Against formalization as translation and the prospects for mathematical Austrian economics

This paper reassesses the argument that Austrian economics could and should be formalized on the basis that mathematics is a language for economic theorizing. Particularly, the paper brings to light the historically significant, but often neglected, debate between Kurt Gödel and Rudolf Carnap on mathematics and syntacticalism. While admitting the potentialities for Austrian formalization, the conclusion of the paper is that a proposal that relies on formalization as translation is untenable due to the fact that mathematics is not syntax of language. The paper concludes by offering alternative potentialities for Austrian formalization, based on mathematical logic and mereology, with a skepticism cast upon extreme apriorism.