The Austrian school of economics, due to the logical-deductive nature of theories which it formulates and the causal-realistic character of referring these theories to economical reality, is the only economical tradition consciously aspiring to the discovery of timeless, and thus universally applicable truths governing this reality. It should so not surprise that its achievements are clearly applicable in the assessment of the most fresh or new-fashioned socio-economic phenomena.
For example, in the light of its reflection on the logical essence of a solid means of exchange, ASE sends exceptionally strong alarm signals in relation to the infamous thought of CBDC (the digital currency of the central bank), indicating that it is nothing but decree money on steroids, allowing unprecedentedly extended redistribution of purchasing power towards peculiar interest groups and fast monetisation of public debt. The creation of a global CBDC service platform would in turn be an crucial step towards the elimination of currency competition, which, as the Austrians suggest, is the best of imperfect anti-inflation buffers in a planet without marketplace money.
Similarly, in the light of their considerations on the key function of the economical account in the rational allocation of resources, ASE's representatives perceive the apparent threat to the instigated "ESG" standards, which, by parading in the costume of "good marketplace practices", are in fact a origin disrupting the business calculation of arbitrary, ideologically targeted restrictions on economical activity imposed by the global, oligarchical bureaucratic and corporate complex.
In turn, the alleged unconditional income in its various conceptual variations is, as the "austriacs" show, the fullest and most conceivable form of Bastiat's "great fiction in which everyone tries to live at the expense of all others", the final form of universalized parasitism. In turn, given the thought of ASE on the logic of human action and the increasing motivation structure, it must consequence in fast consumption of capital and thus catapulting the economy at least to pre-industrial level.
It is not essential to add that, in view of the foregoing, a phenomenon that is to the highest degree sealing the destiny of the planet economy would be a combination of all the mentioned inventions, i.e. ‘unconditional income’ paid in the ‘digital currency of the central bank’ exclusively to those who meet the ‘ESG standards’. And even if a akin phenomenon seems far besides multi-story ludicrous to always exist, it is worth treating it as a hypothetical anti-ideal against which all opposition forces should be increased – conceptual and practical, business and third-sector, and individual and collective. On each of these levels it is hard to have a more reliable intellectual guide than the economical achievements of the Austrian school.
Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski
