Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an
Austrian School
The Austrian School is a heterodox
In religion, heterodoxy (from Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It ...
economist
An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science
Social science is the branch
A branch ( or , ) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the s ...

,
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, logician, and
sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a History of liberalism, branch of liberalism that advocates free market, civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on limited government, economic freedom, and political freedom. I ...
and is known for
explaining how communism always ends in totalitarianism and dictatorships. He is best known for his work on
praxeology In philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about Metaphysics, existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of mind, mind, and Philosophy of language, language ...
studies
comparing communism and capitalism. He is considered one of the greatest economic and political thinkers of the 20th century.
Mises emigrated from
Austria
Austria (, ; german: Österreich ), officially the Republic of Austria (german: Republik Österreich, links=no, ), is a landlocked Eastern Alps, East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe. It is composed of nine States o ...

to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in 1940. Since the mid-20th century, libertarian movements have been strongly influenced by Mises's writings. Mises' student
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist, and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nob ...
viewed Mises as one of the major figures in the revival of classical liberalism in the post-war era. Hayek's work "The Transmission of the Ideals of Freedom" (1951) pays high tribute to the influence of Mises in the 20th century libertarian movement.
Mises's Private Seminar was a leading group of economists. Many of its alumni, including
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist, and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nob ...
and
Oskar Morgenstern
Oskar Morgenstern (January 24, 1902 – July 26, 1977) was a German-American
German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nation ...
, emigrated from Austria to the United States and Great Britain. Mises has been described as having approximately seventy close students in Austria.
Biography
Early life

Ludwig von Mises was born to
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים ISO 259-2 , Israeli pronunciation ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is ...
parents in the city of Lemberg,
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval Kingdom ...
,
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy, was a constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exe ...

(now
Lviv
Lviv ( ; uk, Львів ; pl, Lwów ; russian: Львов ; german: Lemberg; see also other names
Other most often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Books
* The Oth ...

,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in . It is the in Europe after , which it borders to the east and north-east. Ukraine also shares borders with to the north; , , and to the west; and to the south; and has a coastli ...

). The family of his father, Arthur Edler von Mises, had been elevated to the Austrian nobility in the 19th century (
Edler
Edler () was until 1919 the lowest rank of nobility
Nobility is a social class normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy (class), aristocracy. Nobility has often be ...
indicates a noble landless family) and they had been involved in financing and constructing railroads. His mother Adele (née Landau) was a niece of Dr. Joachim Landau, a Liberal Party deputy to the Austrian Parliament.
Arthur von Mises was stationed in Lemberg as a construction engineer with the Czernowitz railway company.
By the age of 12, Mises spoke fluent German, Polish and French, read Latin and could understand Ukrainian.
[ Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn]
"The Cultural Background of Ludwig von Mises"
''The Ludwig von Mises Institute'', p. 1 Mises had a younger brother,
Richard von Mises
Richard Edler von Mises (; 19 April 1883 – 14 July 1953) was an Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Something ...
, who became a mathematician and a member of the
Vienna Circle
The Vienna Circle (german: Wiener Kreis) of Logical Empiricism was a group of philosophers and scientists drawn from the Natural science, natural and Social Sciences, social sciences, logic and mathematics who met regularly from 1924 to 1936 at th ...
, and a probability theorist. When Ludwig and Richard were still children, their family moved back to Vienna.
In 1900, Mises attended the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public university, public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the Geograph ...
, becoming influenced by the works of
Carl Menger
Carl Menger (; ; 28 February 1840 – 26 February 1921) was an Austrian economist and the founder of the Austrian School of economics. Menger contributed to the development of the theory of marginalism (marginal utility), which rejected the co ...
. Mises's father died in 1903. Three years later, Mises was awarded his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken in the area around Rome, known as Latium. Through the power of the Roman Republ ...

from the school of law in 1906.
Life in Europe
In the years from 1904 to 1914, Mises attended lectures given by Austrian economist
Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
Eugen Ritter von Böhm-Bawerk (; born Eugen Böhm, 12 February 185127 August 1914) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian economist who made important contributions to the development of the Austrian School, Austrian School of Economics and neoclassical e ...
. He graduated in February 1906 (
Juris Doctor
The Juris Doctor degree (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Law or Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree
A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is ...
) and started a career as a civil servant in Austria's financial administration.
After a few months, he left to take a trainee position in a Vienna law firm. During that time, Mises began lecturing on economics and in early 1909 joined the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During
World War I
World War I, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war
A world war is "a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world". The term is usually reserved for ...

