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Ludwig von Mises: Biography from Answers.com

  • ️Thu Sep 29 1881
Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) an Austrian economist and social philosopher, was the leading exponent, in the 20th century, of the Austrian school and an extreme conservative in matters of economic and social policy.

Ludwig von Mises was born September 29, 1881, in the city of Lemberg which was located in the former Austria-Hungary. He was born the son of a highly successful and respected engineer. By the time von Mises was 19 he had already entered the prestigious University of Vienna, studying under Eugen von Böhm-Bahwerk and Eugene von Philippovich. Ludwig von Mises earned his doctorate degree in Both (Canon and Roman) Laws by the time he was 27 years of age.

After receiving his advanced degree, von Mises wrote the first of what would be a long list of phenomenal works, The Theory of Money and Credit (1912). Von Mises was revolutionary in his thinking. He would successfully argue that money had a price, not unlike any other commodity. The theory was based on the economic notion that all things were priced according to supply and demand. Von Mises theorized that money would have the same effect, therefore, its "price" would rise and fall as well.

Von Mises was privatdozent of economics at Vienna (1913-1934) and professor of international relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland (1934-1940). In 1945 he became visiting professor of economics at the Graduate School of Business Administration of New York University; he retired in 1969. Between the years of 1909 and 1934 he held various economic advisor positions with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce.

Von Mises was known throughout his career as an uncompromising champion of laissez-faire, arguing in Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis (1922) and Human Action: A Treatise on Economics (1949) that a socialist system cannot function because it lacks a true price system. It has been written that Socialism was a prediction of the fall of communism. Von Mises argued that socialism could not sustain an economy, due to the fact that under socialism there is no market for goods or services. Von Mises projected that without an industrial economy, there would be no price system. It is the price system which determines profit and loss. In the same book, von Mises also theorized that mixed economies would fare no better, because of the distortion involved. He also held that lesser types of intervention, such as minimum-wage laws, are equally futile. In his writings on the epistemology of economics, he maintained that the only approach to economics is a deductive system based on self-evident axioms stressing the individual's purposive choice of means to arrive at preferred ends.

A theory of the business cycle grew out of Von Mises's theory of money and was developed by him in detail by 1928. This theory emphasized the role of the banking system in the expansion of the money supply, the consequent artificial lowering of the interest rate, and the resulting overinvestment. When the money supply reaches the limits of its ability to expand, a depression inevitably follows. The theory aroused considerable interest among economists in the early 1930s but was lost sight of with the advent of the "Keynesian revolution," which began in 1936. Later in the century, economists reconsidered the role of overinvestment as a factor in business fluctuations.

Von Mises's publications include almost 20 books as well as numerous articles and other, shorter pieces ranging from economic theory and the history of economic thought to methodology and social and political philosophy. In 1969 he was named distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association in recognition of his valuable contributions to economics.

Due to von Mises's critical views on socialism he remained in exile from the National Socialists in Geneva until his death in 1973. Von Mises's most highly regarded work was his 900-page Human Action which was not published until 1949. The book had been written in early 1940; however, amidst the effects of the war, it was placed on hold.

Further Reading

Mary H. Sennholz, ed., On Freedom and Free Enterprise: Essays in Honor of Ludwig von Mises (1956), contains considerable information on von Mises and his work. A chapter on him is in the excellent study by Ben B. Seligman, Main Currents in Modern Economics: Economic Thought since 1870 (1962). Additional material on Von Mises is in Howard S. Ellis, German Monetary Theory, 1905-1933 (1934), and lsrael M. Kirzner, The Economic Point of View: An Essay in the History of Economic Thought (1960). Information regarding Ludwig von Mises is also accessible at http://www.mises.org.

(born Sept. 29, 1881, Lemberg, Austria-Hungary — died Oct. 10, 1973, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Austrian-U.S. economist whose theories followed those of the Austrian school of economics. He taught at the University of Vienna (1913 – 38) before immigrating to the U.S. and joining the New York University faculty (1945 – 69). In The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (1956), an examination of U.S. socialism, he dealt with the opposition to the free market by intellectuals, who, in his view, bear an unwarranted resentment toward mass demand, which is the basis of prosperity in big business.

For more information on Ludwig Edler von Mises, visit Britannica.com.

Ludwig von Mises
Western Economists
20th-Century Economists
(Austrian economics)
Full name Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises
Birth September 29, 1881
Lvov now Lviv, Austria-Hungary
Death October 10, 1973 (aged 92)
New York City, New York, USA
School/tradition Austrian School
Main interests economics, political economy, philosophy of history, epistemology, rationalism, classical liberalism, Libertarianism
Notable ideas praxeology, economic calculation problem, methodological dualism

Influenced by

Influenced

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (pronounced [ˈluːtvɪç fɔn ˈmiːzəs]) (September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian Economist, philosopher, and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement.

