Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Miseswas a theoretical Austrian School economist. He is best known for his work on praxeology, a study of human choice and action. Mises emigrated from Austria to the United States in 1940. Mises's writings have exerted significant influence on the libertarian movement in the United States since the mid-20th century...
NationalityAustrian
ProfessionEconomist
Date of Birth29 September 1881
CountryAustria
Ludwig von Mises quotes about
exercise idols people
A new type of superstition has got hold of people's minds, the worship of the state. People demand the exercise of the methods of coercion and compulsion, of violence and threat. Woe to anybody who does not bend his knee to the fashionable idols!
mean organization two
Capitalism and socialism are two distinct patterns of social organization. Private control of the means of production and public control are contradictory notions and not merely contrary notions. There is no such thing as a mixed economy, a system that would stand midway between capitalism and socialism.
realization
In talking about equality and asking vehemently for its realization, nobody advocates a curtailment of his own present income.
progress improvement modern
The characteristic feature of modern capitalism is mass production of goods destined for consumption by the masses. The result is a tendency towards a continuous improvement in the average standard of living, a progressing enrichment of the many.
risk progress kind
Progress of any kind is always at variance with the old and established ideas and therefore with the codes inspired by them. Every step of progress is a change involving heavy risks.
men tangible action
Economics is not about things and tangible material objects; it is about men, their meanings and actions.
mistake mean making-mistakes
Freedom really means the freedom to make mistakes.
men two alternatives
A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.
government laissez-faire weakness
If one rejects laissez faire on account of mans fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action.
mean government political
Capitalism means free enterprise, sovereignty of the consumers in economic matters, and sovereignty of the voters in political matters. Socialism means full government control of every sphere of the individuals life and the unrestricted supremacy of the government in its capacity as central board of production management.
thinking firsts action
All rational action is in the first place individual action. Only the individual thinks. Only the individual reasons. Only the individual acts.
men politics alternatives
Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.
ideas force
Both force and money are impotent against ideas.
progress trends economic-history
The characteristic mark of economic history under capitalism is unceasing economic progress, a steady increase in the quantity of capital goods available, and a continuous trend toward an improvement in the general standard of living.