, Mises served as a front officer in the
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy, was a constitutional monarchy
A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises authority in accordance with a writte ...

artillery and as an economic adviser to the War Department.
Mises was chief economist for the
Austrian Chamber of Commerce and was an economic adviser of
Engelbert Dollfuss
Engelbert Dollfuss (german: Engelbert Dollfuß, ; 4 October 1892 – 25 July 1934) was an Austrian politician who served as Chancellor of Austria
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in the southern ...

, the
austrofascist and strongly anti-Nazi
Austrian Chancellor. Later, Mises was economic adviser to
Otto von Habsburg
Otto von Habsburg (given names: ''Franz Joseph Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetan Pius Ignatius''; 20 November 1912 4 July 2011), was the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, of ...

, the
Christian democratic
Christian democracy is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching
Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated as CST, is a Catholic doctrine on matters of human dignity
...
politician and claimant to the
throne of Austria (which had been legally abolished in 1918 following the Great War).
[Mises, Margit von]
''My Years with Ludwig von Mises''
Arlington House Publishers
Arlington House, Inc. (dba as Arlington House Publishers), now-defunct, was an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the United States
The United S ...
, 1976; 2nd enlarged ed., Cedar Falls, IA: Center for Futures Education, 1984. . In 1934, Mises left Austria for Geneva, Switzerland, where he was a professor at the
Graduate Institute of International Studies
Graduate refers to someone who has been the subject of a graduation
Graduation is the award of a diploma or academic degree, or the ceremony that is sometimes associated with it, in which students become alumnus, graduates. The date of graduati ...
until 1940.
While in Switzerland, Mises married Margit Herzfeld Serény, a former actress and widow of Ferdinand Serény. She was the mother of
Gitta Sereny
Gitta Sereny, CBE (13 March 192114 June 2012) was an Austrian-British biographer, historian, and investigative journalist who came to be known for her interviews and profiles of infamous figures, including Mary Bell, who was convicted in 1968 ...
.
Work in the United States
In 1940, Mises and his wife fled the German advance in Europe and emigrated to New York City in the United States.
He had come to the United States under a grant by the
Rockefeller Foundation
''
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation
A private foundation is a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause, might or might not qualify as a public charity by government standards. The Bill & Melinda Gates ...
. Like many other classical liberal scholars who fled to the United States, he received support by the
William Volker FundThe William Volker Fund was a charitable foundation established in 1932 by Kansas City, Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. With more than six million residents, it i ...
to obtain a position in American universities.
Mises became a visiting professor at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private
"In Private" was the third single in a row to be a charting success for United Kingdom, British singer Dusty Springfield, after an absence of ne ...
and held this position from 1945 until his retirement in 1969, though he was not salaried by the university.
Businessman and
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the study of general and funda ...
commentator
Lawrence Fertig, a member of the New York University Board of Trustees, funded Mises and his work.
For part of this period, Mises studied
currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" in the most specific sense is money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services ...

issues for the
Pan-Europa movement, which was led by
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi
Richard Nikolaus Eijiro, Count of Coudenhove-Kalergi (16 November 1894 – 27 July 1972) was an Austrian-Japanese politician, philosopher and Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility
Nobility is a social cla ...
, a fellow New York University faculty member and Austrian exile. In 1947, Mises became one of the founding members of the
Mont Pelerin Society
Mont may refer to:
Places
* Mont., an abbreviation for Montana
Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West region of the United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west; North Dakota and South Dakota to the e ...
.
In 1962, Mises received the
Austrian Decoration for Science and Art
The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the honours system in the Republic of Austria, national honours sy ...
for political economy at the
Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Mises retired from teaching at the age of 87 and died at the age of 92 in New York. He is buried at
Ferncliff Cemetery
Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum is located at 280 Secor Road in the hamlet of Hartsdale, town of Greenburgh, Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populated county i ...
in
Hartsdale, New York
Hartsdale is located in the town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. ...
.
Grove City College
Grove City College (GCC) is a private, Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-professional programs with u ...
houses the 20,000-page archive of Mises papers and unpublished works.
[Austrian Student Scholars Conference Announcement]
Grove City College
Grove City College (GCC) is a private, Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-professional programs with u ...
website, 2013, ''accessed June 8, 2013. The personal library of Mises was given to
Hillsdale College
, mottoeng = Strength Rejoices in the Challenge
, established =
, type = Liberal arts college
, endowment = $900 million (2021)
, president = Larry P. Arnn
, provost ...
as bequeathed in his will.
At one time, Mises praised the work of writer
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand (; born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her two best-selling novels, ''The Fountainhead'' and ''Atlas Shrugged'', and for developing a philosophic ...

