Unsuspected Origins of Modern Austrian Economics: The Historical School on Capital and Economic Calculation

There are some elements in the body of Austrian Economics that definitely stem from the Historical school. Surprisingly, the Historical school acts as the model for Mises’s capital concept and, by implication, for his economic calculation argument against socialism.... In order to make his case, Mises has to presuppose several historical institutions that only exist in developed and monetized market economies. In this context, he draws on concepts developed by the Historical school. It was not necessary for him to acknowledge his debt to this school — and possibly he was not even aware of it — because he could act on the authority of Carl Menger, at least regarding the capital concept they both employed. Carl Menger himself, however, derived the capital concept on which Mises would later rely directly from Richard Hildebrand, a member of the Historical school.

--Eduard Braun, "Unsuspected Origins of Modern Austrian Economics: The Historical School of Economics on Capital and Economic Calculation," in The Next Generation of Austrian Economics: Essays in Honor of Joseph T. Salerno, ed. Per Bylund and David Howden (Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2015), 76.