Modern, mainstream economics has a problem – a major one. The problem is not just the nation’s current economic woes, though that is part of it. It’s that modern economics fails on almost every account. Instead of stability and sustainable growth, these economists provided boom and bust cycles and an overall decline in real income. Instead of understanding, they provided confusion. Instead of being able to predict and fix economic crises, they act completely baffled when a collapse occurs and then give the same “solutions” that put off and exacerbated the problem.

Of course, this isn’t exactly news to most people. There seems to be plenty of distrust and disillusionment with economists and their profession. In fact, many seem to go so far as to reject economics as a science. This view is understandable, but not quite accurate. There are economists out there that succeed where the majority fails; they just get little to no mainstream exposure. That’s because the point of mainstream economics is not any of the goals previously listed. The purpose is to justify state intervention in the economy. On that account, it is remarkably successful.

How can one be sure that this is their goal? It comes down to empiricism. Policy makers have followed modern economists since the rise of Keynesianism in the mid 1930s, at least. They keep trying the same few tricks, yet they repeatedly fail to achieve their stated objectives. If they keep trying the same things claiming that this time it’ll work, either they are insane or they actually are achieving their objectives, just not the ones that they’ve openly stated. Then what do they manage to accomplish with their ill advice? Perhaps the most obvious result is further state intervention.

In hindsight, it should make complete sense. Many modern economists owe their livelihoods to the state. They hold jobs in state subsidized universities and think tanks, and they command much greater salaries through joining state-protected unions. Further, they wouldn’t get mainstream exposure or even the jobs that they hold without already supporting the existing system. The accurate economic lessons they give us can be seen in their actions, not their words. They are simply responding to market forces. He, who pays the piper, calls the tune.

This explains why economists act as they do, but why do those in charge listen if it is clear by now that their advice is no good? Those in charge are concerned with expanding their own power and wealth. When someone comes along and asks – even begs – them to expand their power, they are only too happy to oblige. While the nation falls into financial ruin and the rest of the country watches their wealth drain away, the oligarchs revel in their growing affluence. In effect, the politicians and politically connected create an intellectual class who are dedicated to justifying the power of the oligarchy. These intellectuals are all too happy to feed off the scraps left from the devouring of the middle class, which they themselves enable.

Is the entire discipline of economics to be written off, then? No, there are those out there who do provide where modern mainstream economists fail. Specifically, one can look to the Austrian School of Economics, which turns mainstream economics on its head. They reject the endless reams of data compiled into complex models through inaccessible math. Instead, they put forth simple universal principals and explain things in terms of how individual people act. It’s obvious they aren’t peddling BS, because their principals can be clearly seen as valid by the average adult and they are able to make accurate predictions down to the smallest level – not to mention the ability to predict a major economic crisis. Founding economist Ludwig von Mises predicted the Great Depression of the 1930s and his intellectual decedents predicted the current economic collapse well in advance. Of course, few hear about this since that’s not the message that the oligarchy wants to send through their lapdogs, the mainstream media. There’s no sense letting a crisis go to waste.

The lesson here is that people are always telling the truth, provided one knows how to find it. As the saying goes: actions speak louder than words. It seems fitting that, in this instance, the explanation should come down to economics.