and she generally looked on his work with favor, but the two had a volatile relationship, with strong disagreements for example over the moral basis of capitalism.
Contributions and influence in economics
Mises wrote and lectured extensively on behalf of
classical liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a History of liberalism, branch of liberalism that advocates free market, civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on limited government, economic freedom, and political freedom. I ...
. In his magnum opus ''
Human Action
''Human Action: A Treatise on Economics'' is a work by the Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Something associ ...
'', Mises adopted
praxeology In philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about Metaphysics, existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of mind, mind, and Philosophy of language, language ...
as a general conceptual foundation of the social sciences and set forth his methodological approach to economics.
Mises was for
economic non-interventionism and was an
anti-imperialist
Anti-imperialism in political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations between ind ...
.
He referred to
the Great War
World War I or the First World War, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously known as the Great War or "The war to end war, the war ...

as such a watershed event in human history and wrote that "war has become more fearful and destructive than ever before because it is now waged with all the means of the highly developed technique that the free economy has created. Bourgeois civilization has built railroads and electric power plants, has invented explosives and airplanes, in order to create wealth. Imperialism has placed the tools of peace in the service of destruction. With modern means it would be easy to wipe out humanity at one blow."
In 1920, Mises introduced in an article his
Economic Calculation Problem
The economic calculation problem is a criticism of using economic planning as a substitute for market-based allocation of the factors of production. It was first proposed by Ludwig von Mises in his 1920 article " Economic Calculation in the Soc ...
as a critique of socialisms which are based on
planned economies
A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment
To invest is to allocate money
Image:National-Debt-Gillray.jpeg, In a 1786 James Gillray caricature, the plentiful money bags handed to King George III are contrasted with th ...
and renunciations of the
price mechanism
In economics
Economics () is the social science that studies how people interact with value; in particular, the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods ...
.
In his first article "
Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth
"Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" is an article by Austrian School
The Austrian School is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that is based on methodological individualism ...
", Mises describes the nature of the price system under capitalism and describes how individual
subjective values are translated into the objective information necessary for
rational
Rationality is the quality or state of being rational – that is, being based on or agreeable to reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously making sense of things, applying logic
Logic (from Ancient Greek, Greek: grc, wikt:λογι ...
allocation of resources in society.
Mises argued that the pricing systems in socialist economies were necessarily deficient because if a public entity owned all the
means of production
The means of production is a concept that encompasses the social use and ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive right
In Anglo-Saxon law
Anglo-Saxon law (Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest record ...
, no rational prices could be obtained for
capital goods
Capital most commonly refers to:
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter in any type of writing
* Capital city, the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status, usually but not always the seat of the gover ...
as they were merely internal transfers of goods and not "objects of exchange", unlike final goods. Therefore, they were unpriced and hence the system would be necessarily irrational, as the central planners would not know how to allocate the available resources efficiently.
He wrote that "rational economic activity is impossible in a socialist
commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good
Common good
Common good
In philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about r ...

".
Mises developed his critique of socialism more completely in his 1922 book ''
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis'', arguing that the market price system is an expression of
praxeology In philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about Metaphysics, existence, reason, Epistemology, knowledge, Ethics, values, Philosophy of mind, mind, and Philosophy of language, language ...
and can not be replicated by any form of bureaucracy.
Friends and students of Mises in Europe included
and
(advisors to German chancellor
Ludwig Erhard
Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Chancellor of Germany (1949–), chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leadin ...

