WHERE ARE THE AUSTRIANS NOW?
Hayek recently commented: “But though there is no longer a distinct Austrian School, I believe there is still a distinct Austrian tradition from which we may hope for many further contributions to the future development of economic theory.”19 There certainly are areas in which Hayek and his fellow economists have had an identifiable impact on current economic thought. One could scarcely call orthodox cost theory “Austrian,” but some versions contain strong Austrian elements. As James Buchanan has argued, there is really a separate and distinct approach to cost theory, in which the subjective element is strongly emphasized.20 Though never incorporated entirely into orthodox economic theory as such, this approach, heavily influenced by the twentieth-century Austrians, represents a lively alternative. Elements of Austrian capital theory have been incorporated into many theoretical discussions about capital—especially in the period of investment approach. One could argue, of course, that o
