Ludwig Von Mises

Inflation: John Maynard Keynes vs. The Gold Standard (3 of 5)

The government may think that inflation--as a method of raising funds--is better than taxation, which is always unpopular and difficult. In many rich and great nations, legislators have often discussed, for months and months, the various forms of new taxes that were...

Inflation: The Myth of the “Price Level” (2 of 5)

When people talk of a "price level," they have in mind the image of a level of a liquid which goes up or down according to the increase or decrease in its quantity, but which, like a liquid in a tank, always rises evenly. But with prices, there is no such thing as a...

Inflation: An Increase in the Quantity of Money (1 of 5)

If the supply of caviar were as plentiful as the supply of potatoes, the price of caviar--that is, the exchange ratio between caviar and money or caviar and other commodities-would change considerably. In that case, one could obtain caviar at a much smaller...

Interventionism vs Capitalism: The Myth of the “Third-way” (4 of 4)

The idea that there is a third system — between socialism and capitalism, as its supporters say — a system as far away from socialism as it is from capitalism but that retains the advantages and avoids the disadvantages of each — is pure nonsense.

Interventionism vs Capitalism: A Historical Example (3 of 4)

Analyzing interventionism during the First World War in Germany and England.

Interventionism vs Capitalism: The Price Control (2 of 4)

Let us consider one example of interventionism, very popular in many countries and tried again and again by many governments, especially in times of inflation. I refer to price control. Governments usually resort to price control when they have inflated the money...

Interventionism vs Capitalism: On The Proper Role Government (1 of 4)

A famous, very often quoted phrase says: "That government is best, which governs least." I do not believe this to be a correct description of the functions of a good government. Government ought to do all the things for which it is needed and for which it was...

Socialism: Inability of Economic Calculation (4 of 4)

The fact is that economic calculation, and therefore all technological planning, is possible only if there are money prices, not only for consumer goods but also for the factors of production.

Socialism: Central Planning vs The Freedom to Plan (3 of 4)

The socialist system, however, forbids this fundamental freedom to choose one’s own career. Under socialist conditions, there is only one economic authority, and it has the right to determine all matters concerning production. One of the characteristic features of our...

Socialism: Class Warfare vs. Harmony of Interests (2 of 4)

In a capitalist society, there is continuous mobility—poor people becoming rich and the descendants of those rich people losing their wealth and becoming poor.

Socialism: Freedom vs. Slavery (1 of 4)

The idea of government as a paternal authority, as a guardian for everybody, is the idea of those who favor socialism.

Capitalism: Capital and Wages (3 of 3)

The capitalist system was termed “capitalism” not by a friend of the system, but by an individual who considered it to be the worst of all historical systems, the greatest evil that had ever befallen mankind. That man was Karl Marx.

Capitalism: Opposition from the Intellectuals (2 of 3)

In spite of all its benefits, capitalism has been furiously attacked and criticized. It is necessary that we understand the origin of this antipathy.

Capitalism: Mass Production and the Standard of Living (1 of 3)

The mere fact that you are living today is proof that capitalism has succeeded, whether or not you consider your own life very valuable.

The Anti-Capitalist Mentality: “Anticommunism” versus Capitalism (Part 5 of 5)

What these self-styled “anticommunist liberals” are fighting against is not communism as such, but a communist system in which they themselves are not at the helm.

The Anti-Capitalist Mentality: The Noneconomic Objections to Capitalism (Part 4 of 5)

Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the most clever and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest of mankind follows them little by little. The innovation is first a luxury of only a few people, until by degrees it comes into the reach of the many.