),
Jacques Rueff
Jacques Léon Rueff (23 August 1896 – 23 April 1978) was a French economist
An economist is a practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concep ...
(monetary advisor to
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 19 ...
),
Gottfried Haberler
Gottfried von Haberler (; July 20, 1900 – May 6, 1995) was an Austrian-American economist. He worked in particular on international trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders o ...
(later a professor at
Harvard
Harvard University is a private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* "In Private
"In Private" was the third single in a row to be a charting success for United Kingdom, British singer Dusty Springfield, after an absence of nearly t ...

),
Lionel, Lord Robbins (of the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established = 1895
, type = Public
In public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization
...
), Italian President
Luigi Einaudi
Luigi Numa Lorenzo Einaudi (; 24 March 1874 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian politician
A politician is a person active in party politics
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is t ...

, and
Leonid Hurwicz
Leonid "Leo" Hurwicz (; August 21, 1917 – June 24, 2008) was a Polish-American economist
An economist is a practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develop, and apply theorie ...

, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Economist and political theorist
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist, and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nob ...
first came to know Mises while working as his subordinate at a government office dealing with Austria's post-World War I debt. While toasting Mises at a party in 1956, Hayek said: "I came to know him as one of the best educated and informed men I have ever known".
Mises's seminars in Vienna fostered lively discussion among established economists there. The meetings were also visited by other important economists who happened to be traveling through Vienna.
At his New York University seminar and at informal meetings at his apartment, Mises attracted college and high school students who had heard of his European reputation. They listened while he gave carefully prepared lectures from notes.
[ pp. 66–67.] Among those who attended his informal seminar over the course of two decades in New York were
Israel Kirzner
Israel Meir Kirzner (also Yisroel Mayer Kirzner ; born February 13, 1930) is a British-born American economist
An economist is a practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics.
The individual may also study, develo ...

,
Hans Sennholz
Hans F. Sennholz (; ; 3 February 1922 – 23 June 2007) was a German-born American Austrian School economist and prolific author who studied under Ludwig von Mises. A Luftwaffe pilot during World War II, he was shot down over North Africa on 31 Aug ...
,
Ralph Raico
Ralph Raico (; October 23, 1936 – December 13, 2016) was an American libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy
Political philosophy or political theory is ...
,
Leonard LiggioLeonard P. Liggio (July 5, 1933 – October 14, 2014) was a classical liberal author, research professor of law at George Mason University and executive vice president of the Atlas Network in Fairfax, Virginia.
Career
In 1965, Liggio gave lectu ...
,
George Reisman
George Gerald Reisman (; born January 13, 1937)"George Gerald Reisman" (2002), ''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, Retrieved on January 18, 2007. is an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the Unit ...
and
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist
Heterodox economics is any economic thought or theory that contrasts with orthodox schools of economic thought, or that may be beyond neocla ...

. Mises's work also influenced other Americans, including
Benjamin Anderson,
Leonard Read
Leonard Edward Read (September 26, 1898 – May 14, 1983) was the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), one of the first modern Libertarianism in the United States, libertarian institutions in the United States. He wrote 29 book ...
,
Henry Hazlitt
Henry Stuart Hazlitt (; November 28, 1894 – July 9, 1993) was an American journalist who wrote about business and economics for such publications as ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'', also known as ''The Journal'', is ...

,
Max Eastman
Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...

, legal scholar Sylvester J. Petro and novelist
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand (; born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-American writer and philosopher. She is known for her two best-selling novels, ''The Fountainhead'' and ''Atlas Shrugged'', and for developing a philosophic ...

.
Reception
Debates about Mises's arguments
Economic historian
Bruce Caldwell wrote that in the mid-20th century, with the ascendance of
positivism
Positivism is a philosophical theory
A philosophical theory or philosophical position''Dictionary of Theories'', Jennifer Bothamley is a view that attempts to explain or account for a particular problem in philosophy
Philosophy (from ...
and
Keynesianism
Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was an English economist
An economist is a professional and ...
, Mises came to be regarded by many as the "archetypal 'unscientific' economist".
In a 1957 review of his book ''
The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality'', ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is an international weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news or current affairsCurrent affairs may refer to:
Media
* Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine), a bimonthly magazine of cult ...
'' said of Mises: "Professor von Mises has a splendid analytical mind and an admirable passion for liberty; but as a student of
human nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental disposition
A disposition is a quality of character, a habit
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior
Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British ...

