The Best of Ludwig von Mises

by Ludwig von Mises, Jeffrey Tucker (Foreword)

“It’s a seemingly impossible task to select the best of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) whose teaching and writing career spanned six decades and whose literary output includes several mighty and timeless treatises on political economy. They were not written in isolation from the real and often horrifying events of the 20th century; they were heavily informed by the brilliance and tragedy of his life experiences – including as a refugee forced to flee his home in Vienna – in battling every form of totalitarianism.

I’ve been reading his work since the dawn of my intellectual consciousness but I’ve yet to discover the end of his capacity to illuminate the world around us. I never fail to profit from re-reading even the books I think I understand best. Learning from Mises is a lifelong project. Even so, these five essays carry amazing power, as you will soon discover.”

~ Jeffrey Tucker, Editorial Director, American Institute for Economic Research

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (1881-1973) was an economist, historian, and philosopher. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on behalf of the market order and is best known for his 1949 book Human Action. Mises worked and taught in Vienna until he was driven out by the Nazi movement in 1934. He took sanctuary in Geneva until 1940, immigrated to the United States, and eventually taught at New York University. Mises’s colleague Friedrich Hayek viewed Mises as one of the major figures in the revival of liberalism in the post-war era. Mises’s Private Seminar in Vienna was a formative event for many social scientists of the period, and many of its alumni, including Hayek and Oskar Morgenstern, emigrated from Austria to the United States and Great Britain.

Genres: Economics, Philosophy, History

265 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 23, 2019

About the author

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (German pronunciation: [ˈluːtvɪç fɔn ˈmiːzəs]; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian economist, historian, philosopher, author, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the Austrian government's economic policies in the first third of the 20th century, the Austrian School of Economics, and the modern free-market libertarian movement.

Reviews

[Patrick Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022-06-08 I finally got to this new anthology gem, that has been on my "To Read" literal and figurative shelves since it came out in 2019.

Intro - Jeff Tucker's intro is a great little explanation of and testament to the power and importance of Mises and his ideas and will be excellent for those new to or already experienced with the works of Mises.

This anthology has the following essays/speeches:
"Liberty and Property" - a great little speech, which was recorded and is still available on-line for free, if you would like to hear a sample of Mises actually speaking too. Ever since I came across a copy of it on audio-cassette (oh, am I dating myself? Do younger readers even know what those were?) back in the late 70s or early 80s, I have listened to the talk probably 15-20 times. That may seem excessive/obsessive, and it may be, but heck, there are worse vices, eh? I just love the tone and timber of Mises' heavily German accented voice, and this recording is probably the very best one available of Mises. I have listened to at least 8-10 other audio recordings of Mises, and none really compare to this.

For those who have heard this, or will hear this speech, have you figured out what Mises meant when he used the word "Up-stuckle"? But I assure you, even if you know German, there will be other words/names that you will scratch your head about. That said, the speech/his speaking clarity, is NOT super difficult. But some words/phrases...

Other things I loved about the audio speech version were:
- how his passion for freedom and the truth come out
- his dry wit and sarcasm
- his historical breadth in this talk
- his razor sharp logic
- the timelessness & timeliness of the talk - in fact, how much more compelling it is today, due to very real negative trends now, than when I first started listening in the late 70s, 80s and 90s.

This book's having the full speech is fantastic for complementing the audio speech version for three key reasons:
- it has the full talk text - and the audio version misses the first three sentences.
- the words that are tough to hear/decipher are clear here as text
- seeing the text and exact wording can make the full meaning more clear and powerful

Other essays in the book:
"Planned Chaos" - this was first published as a short book and then used as a long Postscript to the 1951 edition of the long, great book "Socialism." I read this essay in college, not long after I first encountered the ideas of Mises. Excellent intro to his analysis of why Socialism and interventionism bring "planned chaos" to the world, FAR from the claimed benefits.

