Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action

by Robert P. Murphy, Donald J. Boudreaux (Foreword)

Unlike what usually passes for economics in many classrooms, government, the media and elsewhere, Choice is an engaging and intriguing book that provides something quite a genuine treatise on economics that both instructs and entertains both economists and general readers. Drawing on the seminal volume by the “Austrian School” economist Ludwig von Mises, Human Action , and comparing classical and neoclassical approaches, Choice is a creative, comprehensive, and unusually lucid book on economic science and market processes. The book illuminates free economies as underpinning civilization, the folly of government central planning, the primacy of entrepreneurship and innovation, the nature of money and banking, the causes of the business cycle, the failures of government intervention, and more. As a result, Choice teaches economic principles and exposes economic fallacies, and any reader will learn both the important truths about economics and the

Genres: Economics, Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Business, Money

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

About the author

Robert P. "Bob" Murphy is an Austrian School economist and anarcho-capitalist.

Reviews

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Great way to get into the key ideas of Ludwig von Mises and his magnum opus, Human Action. This book is a modern summary/explanation of Human Action. It is intended to help people access the important ideas of Mises, without having to go through the sometimes more difficult, abstract, and much longer original volume. I think it does that job extremely well.

It also has a wonderful running commentary on the place of Mises and his key ideas in the history of economics, and the still ongoing debates about the proper methodology of economics and many other issues. It contrasts the crucial Mises ideas with the more popular and well known, but far less logical, realistic or outright destructive ideas of Keynes, Marx, Friedman and the most important parts of mainstream economics.

Topics covered which will enlighten just about anyone:
- money and inflation, in language any intelligent individual can grok
- the importance of economic calculation,
- the impossibility of economic calculation under socialism,
- the key role of the entrepreneur,
- what are capital and capital goods and why should you care deeply
- Austrian Theory of the Trade Cycle and what it means to you
- Socialism, Interventionism and Laissez Faire - understand these and decide wisely which will help you and all of society
- etc.

The book starts out with endorsements from 37 scholars. Each person highlights a good and different reason why the book is valuable. Heed their advice. This book is worth it.

Even though I started reading Mises almost 40 years ago, and have been reading and rereading his works, his critics works and his fans' works, for many of the years in-between, this is the first book I have come across which really did a great job of summarizing Human Action into a reasonable-sized book, in updated American vernacular, but still stayed very true to the ideas in not only the basics, but many important details and nuances.

I loved it and recommend it highly, whether you read the original Mises or not, but especially if not.

[CJay Engel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding. A full review will be written shortly.

[Dio Mavroyannis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is supposed to be a short version and a more modern version of Human action. Most people who plan to read Human Action by Mises should probably go through this book first. Admittedly, I was considering moving on to Human Action after this book but now I don't feel like I have the will anymore, I am no longer convinced that that book is precise enough.

The best part of the book is the beginning, Murphy goes through quite a few interesting discussions, and I find his arguments for diminishing marginal utility much clearer and more lucid than Mises or Rothbard. On the other hand, I feel like there is a lack of defense given as to why THESE definitions should be employed? Neoclassical economics uses "good" to denote physical goods, Austrians use it to denote some kind of psychic phenomenon, I would like some philosophy of what exactly makes definitions better or worse.

Probably the most disappointing aspect is the calculation problem discussion. I find that the language used is very imprecise, it isn't clear what EXACTLY the planner is trying to achieve. Suppose the planner ONLY wanted to ensure that everybody had a house which he would specify, does he have a calculation problem? I don't think so.

Similarly, his discussion of the business cycle seems overly short, while I like the metaphor of the builder trying to build a house that uses more bricks than he has, I find that the metaphor to be insufficiently defended, and such may confuse more than it enlightens.

When he discusses the Naive productivity theory of interest, he seems to give a straight-up Net present value example. But doesn't really explain the link or innovation relative to the NPV.