he is worse than null and as a debater he is of
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
In England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
* Hyde ...
standard". Conservative commentator
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party
A communist party is a political party
A political party is an organization t ...

published a similarly negative review of that book in the ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American semi-monthly conservative
Conservatism is an aesthetic
Aesthetics, or esthetics (), is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, as well as the p ...
,'' stating that Mises's thesis that anti-capitalist sentiment was rooted in "envy" epitomized "
know-nothing
The Know Nothings were a nativist political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about polit ...
conservatism" at its "know-nothingest".
Scholar Scott Scheall called economist
Terence Hutchison "the most persistent critic of Mises's apriorism",
starting in Hutchison's 1938 book ''The Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory'' and in later publications such as his 1981 book ''The Politics and Philosophy of Economics: Marxians, Keynesians, and Austrians''.
Scheall noted that
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist, and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nob ...
, later in his life (after Mises died), also expressed reservations about Mises's
apriorism, such as in a 1978 interview where Hayek said that he "never could accept the ... almost eighteenth-century rationalism in his
ises'sargument".
In a 1978 interview, Hayek said about Mises's book ''Socialism (book), Socialism'':
Economist Milton Friedman considered Mises inflexible in his thinking, but added that Mises's difficult life and lack of acceptance by academia are the likely culprits:
Economist
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist
Heterodox economics is any economic thought or theory that contrasts with orthodox schools of economic thought, or that may be beyond neocla ...

, who studied under Mises, agreed he was uncompromising, but disputes reports of his abrasiveness. In his words, Mises was "unbelievably sweet, constantly finding research projects for students to do, unfailingly courteous, and never bitter" about the discrimination he received at the hands of the economic establishment of his time.
After Mises died, his widow Margit quoted a passage that he had written about
Benjamin Anderson. She said it best described Mises's own personality:
His most eminent qualities were his inflexible honesty, his unhesitating sincerity. He never yielded. He always freely enunciated what he considered to be true. If he had been prepared to suppress or only to soften his criticisms of popular, but irresponsible, policies, the most influential positions and offices would have been offered him. But he never compromised.
Debates about fascism
Marxists Herbert Marcuse and Perry Anderson as well as German writer Claus-Dieter Krohn criticized Mises for writing approvingly of Italian fascism, especially for its suppression of leftist elements, in his 1927 book ''Liberalism (book), Liberalism''. In 2009, economist J. Bradford DeLong and sociologist Richard Seymour (21st-century writer), Richard Seymour repeated the criticism.
Mises, in his 1927 book ''Liberalism'', wrote:
Mises biographer Jörg Guido Hülsmann says that critics who suggest that Mises supported fascism are "absurd" as he notes that the full quote describes fascism as dangerous. He notes that Mises thought it was a "fatal error" to think that it was more than an "emergency makeshift" against the looming threat of communism and socialism as exemplified by the Bolsheviks in Russia and the surging Communist Party of Germany, communists of Germany.
[ Nevertheless, Jörg Guido Hülsmann, Hülsmann does mention briefly in ''Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism'' that Mises had been a card-carrying member of the Fatherland Front (Austria) fascist party but, as Hülsmann uses the word "probably", it's not exactly clear whether membership was mandatory for public officials and Civil service, civil servants.
]
Works
Books
* ''The Theory of Money and Credit'' (1912, enlarged US edition 1953)
*
Full text available
.
*
Nation, State, and Economy
' (1919)
*
Full text available
* "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth
"Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" is an article by Austrian School
The Austrian School is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that is based on methodological individualism ...
" (1920) (article)
* ''Socialism (book), Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis'' (1922, 1932, 1951)
* ''Liberalism (book), Liberalismus'' (1927, 1962)
**Translated into English with the new title, ''The Free and Prosperous Commonwealth''
*
A Critique of Interventionism
' (1929
Full text available online
[“...we must greet enthusiastically the recent publishing of six essays written by Ludwig von Mises in the 1920s. ]Arlington House Publishers
Arlington House, Inc. (dba as Arlington House Publishers), now-defunct, was an American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the United States
The United S ...
and translator Professor Hans Sennholz
Hans F. Sennholz (; ; 3 February 1922 – 23 June 2007) was a German-born American Austrian School economist and prolific author who studied under Ludwig von Mises. A Luftwaffe pilot during World War II, he was shot down over North Africa on 31 Aug ...
are to be congratulated for making these essays available to a whole new generation of economists and policymakers who could still profit, apparently, from their insightful analysis.”
Armentano, D
“Review of ''A Critique of Interventionism'', by Ludwig von Mises”
''Reason (magazine), Reason'', May 1978
*
Epistemological Problems of Economics
' (1933, 1960)
**
Epistemological Problems of Economics
'
*
Memoirs
' (1940)
* ''Interventionism: An Economic Analysis'' (1941, 1998)
* ''Omnipotent Government, Omnipotent Government: The Rise of Total State and Total War'' (1944)
* ''Bureaucracy (book), Bureaucracy'' (1944, 1962)
*
Planned Chaos
' (1947, added to 1951 edition of ''Socialism'')
**
Planned Chaos
'
* ''Human Action, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics'' (1949, 1963, 1966, 1996)
*
Planning for Freedom
' (1952, enlarged editions in 1962, 1974, and 1980)
* '' The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality'' (1956)
*
Full text available
at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.
* ''Theory and History, Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution'' (1957)
*
Full text available
*
Full audiobook available
*
The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science
' (1962)
**
The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science
'
*
The Historical Setting of the Austrian School of Economics
' (1969)
**
The Historical Setting of the Austrian School of Economics
'
* ''Notes and Recollections'' (1978)
*
The Clash of Group Interests and Other Essays
' (1978)
*
On the Manipulation of Money and Credit
' (1978)
**
The Causes of the Economic Crisis
', reissue
*
Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow
' (1979, lectures given in 1959)
**
Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow
'
*
Money, Method, and the Market Process
' (1990)
**
Money, Method, and the Market Process
'
*
Economic Freedom and Interventionism
' (1990)
*
The Free Market and Its Enemies
' (2004, lectures given in 1951)
**
The Free Market and Its Enemies
'
*
Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction
' (2006, lectures given in 1952)
*
Ludwig von Mises on Money and Inflation
' (2010, lectures given in the 1960s)
Book reviews
“Review of ''The Economic Munich'' by Philip Cortney”
''The Freeman'', March 1955
Full issue available
See also
* Contributions to liberal theory
* Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian-British economist, and philosopher who is best known for his defence of classical liberalism. Hayek shared the 1974 Nob ...
* Liberalism in Austria
* List of Austrian scientists
* Milton Friedman
* Mises Institute, founded by Burton Blumert, Lew Rockwell and Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist
Heterodox economics is any economic thought or theory that contrasts with orthodox schools of economic thought, or that may be beyond neocla ...