"Profit and Loss" - CLASSIC essay for all entrepreneurs especially or anyone who wants to know what the real scoop is about the key differences between Capitalism, Socialism and Interventionism, and what it means to society. Upon rereading this essay I was struck by how certain sections are a little more technical and may be more off-putting that I had realized. I still HIGHLY recommend it, but you can skip the parts that are too difficult with no big downside. And come back to them if you continue, like it and want more.

"Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" - this essay was meant for professional economists, sociologists, socialists and others with significant investment in the war of ideas and the truth. This essay, even more that his first great work "Theory of Money and Credit" made a name for Mises worldwide when it was published in 1920, shortly after the Russian Revolution implemented the socialist ideas of Marx in first country in the world. Mises' claim in the essay - that socialism is an irrational system - it does not do what it's adherents claim it will do - create more productivity, more and better goods and services that people need and want. The essay was taken seriously and was discussed worldwide for many years. For more on what happened during and after the big debate on this essay, I highly recommend the book "From Marx to Mises" by David Ramsay Steele. But first, read this essay if you are serious about the future of capitalism vs. socialism.

"The Future of Liberalism" - This is just an excerpt from the book "Liberalism" by Mises, not a stand alone speech or essay. That said, it stands just fine in this collection. Note: "Liberalism" here and most everywhere is used by Mises in the original "classical" sense, NOT the 20th/21st century American sense, unless he clearly notes so.

Notes on this edition that I'd love to see in future editions:
1. A bit longer bio of Mises, to give the reader some more context for the essays and Mises' life.
2. Some notes on translations for the originally non-English essay/chapter in this book - who did them? when?
3. Notes on/translations of foreign words/phrases - or is that just too passé in this world of instant info internet access?

Further note:
I am a supporter of the organization that published the book: AIER DOT ORG and a friend of the editor, who had the idea and coordinated the book's publication when he was at AIER, Jeff Tucker. They may have sent me a free copy of the book, I can't remember. But before I read the book over the last couple weeks, I ordered 5 more copies for myself and to give to friends who have expressed interest in Mises' ideas. I now know that I will be buying and giving away more copies.

[Margaret Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Ludwig von Mises lived up close and personal with the most turbulent history of the twentieth century. His observations and evaluations were precise, and his forecasts were prescient. This volume was published only in 2019, but it includes selected essays–or public lectures—published between 1920 and 1958.

In plain language, he describes how socialism/Nazism/communism/fascism destroys human well-being, and how the system of production we call market capitalism is a means of bringing true liberty, as well as prosperity, to its participants. He calls it the “sovereignty of the consumer” that in a capitalist economy each individual is free to buy or not any product offered by another individual or a company of them. If the consumer accepts and pays for the offering, the producer makes a profit; if the consumer rejects the item, the producer suffers a loss. By such incentives, all are encouraged to work, and to trade with each other according to needs, wants, and whims. And failures induce retries.

He describes so beautifully how a socialist economy, managed by a dictator or committees of them, is necessarily stuck into whatever established routines and products are available at the time the bureaucrats take over. There is no incentive to innovate, to upgrade, to improve either production or a product. There will be no reward for saving and investment by a worker. As for consumption, he points out that “who is to do the consuming and what is to be consumed by each is the crux of the problem of socialist distribution.” Without consumer choice, there is no means to determine any mutual value.

Mises was one-hundred-per-cent correct in his prediction of the inevitable failure of Socialism even in 1920 as the Soviet experiment began. His logic and reasoning are clear and irrefutable. Now, more than 100 years later, why do demagogues yet persuade their followers that expected free stuff is preferable to individual liberty? Is it the greed they project upon those who take satisfaction in independent earning? Just saying. . . .

Even college professors bypass teaching the essays of Ludwig von Mises. I majored in history in one university and later earned a degree in Business Administration in another. Neither school introduced me to Mises’ arguments.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read all but the very last essay. I would like to come back to it with fresh eyes at a later point. For now I find Mises to be a great beginning point for understanding basic economics, but lacking some crucial nuance that comes with more complex models.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The case against socialism/communism is laid out clearly and convincingly using an almost purely economic justification. Except for the sometimes archaic way of phrasing things, you would think he was writing today, rather than over 100 years ago. I found these essays helpful.