Israel M. Kirzner, a British-born economist and theorist, is associated with the Austrian School and was a student of Ludwig von Mises. He has been an important academic representative of the Austrian School of Economics in America, holding a professorship of economics at New York University from 1957 to the present. He is the author of many books, including Competition and Entrepreneurship (1973) and The Meaning of Market Process (1992).

Kirzner received an MBA from New York University (NYU) in 1955. While pursuing that degree, he came across Ludwig von Mises's seminar; under Mises's influence, he decided to pursue a career in academic economics instead of accountancy as he had originally planned. In 1957, Kirzner became one of a handful of students to pursue and receive ...