* Praxeology
* Thymology
References
Further reading
* Eamonn Butler, Butler, Eamonn
''Ludwig von Mises – A Primer''
Institute of Economic Affairs (2010).
* Richard Ebeling, Ebeling, Richard M. ''Political Economy, Public Policy, and Monetary Economics: Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian Tradition'', (London/New York: Routledge, 2010) 354 pages, .
* Ebeling, Richard M
"Ludwig von Mises: The Political Economist of Liberty, Part I"
(''The Freeman'', May 2006).
* Ebeling, Richard M
"Ludwig von Mises: The Political Economist of Liberty, Part II"
(''The Freeman'', June 2006).
* Ebeling, Richard M
"Ludwig von Mises and the Vienna of His Time, Part I"
(''The Freeman'', March 2005).
* Ebeling, Richard M
"Ludwig von Mises and the Vienna of His Time, Part II"
(''The Freeman'', April 2005).
* Ebeling, Richard M
"Austrian Economics and the Political Economy of Freedom"
(''The Freeman'', June 2004).
* David Gordon (philosopher), Gordon, David (2011-02-23)
Mises's Epistemology
', Ludwig von Mises Institute.
* Jones, Daniel Stedman. ''Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics'' (2012), pp. 49–51.
* Murray Rothbard, Rothbard, Murray N. "Mises, Ludwig Edler von," ''The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', 1987, v. 3, pp. 479–80.
*
** Reviewed in: (from HighBeam Research).
*
*
External links
Ludwig von Mises Institute Europe
Mises.de
(books and articles in the original German versions by Mises and other authors of the Austrian School)
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mises, Ludwig von
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