Realism and economics: the implications of economic theories a discussion of the austrian school of economics

This paper starts from the assumption that economics is a social science. As such, it must be grounded in reality, both in its underlying assumptions and conceptual frameworks and in its practical effects; it cannot be, to borrow Alfred Marshall's expression, “the celestial mechanics of a non-existent world”. For this reason, the paper examines the Austrian School of Economics, a body of thought that has exerted a significant influence on political life. The analysis focuses on one of its leading contemporary representatives and challenges certain aspects of his approach on the basis of realism, as well as what are considered flawed legal assumptions. At times, the law—ex facto oritur ius—proves more realistic than economics.