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Resources From the Mises Institute |
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The Ludwig von Mises Institute is the research and educational center of classical liberalism, libertarian political theory, and the Austrian School of economics. Working in the intellectual tradition of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) and Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995), with a vast array of publications, programs, and fellowships, the Mises Institute seeks a radical shift in the intellectual climate as the foundation for a renewal of the free and prosperous commonwealth. 334.321.2100 · Phone -- 334.321.2119 · Fax contact@mises.org
Individual lectures are available in the Mises Institute's extensive online media database. Archived lecture audio may also be accessed via Mises.org's complimentary podcast feed. Live webcasts of Mises Institute events are offered thoughout the year.
All have dedicated themselves to achieving what may appear improbable. To seek such a thing requires a leap of faith. But it is precisely those who take that leap who represent the best hope for the future of the world. As we look to the next twenty years, thanks to the Mises Institute and those who support her, we need not despair, but rather look to a future in which liberty and learning triumph against all odds. Your faith is evidence of freedom unseen, but, God willing, our children, their children, and every generation after, will live and breathe it. May they never take it for granted. by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
(This talk was delivered at the Mises Institute's 20th anniversary celebration, October 18&endash;19, 2002.) The penultimate goal of a liberal-arts education is an independent learner, a person trained in the arts of learning who is thereby liberated from the necessity to depend on others to determine what is true and what is false. But the ultimate goal of such an education is to know and practice the truth itself. by Jeffrey M. Herbener
Where there is no free market, there is no pricing mechanism; without a pricing mechanism, there is no economic calculation. -- Ludwig von Mises (1920) Mises's seminal essay "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" demonstrated the impossibility of rational economic decision-making in absence of private property and the market process. Business accounting, far from being a police function of the state, is an essential feature of the profit-and-loss system itself, and something that cannot be replicated under socialism or even within government bureaucracy. When this essay first appeared, it inspired a decades-long debate, but even today it has so much to teach us about the functioning of the price system, the role of private property, and the market economy generally. It is available now, at no charge, in a convenient PDF format: by Ludwig von Mises
The periodically returning crises of cyclical changes in business conditions are the effect of attempts, undertaken repeatedly, to underbid the interest rates which develop on the unhampered market. -- Ludwig von Mises (1931) A stock-market boom turns to bust, the macroeconomy seems resistant to recovery, and the political establishment tries to blame the greed of corporate moguls: the time was 1931. Amidst an anticapitalist frenzy, Ludwig von Mises went to work applying his theory of the business cycle, first articulated in 1912, to explain the Great Depression of Europe and America. From his 1923 and 1928 essays warning of the dangers of created expansion, to his later work criticizing alternative theories, his unrelenting theme was that the crisis could not be understood apart from the actions of the central bank. Now, Mises's great interwar essays on business cycle theory are available in a new PDF edition from the Mises Institute, available for download at no charge: by Ludwig von Mises
This is the last formal talk of Ludwig von Mises [1881-1973], delivered May 2, 1970 at an economic seminar sponsored by The Society of Praxeology in Seattle, Washington. It was attended by 600 students, teachers, and others. This text was transcribed from audiotape by Bettina Bien Greaves and edited, primarily for syntax and punctuation, by Percy L. Greaves, Jr. It has been available to the Mises Institute by Mrs. Greaves, and has never before appeared in print. by Ludwig von Mises
Murray N. Rothbard's doctoral dissertation written at Columbia University was the first, and remains the only, complete examination of America's first depression, the "Panic of 1819." It was published in 1962, but has been extremely difficult to obtain in the intervening years. Now a new edition is available online at no charge, courtesy of the Mises Institute: by Murray N. Rothbard
A second American revolution occurred almost 70 years ago. On August 14, 1935, after very little public or congressional debate, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law on. Many of his allies were disappointed because they wanted more than the act provided; FDR assured them much more was coming. He said, on signing the bill into law, that Social Security "represents a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means complete." In the midst of the Great Depression, and with most of his New Deal initiatives failing to restore the economy, FDR hoped that the federal government, through programs such as Social Security, would temper and control the business cycle. Social Security, FDR said, would "flatten out the peaks and valleys of deflation and inflation. The whole story is told in "The Revolution of 1935: The Secret History of Social Security," published in the Mises Institute series Essays in Political Economy. You can download the entire monograph now: by Gregory Bresiger
This obituary for Ludwig von Mises appeared in Human Events, October 20, 1973, and is reprinted at the Mises website. by Murray N. Rothbard
This year [2002] the Nobel prize in economics was awarded to Daniel Kahneman and Vernon Smith. These two economists have been probing the validity of popular economic theories regarding peoples' choices. Kahneman integrated insights from his psychological research into the field of human judgment and decision making under conditions of uncertainty. Smith has established an experimental laboratory as a tool for validating economic theories. by Frank Shostak
By the "benevolent nature of capitalism," I mean the fact that it promotes human life and well-being and does so for everyone. There are many such insights, which have been developed over more than three centuries, by a series of great thinkers, ranging from John Locke to Ludwig von Mises and Ayn Rand. by George Reisman
From 1920 until 1934, Ludwig von Mises conducted a fortnightly private seminar in his office, which could be attended only by invitation. Many of the greatest economists, historians, and philosophers of Europe would gather to discuss problems and issues in a setting where Mises himself led the discussion as first among equals. The formal meetings would begin at 7:30pm and last as late as 10:00pm. Most of the members would then gather for dinner at the Anchora Verde, where the discussion would continue but grow lighter. Afterwards, they would continue to the Café Künstler, opposite the University of Vienna, for coffee until 1:00am, when Mises usually left. Fritz Machlup reports, however, that when he left at 3:00am, he usually had to say goodnight to philosopher Alfred Schütz! Adding poetry and music to the late-night gatherings at the Café Künstler were the songs that philosopher Felix Kaufman wrote for the seminar. Based on Austrian folk melodies and popular songs, and written in Austrian dialect, they featured clever references to the contemporary debates and the internal culture of the Mises Kreis. In 1934, after economist Gottfried von Haberler had left Vienna for Geneva, Switzerland, Kaufmann delivered to Haberler copies of all the songs, a total of 28. When in 1990 it was decided to publish them, Haberler was interviewed about them. The interviewer asked about his surprising ability to recall so many by heart. "In the first place," Haberler said, "they dealt with interesting problems or with actual events that we all knew and that as a result were rendered memorable. The same went for the melodies Kaufmann chose for his lyrics -- we knew them all.… Kaufmann took great pains with the text of his songs. Still today, the reader will find interesting points throughout. Kaufmann was also careful to see that the thoughts sounded well in rhyme." The translations of the three songs performed this evening attempt to be faithful to the meaning of the text but, unfortunately, not the rhyme or rhythm of the German originals and their Viennese dialects. Ludwig and Margit von Mises were great lovers of music. Margit reports that her husband, for casual relaxation, would listen to chamber music on the radio rather than watch television. And until his last year, the Miseses kept their subscription to the Metropolitan Opera that Margit had arranged soon after they came to the United States. "The opera was the highlight of his later years," she reports. To see some samples of the Viennese Songs from the Mises Circle, Click Here.
In 1957, a businessman and radio personality named Robert LeFevre (1911-1986) founded a very special institution in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In his private studies, he had discovered the libertarian intellectual tradition. He noted the dire need for an institution that would educate people from all walks of life in the philosophy of freedom. He took it upon himself and named it the Freedom School, later changing the name to Rampart College before it shut down in 1968. Afterward, he carried on his work in South Carolina under the patronage of business giant Roger Milliken.
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