Austrian Economists and Liberal Arts Colleges as a.docVIP

Austrian Economists and Liberal Arts Colleges as a Complementary Capital Combination Steven Horwitz Abstract Liberal arts colleges have recently become a popular home for modern Austrian economists, with several schools hosting more than one Austrian and beginning to develop programs for students. I explore the possible reasons for this congenial relationship, dividing the explanations into two areas: the learning goals of liberal arts college match the interests and comparative advantage of Austrians and the emphasis on teaching matches with the strong teaching skills of Austrians. I also note that the argument presented can be generalized to a significant degree to other economists with similar interests and skills. Introduction With the notable exceptions of George Mason University (GMU) and New York University (NYU), almost all of the other American universities with some sort of node of Austrian economists (i.e., at least two full-time faculty members working broadly in that tradition) are liberal arts colleges. Austrian economics has a long and rich history at Grove City College and Hillsdale College, but, as of this writing, collections of Austrians are present at Loyola University of New Orleans, Hampden-Sydney College, Beloit College, Trinity College (Conn.), and St. Lawrence University, all of which are liberal arts colleges. In addition, other prominent Austrian or strongly Austrian-influenced economists can be found at liberal arts colleges such as Rhodes College and Berry College. Finally, a number of prominent Austrian school economists are themselves graduates of liberal arts colleges such as Grove City, Hillsdale, Loyola of New Orleans, and Beloit, as well as Manhattan College and the College of the Holy Cross among others. Although there are Austrians at state schools, professional schools, and research universities, the world of the liberal arts colleges does seem to be a place where Austrians have been particularly able to create collaborative