Austrian economics is so-named because its founder (Carl Menger) and some but not all of its other luminaries (Mises, Bohm-Bawerk, Hayek) were from Austria. Methodologically, it's based on logical deduction from common sense. "Austrians" recommend laissez-faire capitalism as the best/only workable system of social cooperation. (Many libertarians are "Austrian") For more details, see http://www.mises.org/.