Anyway, it's a good book but I think it could have been clearer, of course, I appreciate that he is trying to condense a 900-page book into 300 pages.

[Ted Andersson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firade 1 maj med att läsa ut Robert Murphy's komprimerade variant av Human Action. Boken är lättillgängligt och pedagogisk. En utmärkt bok för den som vill få en förståelse för Mises ekonomiska teorier. Jag väntar med spänning på Mises-Institutets svenska översättning av Human Action. Kan jag läsa den i sommar tro?

[Dan Coats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Murphy is a hero for bringing Mises' work of Human Action to the next generation.

[Alireza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and accessible summary of Mises's main book.

[محمد هِج‌هاگ · Rating 5 out of 5]

خلاصه و تفسیری از کتاب کنش انسانی میزس هست. کنش انسانی معروف ترین کتاب میزسه و این کتاب هم معروف‌ترین کتاب مورفی. یادمه جردن پیترسون توی پادکستی که با مورفی داشت، قبل از شروع مصاحبه از بین کتاب های مورفی بیشتر به این کتاب اشاره می‌کنه.
افراد زیادی خوندن این کتاب رو توصیه کردن، از جمله استیون هورویتز و بوتکه.
کتاب به خوبی شما رو با هسته‌ی ایده‌های میزس توی کتاب کنش انسانی آشنا میکنه. بعضی جاها مورفی برای فهم میزس مقدماتی رو خارج از کنش انسانی به مخاطب توضیح میده.
نیمه دوم کتاب اقتصادی‌تر یا به قول میزس کاتالاکتیکی‌تر هست و سرعت خوندنم کمتر بود. تقریبا می‌تونم بگم که هیچ بخشی از کتاب نبود که نفهمیدم. اگرچه منو درنهایت با ایده‌های میزس مستقیما تماس داد، ولی سوالات متعددی دارم که این کتاب نتونست جواب بده.
محتوای نثر میزس ساده است اما از نظر انتخاب کلمات و جمله‌بندی نثر پرتکلفی داره. این کتاب فهمیدن کنش انسانی رو برای ما آسون کرده. خوندن این کتاب رو به همه توصیه می‌کنم. به خصوص به افرادی که میخوان اتریشی‌ها رو جدی تر دنبال کنند و حتی کنش انسانی رو در نهایت بخونن.

[Aaron Kleinheksel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If all economists were laid end to end, they would still not reach a conclusion." ~ attributed to George Bernard Shaw

I chose this book to gain an understanding of the Austrian School of Economics and the thought of Ludwig von Mises. I doubt there is a better book to do so. Robert Murphy loves his subject matter and this shows through as he takes the reader on an explanatory tour through von Mises' massive magnum opus, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics.

Murphy did a great job, and I honestly learned a lot from this book, and am persuaded of much of what von Mises and others of the Austrian School teach. I think one of the reasons for this is that Austrian thought does not start with economic theory, but rather with human nature, social theory and philosophy. It demonstrates that economics is really just another outgrowth of human activity, and so many of the same principles may be applied. Humans are not rational, and do not make choices based on pure logic. This is a primary reason why so many other economic theories have faltered.

The chapter explaining the concept of Interest really being based on time preference vs. capital production was particularly good.

If I had one suggestion for future editions of this book, it would be to add an appendix to the text with short descriptions of the primary competing economic theories, particularly Keynesian and Supply-side economics, and "Modern Monetary Theory." As it was, I had to track this information down myself.

I am writing this review in September of 2022, and from my seat it certainly looks as if Ludwig von Mises is being vindicated in spades, in the USA and globally.

[Daniel Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I would label this as an intermediate level book. A good book to read just before this would be Economics for Real People (Gene Callahan), which, I would label as somewhere between beginner and intermediate.

Anyway, I love the way Murphy jumped from explaining economics to almost a biography on Mises. One moment you're reading about interest and the next you're getting a deeper understanding of the buildup of knowledge from guys like Menger and Bohm-Bawerk that led to the Misesian theory of time preference.

