I. In the most fundamental sense we are all, with each of our actions, always and invariably profit-seeking entrepreneurs. Whenever we act, we employ some physical means (things valued as goods) — at a minimum our body and its standing room, but in most cases also various other, “external” things — so as to divert the “natural” course of events
[From Chapter 4 of The Economics and Ethics of Private Property by Hans-Hermann Hoppe.] I will do the following in this chapter: First, I will present a series of theses that constitute the hard-core of the Marxist theory of history. I claim that all of them are essentially correct. Then I will show how these true theses are derived in Marxism
Socialism leads to the politicization of society. Hardly anything can be worse for the production of wealth. Socialism, at least its Marxist version, says its goal is complete equality. The Marxists observe that once you allow private property in the means of production, you allow differences. If I own resource A, then you do not own it and our
Ludwig von Mises, in his masterpiece Human Action , presents and explains the entire body of economic theory as implied in, and deducible from, one’s conceptual understanding of the meaning of action (plus that of a few general, explicitly introduced assumptions about the empirical reality in which action is taking place). He calls this conceptual
Socialism and capitalism offer radically different solutions to the problem posed by scarcity: everybody can’t have everything they want when they want it, so how can we effectively decide who will own and control the resources we have? The chosen solution has profound implications. It can mean the difference between prosperity and impoverishment,
[This talk was delivered 23 November at the Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria, at an event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the publication of Mises’s Human Action.] Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for people as young as 20 or 30 to feel they have to share their memories with the world. Even at an advanced age, I prefer not to talk publicly about
[ Published in Chronicles , Nov. 1993, p. 23–25] With the collapse of communism all across Eastern Europe, secessionist movements are mushrooming. There are now more than a dozen independent states on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and many of its more than 100 different ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups are striving to gain
Thomas Jacob : Professor Hoppe, you are known as a critic of the state and of political centralization. Doesn’t the coronavirus prove that central states and central government regulations are necessary? Hans-Hermann Hoppe : On the contrary. Of course, the various central states and international organizations, such as the EU or the World Health
El Estado es la gran entidad ficticia por la que todos buscan vivir a costa de todos los demás. —Frédéric Bastiat Permítanme comenzar con la definición de un Estado. ¿Qué debe hacer un agente para ser considerado un Estado? Este agente debe ser capaz de insistir en que todos los conflictos entre los habitantes de un territorio determinado sean
Tengo tres objetivos. En primer lugar, quiero aclarar la naturaleza y la función de la propiedad privada. En segundo lugar, quiero aclarar la distinción entre bienes y propiedad «comunes» y bienes y propiedad «públicos», y explicar el error de construcción inherente a la institución de los bienes y la propiedad públicos. En tercer lugar, quiero
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.