Dr. Shostak is an economist, he was a professor in economics but retired to work in business.

He stands in the Austrian school. He is a very fine economist. He also commentates, mainly on United States, and he writes for Brookesnews.

He clearly went through an intellectual shift, guaged on his rejection of econometrics as fallacious indicates.

In his commentary, he concentrates on money. In this, theory of money, unsurprisingly, if you read Shostak, then Jackson, and a number other solid economists, you cannot tell the difference in this respect since it is not Shostak, nor Block, nor Jackson, it is the body of sound theory they reason from.

Unfortunately, there only two commentators in Australia who nail economic affairs, Shostak and Jackson. I could name one other fine economist, but he doesn’t engage in public controversy.

There, I can name only 3 economists who are required reading. That is an appalling number given the sheer number of University schools of economics in Australia but it is due to the problem of what is pumped into undergraduates in the name of economics. It is understandable why economics is called the ‘abysmal science’in Australia.

To the above, what is to be made of the majority of economics graduates who, apart from steeped in the textbook bound fiction of perfect competition (which IPA and CIS risibly assert is free market economics), are completely ignorant of the history of economics, and economic history? his: they are not learned scholars at all and have not been intellectually engaged and challenged as undergraduates. They are good parrots. I can say this because I sat through economics and found what is still dished up appalling mush.

Re history of economics, it begins with the Greeks, c.500BC. Indeed, a good rectification in Universities would be to commence graduates on the history of economics. Why, because then they would have a thorough grounding and depth in reasoning in economics, and the development of terms. To test, ponder the notion of utility. (Hint, it originates with the Greeks.) This is only a suggestion but, it seems a much needed correction, and one of only a number of corrections required. For otherwise, an economics degree is a waste of time. No wonder most of them give it up for the faux degree stream, accountancy but, ah, as a Kroger clone told me, accountancy makes the graduate an economist.Pretty sad and dreary state of affairs really.

Who is this Dr. Frank Shostak we read of?