Mises, as Murphy shows, was alive at a time when economics was heading in the wrong direction. The approach to economics needed to be ironed out and refined. More than that, the science needed to be rescued from the clutches of very dangerous (whether they were intentionally dangerous is beside the point) men. Mises stepped up and met the challenge.

Sweet read!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading "Human Action" by Von Mises and found it difficult to read for me as an economics novice. Fortunately, I found Dr. Murphy's volume, "Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action. His purpose in writing "Choice..." was to make the concepts in "Human Action" easier for those like myself to read and understand. Now, I can go back and possibly get through "Human Action"; Hopefully.

[Nicki Uy · Rating 4 out of 5]

so this book talks about economists turning the field of economy into a theoretical science w wayyy too much math and computation and forgetting about human action and desire, so there's a reason why concepts and theories are faulty when it comes to practical use.. very insightful!!

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic explanation of Mises’s work

Dr. Murphy makes Mises’s dense text accessible to everyone. This book has clear examples that illuminate the bedrock principles of Austrian economics. I can’t recommend this book enough to everyone of all ideological persuasions.

[Yash Arya · Rating 5 out of 5]

About the book
Choice, by economist Robert P. Murphy is a simplified and condensed version of the book Human Action by the economist Ludwig von Mises. Human Action is one of the most important books on economics ever written, but it is over 950 pages long and not easy to understand. This book covers all the topics covered by Mises, though in a different order as deemed appropriate by Murphy to make it beginner friendly.

Why study economics?
"Public policy in democratic societies will always reflect the economic understanding of the general
public. If the general public believes that imports hurt the domestic economy, a policy of free trade has no hope of being realized. If the general public does not understand the dangers of discretionary monetary policy, discretionary monetary policy will persist. If members of the general public do not understand that the well-being of the poor and the middle class improves as entrepreneurs and businesses are more free to innovate and compete, public policy will be a nest of obstacles to innovation and barriers to competition." - economist Donald J. Boudreaux (in the Foreword to the book)

"Whether we like it or not, it is a fact that economics cannot remain an esoteric branch of knowledge accessible only to small groups of scholars and specialists. Economics deals with society's fundamental problems; it concerns everyone and belongs to all. [Economics] is the main and proper study of every citizen." - Ludwig von Mises

How is Economics Different from Natural Sciences?
There are different schools of thought on the proper economic methodology. According to Mises, economics is more similar to geometry than (say) physics of biology: Start with irrefutable axioms and logically deduce each step.

"the laws or principles of economics cannot be established through laboratory experiment or empirical data, in the same way that a fact of the natural sciences can be demonstrated. Economic principles are a priori knowledge, which must be deduced theoretically and then deployed by the economist to interpret historical observations."

"In practice, episodes in economic history are complex phenomena, involving multiple factors. As there are no truly controlled experiments in economics—especially in macroeconomics—it is impossible to isolate and test rival theories. This is why, for example, Austrians and Keynesians still
argue about the Great Depression or more recently about the success or failure of the so-called Obama stimulus package of early 2009. In economics, rival theories cannot be judged the way they can be in the natural sciences. As Mises puts it, “The economist can never refute the economic cranks and quacks in the way in which the doctor refutes the medicine man and charlatan."

(Note: In line with Ayn Rand's Objectivist Epistemology, I don't believe that the starting point of economics are "a priori axioms", rather that they are inductive generalizations. This is a complicated topic beyond the scope of this review. Nonetheless, given these starting points, the rest of the conclusions follow deductively just as in a geometric proof.)

The "Axiom" of Human Action and its Implications
Mises considers economics to be the most commonly known subset of the broader field that he calls Praxeology, the science of Human Action.

Action refers to purposeful behavior, not include all human behavior (such as reflexive behavior.)

