One of, if not the most fundamental difference between the Austrian school and the mainstream neoclassical school is the difference of opinion with regard to the essential epistemological character of economic propositions. The Austrian position is that economic propositions constitute a priori knowledge; that is, knowledge derived, not from observational experience, but from a true axiom. Mises has poignantly articulated the Austrian position:
My first article for the Mallard, Ludwig von Mises, Libertarianism, and Traditionalism, is now available online. In the article, I expound my thesis that Ludwig von Mises held views on cultural issues that would characterise his social thought as typical of traditionalist conservatism.
Read it here:
https://mallarduk.com/ludwig-von-mises/
Money is the economy’s medium of exchange. The great utility of its employment is that it obviates the requirement for a coincidence of wants among the parties to a trade, and it permits the employers of scarce resources--the entrepreneur-producers--to engage in economic calculation and thereby achieve an efficient allocation of resources.
In all modern economies, money is invariably fiat money; that is, government-issued money that is not backed by a commodity, such as gold or silver. Accordingly, the use-value of money is virtually nil. However, where commodity money is used, money can have significant use-value.