Israel Meir Kirzner (also Yisroel Mayer Kirzner ; born February 13, 1930) is a British-born American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

closely identified with the

Austrian School The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian scho ...

Early life and education

The son of a well-known

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

and Talmudist, Kirzner was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and reached the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

by way of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. After studying at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

, South Africa in 1947–48, and with the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the collegiate university, federal University of London. All courses ...

in 1950–51, Kirzner received his B.A. ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' from

Brooklyn College , mottoeng = Nothing without great effort , established = , parent = CUNY , type = Public university , endowment = $98.0 million (2019) , budget = $123.96 m ...

in 1954, and an MBA in 1955 and Ph.D. in 1957 from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, where he studied under

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...

. Kirzner is also an ordained Rabbi; see

below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...

Economics

Kirzner is

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

professor of economics at New York University and a leading authority on

's thinking and

methodology In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for br ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

. Kirzner's research on entrepreneurship economics is also widely recognized. His book, ''Competition and Entrepreneurship'' criticizes neoclassical theory for its preoccupation with the model of

perfect competition In economics, specifically general equilibrium theory, a perfect market, also known as an atomistic market, is defined by several idealizing conditions, collectively called perfect competition, or atomistic competition. In theoretical models whe ...

, which neglects the important role of the entrepreneur in economic life. Kirzner's work integrating entrepreneurial action into neoclassical economics has been more widely accepted than nearly any other Austrian idea of the late twentieth century. In 2006, Kirzner received the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research "for developing the economic theory emphasizing the importance of the entrepreneur for economic growth and the functioning of the capitalist process." While Kirzner's ideas have greatly impacted the field of entrepreneurship studies, he has mainly been associated with the opportunity discovery view. However, a careful reading of Kirzner's work would suggest that his work on entrepreneurship can be split into two camps, one focusing on discovery and the other on creation. Like

Joseph Schumpeter Joseph Alois Schumpeter (; February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was an Austrian-born political economist. He served briefly as Finance Minister of German-Austria in 1919. In 1932, he emigrated to the United States to become a professor at H ...

, Kirzner's work can arguably be divided into Kirzner Mark I and Kirzner Mark II. Kirzner's major work is in the economics of knowledge and

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

and the

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

of markets. Kirzner has said that he agrees with Roger Garrison's statement that Kirzner's work takes the middle ground, as opposed to the recent, more extreme position of some Austrian School economists who deny the relevance of market equilibrium. Universidad Francisco Marroquín granted him an Honorary Doctorate Degree for his contributions to economic theory. Honorary Doctoral Degrees at Universidad Francisco Marroquín UFM also named its Kirzner Entrepreneurship Center in his honor.

Publications

Liberty Fund is currently publishing Israel Kizner's Collected Works in ten volumes under the supervision of

Peter Boettke Peter Joseph Boettke (; born January 3, 1960) is an American economist of the Austrian School. He is currently a professor of economics and philosophy at George Mason University; the BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, vice president for ...

and Frederic Sautet. The first volume, ''The Economic Point of View,'' came out in December 2009, the second volume, ''Market Theory and the Price System,'' in May 2011 and the third volume, ''Essays on Capital,'' in June 2012. The fourth volume, ''Competition and Entrepreneurship,'' is scheduled to come out in 2013, which will also be the year of the 40th anniversary of the publication of the book. Some of his works on economics include: Books * ''Market Theory and the Price System''. Van Nostrand, 1963. * ''An Essay on Capital''. A.M. Kelley, 1966. * ''Competition and Entrepreneurship''. Chicago, 1973. . * ''Perception, Opportunity and Profit: Studies in the Theory of Entrepreneurship''. Chicago, 1973.
''The Economic Point of View: An Essay in the History of Economic Thought''
Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, 1976. * ''Discovery and the Capitalist Process''.

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...

, 1985. . * ''Discovery, Capitalism and Distributive Justice''. Basil Blackwell, 1989. * ''The Meaning of Market Process''.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, 1992. . * ''The Driving Force of the Market''.

, 2000. . Articles * "Fifty Years of FEE – Fifty Years of Progress in Austrian Economics". ''

The Freeman ''The Freeman'' (formerly published as ''The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty'' or ''Ideas on Liberty'') was an American libertarian magazine, formerly published by the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). It was founded in 1950 by John Chamberla ...

'', Vol. 46, No. 5, May 1996
Archived
fro
the original.Full issue available.
* "Reflections on the Misesian Legacy in Economics". '' The Review of Austrian Economics'', Vol. 9, No. 2, 1996, pp. 143–154. . . . * "Entrepreneurial Discovery and The Competitive Market Process: An Austrian Approach". '' Journal of Economic Literature'', Vol. 35, No. 1, March 1997, pp. 60–85. . * "Human Action, 1949: A Dramatic Episode in Intellectual History". ''

'', Vol. 59, No. 7, September 2009, pp. 8–11
Archived
fro
the original.Full issue available.

Judaic scholar

Kirzner is also an ordained rabbi and

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

ic scholar, and serves as the rabbi of the congregation once headed by his father in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He is one of the most famous disciples of Rabbi

Isaac Hutner Yitzchak (Isaac) Hutner ( he, יצחק הוטנר; 1906–1980) was an American Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean). Originally from Warsaw, Hutner first studied the Torah in Slabodka. He then traveled to Mandatory Palestine where he became ...

, the late dean of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, where he studied for many years during the same years he obtained his academic training. Kirzner is an authority on Hutner's writings and is one of the few official editors of all sources that Hutner quotes.

References

* * Ebeling, Richard M.
"Happy 90th Birthday, Professor Israel Kirzner,"
American Institute for Economic Research, February 18, 2020

External links

Israel Kirzner's Faculty Page

First volume of Israel M. Kirzner's Collected Works edited by Peter Boettke and Frederic Sautet published in 2009 by Liberty Fund

Causa Liberal's Collection of Kirzner essay links

An Interview with Israel M. Kirzner: ''Between Mises and Keynes''
* * Articl
"Azione e funzione imprenditoriale: Kirzner e i suoi critici", by Adriano Gianturco Gulisano
''Nuova civilità delle macchine. Liberalismo e anarcocapitalismo'', n° 1–2, 2011, pp. 371–396. (in Italian) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirzner, Israel 1930 births Living people Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London American libertarians American Orthodox Jews American Orthodox rabbis Austrian School economists British classical liberals British libertarians British Orthodox rabbis Brooklyn College alumni English emigrants to the United States English Jews Historians of economic thought Jewish American writers New York University alumni New York University faculty University of Cape Town alumni 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American Jews Member of the Mont Pelerin Society