The fact of action has some implications.
1. If There’s Action, There Must Be an Actor
2. Purposeful Behavior Implies an Underlying Purpose (Preferences)
3. Preferences Are a Subjective Ranking, Not an Objective Measurement
4. An Acting Individual Thinks He or She Can Influence the Future

Purposeful behavior isn’t necessarily rational behavior in the sense of being correct (e.g. doing a rain dance for rain is purposeful behavior, it’s simply guided by false beliefs.). However, in a free-market, purposeful behavior tends towards rational behavior over time, because “a market based on private property has built-in mechanisms that tend to weed out important decisions based on improper calculations or false expectations about the future.”

Further Economic Concepts and Principles Flowing from Action
Human Action: Using reason to adopt means to achieve a desired purpose.
Consumer goods: Economic goods that are fitted to satisfy human wants directly (first-order goods.)
Producer goods: Economic goods that satisfy human wants only indirectly by helping to create consumer goods (higher-order goods.)
Natural resources (“land”): Producer goods that are the direct gifts of nature. Observe that matter that does not have any use doesn’t count as natural resource.

E.g. Goal (first-order good): A coconut to alleviate hunger.
Tool (second-order good): A branch to knock down the coconut.
Tool for tool (third-order good): A rock to break off the branch.

Notice how you need to think backwards, starting from the first-order good and what it requires.

The value isn’t in the object itself, it’s in your mind (a relationship between your preferences and the object’s properties.) The same branch could be a tool or a back-scratcher.

(Side-note: Objectivism calls value Objective. Austrian economics calls it Subjective. Regardless of the term, it’s important to note that it’s not in the mind alone but rather in the relationship between the valuer’s preferences and the object’s properties.)

Every action is an attempt to substitute a more satisfactory state of affairs for a less satisfactory one. Undertaking any action requires giving up alternative courses of action.

Opportunity cost: The value of the next-best alternative that you must give up to attain the end you’re aiming for.

The Diamond-Water Paradox: Why are diamonds worth more than water when water is essential for life? Because we don’t choose between ALL water and ALL diamonds. We choose based on the value of each additional unit.

For example, suppose Fred has 3 water bottles. He uses them as follows.
Bottle 1: To drink right away (highest value)
Bottle 2: To save for the night (medium value)
Bottle 3: To give to his dog (lower value)
If Fred loses one bottle, he gives up the LEAST important use for it, not the most important one.

Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: As you get more units of a good, you use each new unit to satisfy a less urgent goal.

Take the example of dish-washing at a cafeteria. Beyond a certain point, hiring more people would simply lead to them getting in each other’s way. Peak efficiency (dishes per worker) will maximize at certain number of workers. But peak efficiency isn’t always the goal either. For a busy shift, maximizing total output may be more important even if that comes at a somewhat lower output per worker.

Whether alone on a desert island or as a manager in a cafeteria, we use scarce resources to achieve our most important goals first.

Above are some of the points that I found useful to note for myself, but I encourage reading the book in full to see how Mises builds on this starting point.

[Patrick S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who are intimidate by Human Action by Mises or you want to learn an amazing economic theory this is the one book you will need. Dr. Murphy writes with enough detail that you don't feel like you're missing out on Mises' tome but with enough examples and metaphors that you'll be able to grasp it. This was a pleasure to read and I cannot recommend it enough. Final Grade - A+

[Mina Samir · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great condensed translation of Ludwig von Mises' Human Action. It is very accessible to the layman and for people who tried to read Human Action but found it difficult or inaccessible. It's also, on the whole, a really good introduction to the Austrian school of economics and its history.

[Borislav Boev · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book, focused primarily in two directions: Ludwig von Mises’ views on economics, and more broadly, the principles of the Austrian School of Economics.

Murphy explains in accessible language why the Austrian School, compared to other schools of thought, emphasizes logical deduction and linguistic clarity rather than mathematical models. More importantly, he shows how this methodological approach identifies the real problems in economics and suggests effective ways to address them.

