Have you been reading with us?
Earlier this month, we completed our latest #EconlibReads online reading group on Ludwig von Mises‘s early book, Liberalism. We recently posted a PDF of all the conversation questions we posted as we read. Here’s a sampling of some of the questions:
On page xxvii, Mises asserts, “Many of those who attach capitalism know very well
that their situation under any other economic system will be less favorable.
Nevertheless, with full knowledge of this fact, that advocate a reform, e.g.,
socialism, because they hope that the rich, whom they envy, will also suffer under
it.” To what extent do you agree??
What role does Mises see for luxury in the economy? How does luxury provide
support for some level of inequality of wealth, according to Mises? To what extent
do you agree?
What is the PRIMARY reason socialism is impracticable, according to Mises? What
other arguments does he list as secondary? Which do you think is the most
persuasive today, and why?
How do businesses determine who is the most competent and deserving of
promotion or reward? How does this compare to civil service? Do you agree with
Mises that, “Never yet has anyone of real worth risen to the top by way of a
prescribed program of study and promotion?” (p. 72)
What two reasons does Mises offer for the increased restrictions on
immigration in his time? To what extent do you believe these two factors to STILL
be the driving force(s) behind immigration restrictions?
Mises says (p. 120) that the liberal’s sole and most important task is the “work of
enlightenment” of his fellows to the cause of liberalism. What do you think this
means??? What exactly is it that we should be doing?
You can find all the previous discussion questions in our new #EconlibReads Guide. And we hope you’ll read along in our current group, focused on Pieper’s Leisure: The Basis of Culture,as recommended several times by EconTalk guest Ryan Holiday. Happy reading!
READER COMMENTS
robc
Oct 24 2019 at 7:50pm
Re: #3
I don’t know Mises answer, but I would answer the calculation problem, which I learned about from reading Mises, so I figure it’s a good guess.
James
Oct 27 2019 at 4:11pm
“What is the PRIMARY reason socialism is impracticable, according to Mises? What other arguments does he list as secondary? Which do you think is the most persuasive today, and why?”
Mises understood that socialism lacks a rational basis for deciding between different ways of using a society’s productive resources.
The most *persuasive* reason is the claim that socialism undermines incentives to be productive. The reason is persuasive because people ignore the incredibly strong incentives a socialist state can use to influence behavior. Amazingly there are even those economists who know that socialist states could imprison or or torture or kill disobedient people and still they assert that the biggest problem with socialism was a lack of adequate incentives.
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