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
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.
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.
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.
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.
issues government socialism
The issue is always the same: the government or the market. There is no third solution.
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.
mistake mean making-mistakes
Freedom really means the freedom to make mistakes.
men tangible action
Economics is not about things and tangible material objects; it is about men, their meanings and actions.
goal common socialism
Socialism and interventionism. Both have in common the goal of subordinating the individual unconditionally to the state.
mean liberty finals
There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.
struggle political police
The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all the struggles for liberty.
war fighting wish
Whoever wishes peace among peoples must fight statism.
order entrepreneur benefits
The consumers are merciless. They never buy in order to benefit a less efficient producer and to protect him against the consequences of his failure to manage better. They want to be served as well as possible. And the working of the capitalist system forces the entrepreneur to obey the orders issued by the consumers.
book gun men
It is not the fault of the entrepreneurs that the consumers,the people, the common man,prefer liquor to Bibles and detective stories to serious books, and that governments prefer guns to butter. The entrepreneur does not make greater profits in selling bad things than in selling good things. His profits are the greater the better he succeeds in providing the consumers with those things they ask for most intensely.