Later in the book, Murphy highlights behavioral patterns in economics that arise from individuals’ rational choices, their goals, and their subjective expectations. A particularly important point is the definition of human action, where Murphy further develops Mises’ praxeological framework, adapted for today's economic reality.

Murphy vividly explains the fundamental principles of social cooperation, the division of labor, the definition of the market economy, economic freedom, the subjective theory of value, time preference, capital accumulation, and—last but not least—the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (ABCT).

Another crucial section deals with government intervention in the economy. Murphy illustrates why such interventions almost always fail—whether through quantitative easing, money printing, overregulation, or price controls.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding how the economy truly works.

I will end my review with a quote from the book:
“Economics deals with society's fundamental problems; it concerns everyone and belongs to all. It is the main and proper study of every citizen.”

[Henrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This full length books central focus is to summarize/popularize the ideas of the Ludwig von Mises tome Human Action, a book purported to give a kind of logical-philosophical foundation for the study of economics as a deductive science (rather than empirical). I haven't read Human Action, so I can only guess (by the enormous numbers of endorsements) that it does justice to the ideas therein.

This book is very clearly written, in an engaging, pedagogic style, that presents Mises ideas and puts them in a wider context. More generally, it is often a delight to read Austrian economics (as this branch of economics is called) since it relies on logic and sound arguments, and eschews the role for mathematics in prediction of complex economic systems (and that's coming from someone who likes maths). There are other wonderful books on Austrian economics, but this is the one I would point any interested reader to first.

[Tim G · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This wasn't a book for me. For those that have an affiliation and interest in economics, and particularly the Austrian economics, this will be a very appealing book .
The book is broken down quite well and the initial parts of the book were informative, such as "Economics is that way of understanding behaviour that starts from the assumption that individual have objectives and tend to choose the correct way to achieve them."
"Action is an attempt to substitute a more satisfactory state of affairs for a less satisfactory one. We call such wilfully induced alteration as exchange."
However, at half way I was easily distracted and not engaging with the content, the reading was a struggle and I stopped. This was somewhat frustrating as I had such an excellent run of novels that were engaging for me.
I will stress that the book is well written and suitable for those with an interest, but this was a recommendation which I did not relate with.

[Barry Linetsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've been curious about the core ideas and place of Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian school of economics, Dr. Murphy has provided an outstanding place to start or to better understand Mises' great work Human Action. The book is clear and easy to understand, with lots of modern examples to explain and clarify possible confusions. This book is like having a high school course on economics or an undergraduate introduction course on Human Action and Ludwig von Mises. Nothing beats reading and learning from Mises, but it's also true that nothing beats Choice to help readers more clearly understand the important arguments and place the great man himself.

[James Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very concise and clear introduction to the Austrian School. Bob Murphy provides an easy to read short-hand distillation of Ludwig Von Mises huge treatise on economics, Human Action. For anyone with ambition to read Human Action, this book is worthwhile reading. If you don't plan to tackle Human Action, this book does an admirable job of providing Mises' key principles, using modern language and examples.

[Charlon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible Human Action

Translated brilliantly for everyone to understand Ludwig Von Mises’s excellent economic contribution. Robert Murphy did an amazing work. He made Human Action accessible.

[Douglas R McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you try Human Action and realize a primer,study guide is in dire need. This checks all the boxes.
Rereading Human Action, with Bob's book nearby.

[Michael’ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminder: write a review

[Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much easier than reading Human Action.

[Chicken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good distillation of Human Action

[Geoff Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an accessible and engaging modern version of Ludwig von Mises magnum opus on Austrian economics. This book produced the most notes and curious questions of any I have ever read.

[Todd Remias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandatory reading. Deductive economics simply put.

[Shurik · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting read to understand the mind of the Austrian economist.

[Nes Danziger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing introduction to Austrian Economics.

[Malte HIlbricht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chad österreichische schule der Nationalökonomie vs virgin Keynesianismus