Economics is often used in literary studies, but rarely free market economics. Austrian economics, with its emphasis on subjective value (Menger), human action (Mises), spontaneous order and knowledge (Hayek), and entrepreneurship (Kirzner), seems a particularly fruitful source of ideas for literary studies.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Urban Economics and Literature
I'm starting to read books and papers for a paper on economic geography/spatial economics, meaning I am reading a lot of books on cities. That has me thinking about the growing literature in these areas in Austrian economics and how they might be able to be used to understand works of literature. The modern European novel in particular has a strong relationship to the city. The British romantics often reacted against urbanization. Understanding the nature of the city thus may contribute to a better understanding of certain themes in certain works of literature. Right now, I am only just beginning to think along these lines, so the ideas are ill-formed at best. Any thoughts along these lines? Anyone think this to be a potentially fruitful avenue to pursue?
Have you looked at early work in spatial economics, namely Cantillon's Essai?
ReplyDeleteI have not, but it is on my Amazon wish list. My immediate focus is on the contemporary city and far-from-equilibrium states for the paper I'm working on, but the topic is interesting enough that I'll certainly keep reading on it.
ReplyDeleteWhich Austrian literature on urban economics do you think of ?
ReplyDeleteThere are a few people doing Austrian urban economics, including David Andersson and Sandford Ikeda.
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