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Spring 2010

ISSN 0890-913X

Volume 25, Number 2

Categories: Spring 2010

Israel Kirzner on Coordination and Discovery

Daniel B. Klein, George Mason University

Jason Briggeman, George Mason University

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TheJournalofPrivateEnterprise25(2),2010,1-53IsraelKirzneronCoordinationandDiscoveryDanielB.KleinandJasonBriggeman*GeorgeMasonUniversityAbstractIsraelKirznerhasbeenaleaderinfashioninganAustrianschoolofeconomics.InhisrenderingoftheAustrianschool,onefindsamarriagebetweenFriedrichHayek’sdiscoursewithLudwigvonMises’sdeductive,praxeologicalimageofscience–amarriagethatseemstoussomewhatforced.TheMisesianimageofsciencestakesitsclaimstoscientificstatusonpurportedaxiomsandcategorical,100percentdeductivetruths,aswellasthesupposedavoidanceofanyloosenessinevaluativejudgments.Inkeepingwiththepraxeologicalstyleofdiscourse,Kirznerclaimsthathisnotionofcoordinationcanbeusedasaclear-cutcriterionofeconomicgoodness.Kirznerwishestoclaimthatgainfulentrepreneurialactioninthemarketisalwayscoordinative.WecontendthatKirzner’seffortstobecategoricalandtoavoidloosenessareunsuccessful.Wearguethatloosenessisinherentintheeconomicdiscussionofthemostimportantthings,andassociatethatviewpointwithAdamSmith.WesuggestthatHayekismuchclosertoSmiththantoMises,andthatKirzner’sinvocationsofHayek’sdiscussionsofcoordinationarespurious.Indenyingloosenessandtryingtocopewiththebrittlenessofcategoricalclaims,Kirznerbecomesabstruse.Hisdiscourseeruptswithproblems.KirznerhaserredinrejectingtheunderstandingofcoordinationheldbyHayek,RonaldCoase,andtheircontemporariesinthefieldatlarge.Kirzner’srefrainingfromthelooserSmithianperspectivestemsfromhisdevotiontoMisesianism.Beyondallthecriticism,however,weaffirmthebasicthrustofwhatKirznersaysabouteconomicprocesses.Oncewegiveuptheclaimthatvoluntaryprofitableactivityisalwaysornecessarilycoordinative,andoncewemakepeacewiththeaestheticaspectoftheideaofconcatenatecoordination,thebasicclaimsofKirznercanbesalvaged:Voluntaryprofitableactivityisusuallycoordinative,andgovernmentinterventionisusuallydiscoordinative.ButtheMisesianimageofsciencemustbedropped.JELCodes:A10,B00,C7,D2Keywords:Coordination;Concatenation;Discovery;Entrepreneurship*WethankNiclasBerggren,GeneCallahan,PeterKlein,FredericSautet,GeorgeSelgin,andEdStringhamforvaluablecomments.JasonBriggemanthankstheMercatusCenteratGeorgeMasonUniversityforasummerfellowshiptocompletethisstudy.1

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Metadata [hide]

Title	Israel Kirzner on Coordination and Discovery
Authors/Creators:	Daniel B. Klein, George Mason University Jason Briggeman, George Mason University
Year:	2010
Volume:	25
Number:	2
Pages:	1 - 53
Publisher:	The Association of Private Enterprise Education
ISSN:	0890-913X
Document Type:	Articles
Keywords:	Economic coordination, Market economy, Ludwig von Mises, Liberalism, Methodology, Friedrich Hayek, Israel Kirzner, Austrian economics, Discovery, Concatenation

Citation:
Klein, Daniel B.; Briggeman, Jason / 2010. "Israel Kirzner on Coordination and Discovery." The Journal of Private Enterprise, 25(2): 1-53.