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Value and capital: Austrian capital theory, retrospect and Prospect

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  • Peter Lewin

    (University of Texas at Dallas)

  • Nicolás Cachanosky

    (Metropolitan State University of Denver)

Abstract

The time is right for a reexamination of Austrian capital-theory. We attempt to capture the essence of Carl Menger’s approach to capital, highlighting the important distinction between goods and the valuable services they yield (implying that goods are valuable only because they yield valuable services) and highlighting also the importance of money in facilitating exchange and production and in providing the means to value them. We look at the capital-theory of Böhm-Bawerk and suggest that, in many respects, this was a wrong turn, although it did set in motion valuable efforts to clarify the importance of the heterogeneity of productive-resources and their growing complexity over time. We examine the production-function, micro and macro, and show that it is logically untenable and useless as an instrument for empirical investigation, and that this has been known for decades. Of the Austrians after Menger, only Mises followed Irving Fisher in focusing on valuation. He did so in the context of explaining the importance of calculation. Mises’s approach to capital has been insufficiently understood and appreciated. By way of conclusion we draw from our considerations to provide a research agenda in Austrian capital theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Lewin & Nicolás Cachanosky, 2018. "Value and capital: Austrian capital theory, retrospect and Prospect," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 1-26, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:31:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11138-016-0374-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-016-0374-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    5. Victor I. Espinosa & Miguel A. Alonso Neira & Jesús Huerta de Soto, 2021. "Principles of Sustainable Economic Growth and Development: A Call to Action in a Post-COVID-19 World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Michael Olbrich & David J. Rapp & Florian Follert, 2022. "Eugen Schmalenbach, Austrian economics, and German business economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 205-233, June.
    7. Michael Olbrich & David J. Rapp & Florian Follert, 2022. "Eugen Schmalenbach, Austrian economics, and German business economics," Post-Print hal-02891111, HAL.
    8. J. Barkley Rosser, 2020. "Austrian themes and the Cambridge capital theory controversies," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 415-431, December.
    9. William J. Luther, 2021. "Two paths forward for Austrian macroeconomics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 289-297, June.
    10. Saverio M. Fratini, 2019. "A note on re-switching, the average period of production and the Austrian business-cycle theory," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 363-374, December.
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    12. William Hongsong Wang & Victor I. Espinosa & José Antonio Peña-Ramos, 2021. "Private Property Rights, Dynamic Efficiency and Economic Development: An Austrian Reply to Neo-Marxist Scholars Nieto and Mateo on Cyber-Communism and Market Process," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, November.

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