class-based ideological viewpoints, but instead derives entirely from the school's fundamental economic tenets. This article examines the writings of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek as they relate to war and the causes of war. (A predecessor article on Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, and Friedrich von Wieser, the founders of the Austrian School, appeared in vol. 5, no. 1 of this journal.)