Last modified on October 23, 2021, at 03:01

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) was an Austrian-born economist who emigrated to the United States to escape Nazi persecution. He was an advocate of free market and laissez-faire policies, and was an outspoken critic of socialism and is considered the founder the "neo-Austrian School" of economics, favored by many libertarians. Mises also felt that government should not take positions on morality. He was skeptical of mass migration, emphasizing societal integration and preventing mass immigration in the first place.[1]

Mises built on the Austrian School of Economics founded by Carl Menger, as expressed in his book Principles of Economics. Mises supported the Austrian emphasis on individual action and the benefits of a free-market economy.

Mises' classic work was "The Theory of Money and Credit" (1912), in which he integrated macroeconomics into microeconomics by integrating the theory of money into the general theory of marginal utility. Other Austrian economists rejected his work, forcing Mises to start a neo-Austrian school of economics.

Mises felt that society does not benefit from an increase in the money supply, that increased money and bank credit causes inflation and business cycles. Mises supported a 100 percent gold standard.

A student of Mises, F.A. Hayek, won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1974 for elaborating on Mises' business cycle theory.

Economic theory has demonstrated in an irrefutable way that a prosperity created by an expansionist monetary and credit policy is illusory and must end in a slump, an economic crisis. It has happened again and again in the past, and it will happen in the future, too. [1]

Quotes

  • "Nothing can be expected from the future if men do not realize that they were on the wrong path."
  • In 1927, while Benito Mussolini enjoyed popularity for his big government relief efforts, Mises issued this warning: "It cannot be denied that Fascism and similar movements aiming at the establishment of dictatorships are full of the best intentions and that their intervention has, for the moment, saved European civilization. The merit that Fascism has thereby won for itself will live on eternally in history. But though its policy has brought salvation for the moment, it is not of the kind which could promise continued success. Fascism was an emergency makeshift. To view it as something more would be a fatal error."[2]

Books by Ludwig von Mises

  • The Theory of Money and Credit
  • Nation, State, and Economy
  • Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis
  • Critique of Interventionism
  • Liberalism
  • Epistemological Problems of Economics
  • Omnipotent Government: The Rise of Total State and Total War
  • Bureaucracy
  • Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
  • Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution
  • The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality
  • The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science


Mises wrote Human Action (1949), the most comprehensive case for economic liberty ever written. [2]

E-Books

See also

References

  1. Salles, Alice (November 12, 2019). Ludwig von Mises' defense of free enterprise is lost on socialists. The Washington Times. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  2. https://mises.org/wire/mises-fascism-again

External links