I agree in general, but not for the hardcore Austrians like Rothbard. The facts are illustrative only for Rothbard. His argument doesn't rest on empirical observations.
I apologize for being unclear. I agree with your point that the facts Rothbard uses are "illustrative only", but I deny that this separates Rothbard's work from most of the economics profession. He is simply more upfront about it.
Of course, I agree entirely with your advice not to start learning economics within the Austrian Paradigm, which is why all of the texts I suggested were within the Neoclassical Paradigm.
Ah, I see. My impression of the economics profession as a whole is that there is a large group for which you're description fits and another large group for which it doesn't, but I don't have any communicable evidence for this position. I've personally worked with several economists in the latter category, but they would probably put most of the profession in the former.
I would like to learn more about economics but I don't know where to start. Can lesswrong suggest specific areas of economics that are particularly useful for understanding and optimising the world? Specific suggestions such as reading lists and resources would also be much appreciated.