Other people have cited links elsewhere in the thread [0], and I don't feel especially compelled to be redundant. Not sure what to suggest other than googling some Austrian economists and their views on inflation.
Aren't there multiple schools of thought about economics? How do I know which one is the Right One to believe? Do they differ fundamentally on some levels?
I feel like googling for some school's teachings runs the risk of drinking one side's kool-aid, without even realizing what the counter-viewpoint is. Is there a good way to get a neutral overview of the different economic schools of thought, other than taking courses at a local university?
Mainstream economics has a much larger reliance on empiricism(especially recently after the Great Recession invalidated a lot of Chicago school models).
They differ fundamentally but like any field you should start with the mainstream. Start with the consensus of how the recognized leaders of a field agree on how the world works. Then start branching off into sub-fields(some of which will be labeled quackery like the Austrians). This doesn't mean they're wrong. Many times a sub-field is labeled as quacks before the mainstream finally accepts them. But more often than not the mainstream is right.
Some recognized leaders would be Greg Mankiw(representing conservative mainstream economic thought) and Paul Krugman/Brad Delong(representing liberal mainstream economic thought).
Also I think the best way to start an education in a particular field is with a textbook. They are great overviews of a field.
> I think the best way to start an education in a particular field is with a textbook.
Excellent suggestion.
Many of their followers forget the fact that they are thinking in simplified models. If reality seems to contradict the model, it is because the reality is somehow deficient from the ideal of the model and if we could only just shape reality to be closer to the model...or so most economic arguments seem to go especially when it comes to public policy.
Wikipedia is actually pretty good at being a neutral source in this area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schools_of_economic_thought
Understand the implications of the inevitable simplifications and you'll avoid drinking anyone's Kool-Aid.
I'm also not aware of James Watson's wacky ideas about biology. I know he has some controversial and maybe racist ideas about intelligence, but I don't think any of his ideas about biology are described as quackery.
And its about Bayesian inference, sometimes the mainstream is wrong. Not as often as it's right, but sometimes it's wrong. Sometimes people without credentials make large contributions to a field, not nearly as often as the credentialed make contributions but sometimes. Rarely a conspiracy theorist is right. But I think people who maybe don't know that much about economics should at least be aware of his position in the field before investing considerable amount of time reading his book.
Maybe vaccines cause autism, but it's a weird place to start a biology education.
And sometimes it's hard to have a discussion with someone when they don't understand the fundamentals of a field.
However it would be nice if you went into detail as opposed to just linking to that book. It's not part of the standard economic body of knowledge so I don't think it would be appropriate to expect your would be arguers to read it, especially when the author's wikipedia page is
G. Edward Griffin (born November 7, 1931) is an American far-right conspiracy theorist, author, lecturer, and filmmaker. He is the author of The Creature from Jekyll Island (1994), which promotes theories about the motives behind the creation of the Federal Reserve System.[1][2] Griffin's writings include a number of views regarding various political, defense and health care interests. In his book World Without Cancer, he argues that cancer is a nutritional deficiency that can be cured by consuming amygdalin, a view regarded as quackery by the medical community.[1][3][4] He is an HIV/AIDS denialist, supports the 9/11 Truth movement, and supports a specific John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theory.[1] Also, he believes the actual geographical location of the biblical Noah's Ark is located at the Durupınar site in Turkey.[5]