Israel Meir Kirzner (b.1930,) also Yisroel Mayer Kirzner, is a British-born American economist, historian, and rabbi, closely associated with the Austrian School of economics. He is best known for his work on entrepreneurship, market processes, and economic discovery, building on Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek’s ideas.
Born in London, Kirzner studied at the University of Cape Town (1947–48) and the University of London External Programme (1950–51) before earning a B.A. from Brooklyn College (1954) and an MBA (1955) and PhD (1957) from New York University, where he studied under Mises.
His research emphasizes entrepreneurial discovery, arguing that entrepreneurs identify profit opportunities and drive market efficiency. He received the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research (2006) for his contributions to entrepreneurial theory. His influential works include The Economic Point of View (1960,) Competition and Entrepreneurship (1973,) Perception, Opportunity, and Profit (1979,) Discovery and the Capitalist Process (1985,) How Markets Work (1997,) and The Driving Force of the Market (2000.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Israel M. Kirzner
The essential quality of a market system is not that it promotes greed, but that it renders greed harmless.
—Israel M. Kirzner
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