Two Essays by Ludwig von Mises

08/10/1991 Ludwig von Mises

In "Liberty and Property," Mises demonstrates how poverty, starvation, disease, and serfdom dominated the pre-capitalist ages, and how the market brought liberation for the masses of men. Socialism, in contrast, embodies hatred for liberty and prosperity.

In "Middle-of-the-Road Policy," Mises lays out his theory that interventionism breeds on itself: one bad policy leads to another unless laissez-faire is restored and adhered to over time.

Contains an excellent forward by Thomas DiLorenzo.

Meet the Author

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises was the acknowledged leader of the Austrian school of economic thought, a prodigious originator in economic theory, and a prolific author. Mises's writings and lectures encompassed economic theory, history, epistemology, government, and political philosophy. His contributions to economic theory include important clarifications on the quantity theory of money, the theory of the trade cycle, the integration of monetary theory with economic theory in general, and a demonstration that socialism must fail because it cannot solve the problem of economic calculation. Mises was the first scholar to recognize that economics is part of a larger science in human action, a science that he called praxeology.

Governments Never Give Up Power Voluntarily

03/01/2024 Mises Wire Ludwig von Mises

[A selection from Liberalism .] All those in positions of political power, all governments, all kings, and all republican authorities have always looked askance at private property. There is an...

The Real Meaning of Inflation and Deflation

01/02/2024 Mises Daily Ludwig von Mises

[Excerpted from Chapter 17 of Human Action.] The services money renders are conditioned by the height of its purchasing power. Nobody wants to have in his cash holding a definite number of pieces of...

Mises Explains the Santa Claus Principle

12/28/2023 Mises Wire Ludwig von Mises

[From "The Exhaustion of the Reserve Fund" in Human Action, chap. 36.] The idea underlying all interventionist policies is that the higher income and wealth of the more affluent part of the population...

View Ludwig von Mises bio and works

References

Mises Institute: 1991

What is the Mises Institute?

The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.

Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.

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