George Reisman was a student of Mises's, a translator of his work, and, as he demonstrates in this outstanding treatise, a leading theorist in the Misesian tradition. This mammoth exposition deals with the method and theory of economics, and particularly excels in its application to matters of policy. Its sections on price controls, money, banking, and environmentalism apply Misesian theory to new times and new literature. The author deals patiently but devastatingly with the arguments of the interventionists. The end result is an integrated understanding of the theory and ethics of the capitalist economy.

Contents of this magnum opus include:

• Part One: The Foundations of Economics
  • Chapter 1. Economics and Capitalism
  • Chapter 2. Wealth and Its Role in Human Life
  • Chapter 3. Natural Resources and the Environment
  
  
• Part Two: The Division of Labor and Capitalism
  • Chapter 4. The Division of Labor and Production
  • Chapter 5. The Dependence of the Division of Labor on Capitalism I
  • Chapter 6. The Dependence of the Division of Labor on Capitalism II: The Price System and Economic Coordination
  • Chapter 7. The Dependence of the Division of Labor on Capitalism III: Price Controls and Economic Chaos
  • Chapter 8. The Dependence of the Division of Labor on Capitalism IV: Socialism, Economic Chaos, and Totalitarian Dictatorship
  • Chapter 9. The Influence of the Division of Labor on the Institutions of Capitalism
  • Chapter 10. Monopoly Versus Freedom of Competition
  • Chapter 11. The Division of Labor and the Concept of Productive Activity
  
  
• Part Three: The Process of Economic Progress
  • Chapter 12. Money and Spending
  • Chapter 13. Productionism, Say's Law, and Unemployment
  • Chapter 14. The Productivity Theory of Wages
  • Chapter 15. Aggregate Production, Aggregate Spending, and the Role of Saving in Spending
  • Chapter 16. The Net-Consumption/Net-Investment Theory of Profit and Interest
  • Chapter 17. Applications of the Invariable-Money/Net-Consumption Analysis
  • Chapter 18. Keynesianism: A Critique
  • Chapter 19. Gold Versus Inflation
  
  
• Epilogue
  • Chapter 20. Towards the Establishment of Laissez-Faire Capitalism
  • A Bibiliography of Writings in Defense of Capitalism

Publication Information

1996. Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson Books, pp.16-120. Purchase.