The Economics of Ludwig von Mises: Toward a Critical Reappraisal
By Laurence S. Moss
In March 1974 I got in touch with Professor Leland Yeager, who was then president-elect of the southern Economics Association, and told him that I wanted to organize a symposium on the economic thought of Ludwig von Mises for the November 1974 meeting of our association in Atlanta, Georgia. Mises had died in October 1973, and we would be meeting on nearly the first anniversary of his death. Yeager agreed that, although Mises had been named a “Distinguished Fellow” of the American Economics Association in September 1969, many economists were not well acquainted with either the content of his thought or the enormous range of subjects to which he had devoted more than seventy years range of subjects to which he had devoted more than seventy years of active scholarship. At a time when the cherished “idols” of the intellectual marketplace were being regarded with suspicion, and economists were becoming critical of their basic assumptions and methods, it seemed appropriate to devote an entire session to someone whose lifework had been on the foundations of the science. Thus, we had every reason to believe that a panel on Mises would be well attended and set to work deciding whom to invite and what aspects of Mises’ contribution could be most profitably discussed in the short space of two hours…. [From the Preface by Laurence S. Moss]
First Pub. Date
1976
Publisher
Kansas City: Sheed and Ward, Inc.
Pub. Date
1976
Comments
Symposium held before the 44th Meeting of the Southern Economics Association, Atlanta, Georgia, 15 November 1974. Collected essays, various authors. 1974 conference proceedings. Includes essays by Fritz Machlup, Israel M. Kirzner, Murray N. Rothbard, and more.
Copyright
The text of this edition is copyright ©1977, The Institute for Humane Studies.
APPENDIX A
Chronology
1881 September 29. Born in Lemberg, Austria. Father, Arthur Edler von Mises. Mother, Adele (Landau) von Mises. Brother, Richard von Mises (1883-1953).
1892-1900 Attended Akademische Gymnasium, Vienna.
1900 Entered University of Vienna to study for a degree in law.
1906 February 20. Received doctor of jurisprudence degree (literally, doctor of both, canon and roman, laws).
1902 First book published,
Die entwicklung des gutsherrlich-bäuerlichen l’erhaltnisses in Galizien: 1772-1848 (Leipzig: Franz Deuticke, 1902); a historical account of the Galician peasants and their land tenure arrangements.
1902-3 Active duty with the Austro-Hungarian army.
1909-34 Economic councillor of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (Kammer für Handel, Gewerte und Industrie). Mises’ chamber appraised legislation and advised the government on public policy.
1912 Published
Theorie des Geldes und der Umlaufsmittel (translated in 1934 as
Theory of Money and Credit); most important work on monetary theory.
1913 Appointed “professor extraordinary’ at University of Vienna.
1914-18 Active military duty in World War I as captain in the artillery, stationed on Eastern Front in Carpathian Mountains, in Russian Ukraine, and Crimea; toward end of war recalled to general staff office in Vienna.
1918-20 Director of Austrian Restitution-and-Settlements Office (Abrechnungs Amt).
1920 Published essay “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth.
1922 Published
Die Gemeinwirtschaft: Untersuchungen über den Sozialismus;translated as
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis.
1923 Published
Die Geldtheoretische Seite des Stabilisierungsproblems; untranslated. See “Monetary Economics,” note 1.
1926 Lecture tour of the United States under sponsorship of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial.
1927 Founded Austrian Institute for Business Cycle Research (Oesterreichisches Institut fur Konjunkturforschung).
1927 Published
Liberalismus; translated as
The Free and Prosperous Commonwealth.
1928 Published
Geldwertstabilisierung und Konjunkturpolitik; untranslated. See “Monetary Economics,” note 1.
1929 Published series of articles attacking various forms of state interventions:
Kritik des Interventionismus: Untersuchungen Zur Wirtschaftspolitik und Wirtschaftsideologie der Gegenwart, Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1929; untranslated.
1931 Published
Die Ursachen der Wirtschaftskrise: Ein Vortrag; untranslated. See “Monetary Economics,” note 1.
1933 Published
Grundproblems der Nationalökonomie; translated as
Epistemological Problems of Economics.
1934-40 Accepted professorship at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales) In Geneva, Switzerland.
1938 Married Margit Sereny-Herzfeld in Geneva.
1940 Immigrated to the United States; became a citizen in 1946.
1940-44 Guest of the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York.
1940 Published
Nationalökonomie: Theorie des Handelns und Wirtschaftens; untranslated.
1942 Visiting professor at National University of Mexico.
1944 Published
Bureaucracy.
1944 published
Omnipotent Government.
1945-69 Appointed visiting professor at Graduate School of Business Administration, New York University.
1946-73 Advisor to Foundation for Economic Education, Inc., Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.
1946 Consultant to National Association of Manufacturers—Economic Principles Commission.
1947 Co-founder of Mont Pelerin Society, an international association of intellectuals devoted to limited government and the market economy.
1949 Published
Human Action: A treatise on Economics.
1954-55 Advisor to the National Association of Manufacturers.
1956 Published
The Anti-Capitalist Mentality.
1956 February 20. Awarded a
Festschrift on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his doctorate:
On Freedom and Free Enterprise.Edited by Mary Sennholz. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand, 1956.
1957 Published
Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution.
1957 Awarded honorary doctor of laws degree, Grove City College, Pennsylvania.
1961 October.
Quarterly Journal of Mont Pelerin Society published a tribute to Mises on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
1962 Published
The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method.
1962 October 20. Award received from Austrian Government (Oesterreichisches Ehrenzeichen zur Kunst und Wissenschaft).
1963 June. Awarded honorary doctor of laws degree from New York University, New York.
1964 July. Awarded honorary doctor of political science degree from University of Freiburg, Germany.
1969 September. Named “Distinguished Fellow” of American Economics Association. For citation see Introduction.
1969 Published
The Historical Setting of the Austrian School of Economics.
1969 May. Retired from New York University.
1971 September 29. Honored on the occasion of his 90th birthday by a
Festchrift. In two volumes:
Toward Liberty. Edited by F. A. Hayek and other members of Mont Pelerin Society. Menlo Park, Calif.: Institute for Humane Studies, 1971.