The Goal and Methods of Economic

If we want to evaluate a procedure for accomplishing a goal, we must start by identifying the goal we aim to achieve. I take it that the goal of economics, as a first approximation, is to evaluate arguments for and against the use of government coercive power to intervene in the market economy. In other words, it is to help determine the effects of using government power for all recommended actions beyond the basic establishment, enforcement, and maintenance of a private property and free enterprise system. The starting point is to construct an image of the market economy in the absence of intervention. Such an economy has never existed, it is unlikely that it could exist, and most people probably would not want it anyway. However, the only way to judge the arguments in favor of or against intervention is to build an image of an economy in which there is no intervention, introduce an intervention, and then try to determine whether its effects correspond to those that are favored by the interventionist arguments. The main purpose of this essay is to elucidate the praxeological method of building such an image. The actual evaluation of arguments is beyond its scope. Economics as conceived here is a branch of the theory of chosen human behavior, or praxeology. The aim of this essay is to describe the nature of praxeological economics and to elaborate on its goal and procedure. Praxeology can be defined broadly and narrowly. In the broadest definition, it is the theory of human action and interaction. In this definition, economics (economic theory) is one branch of praxeology. Thus praxeology is broader than economics. It encompasses other branches besides economic theory, although to date other branches have not developed. In the narrowest definition, praxeology is the theory of action devoid of any specific environment , either social or material. In this definition, is the study of all