Because of his Jewish origin and his opinions, he had to emigrate to Switzerland and then settled in the USA.

The Ludwig von Mises Institute is named after him.

Biography

Early life

Ludwig von Mises was born on September 29, 1881, in the city of Lemberg, Austria-Hungary, (now Lviv, Ukraine), to Jewish parents Arthur Edler von Mises and Adele von Mises (née Landau). Arthur was stationed there as a construction engineer with Czernowitz railroad company. At the age of twelve Ludwig spoke fluent German, Polish, and French, and could understand Ukrainian.[1] Mises had two younger brothers: applied physicist Richard von Mises, and later Karl von Mises, who died in infancy from scarlet fever. When Ludwig and Richard were small children, his family moved back to their ancestral home of Vienna.

In 1900, he attended the University of Vienna, becoming influenced by the works of Carl Menger. Mises' father died in 1903, and in 1906 Mises was awarded his doctorate.

Professional life

In the years from 1904 to 1914, Mises attended lectures given by the prominent Austrian economist Eugen von Boehm-Bawerk. Mises taught as a Privatdozent at the Vienna University in the years from 1913 to 1934, while also serving as a principal economic adviser to the Austrian government during the Austrofascist regime of Engelbert Dollfuss.

To avoid the influence of Nazis in his Austrian homeland, and fearing repression due to his Jewish ancestry, in 1934 Mises left for Geneva, Switzerland, where he was a professor at the Graduate Institute of International Studies until 1940. Fearing the prospect of Germany taking control over Switzerland, in 1940 Mises emigrated to New York City. There he became a visiting professor at New York University, from 1945 until his retirement in 1969, though he was not salaried by the university. Instead, he earned his living from funding by businessmen such as Lawrence Fertig. For part of this period, Mises worked on currency issues for the Pan-Europa movement led by a fellow NYU faculty member and Austrian exile, Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi.[2] He received an honorary doctorate from Grove City College.

Despite his growing fame, Mises listed himself plainly in the New York phone directory and welcomed students into his home.[citation needed] He died at the age of 92 at St. Vincent's hospital in New York.

Contributions to the field of economics

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Mises wrote and lectured extensively on behalf of classical liberalism and is seen as one of the leaders of the Austrian School of economics.[citation needed] In his treatise on economics, Human Action, Mises introduced praxeology as the conceptual foundation of the science of human action, establishing economic laws of apodictic certainty rejecting positivism and material causality. Many of his works, including Human Action, were on two related economic themes:

  1. monetary economics and inflation;
  2. the differences between government controlled economies and free trade.

Mises in his library

Mises argued that money is demanded for its usefulness in purchasing other goods, rather than for its own sake and that any unsound credit expansion causes business cycles. His other notable contribution was his argument that socialism must fail economically because of the economic calculation problem – the impossibility of a socialist government being able to make the economic calculations required to organize a complex economy. Mises projected that without a market economy there would be no functional price system, which he held essential for achieving rational allocation of capital goods to their most productive uses. Socialism would fail as demand cannot be known without prices, according to Von Mises. Mises' criticism of socialist paths of economic development is well-known:

The only certain fact about Russian affairs under the Soviet regime with regard to which all people agree is: that the standard of living of the Russian masses is much lower than that of the masses in the country which is universally considered as the paragon of capitalism, the United States of America. If we were to regard the Soviet regime as an experiment, we would have to say that the experiment has clearly demonstrated the superiority of capitalism and the inferiority of socialism.[3]

These arguments were elaborated on by subsequent Austrian economists such as Friedrich Hayek.

In Interventionism, An Economic Analysis (1940), Ludwig von Mises wrote:

The usual terminology of political language is stupid. What is 'left' and what is 'right'? Why should Hitler be 'right' and Stalin, his temporary friend, be 'left'? Who is 'reactionary' and who is 'progressive'? Reaction against an unwise policy is not to be condemned. And progress towards chaos is not to be commended. Nothing should find acceptance just because it is new, radical, and fashionable. 'Orthodoxy' is not an evil if the doctrine on which the 'orthodox' stand is sound. Who is anti-labor, those who want to lower labor to the Russian level, or those who want for labor the capitalistic standard of the United States? Who is 'nationalist,' those who want to bring their nation under the heel of the Nazis, or those who want to preserve its independence?

Bibliography

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Selected books by Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

See also

Further reading

Notes

  • Note regarding personal names: Edler is a title, (<G, meaning 'noble'), in rank similar to that of a baronet, not a first or middle name. The female form is Edle. Similarly, below, Ritter is German for 'knight'; Graf is German for 'count'.
  1. ^ Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn "The Cultural Background of Ludwig von Mises", The Ludwig von Mises Institute, page 1
  2. ^ Coudenhove-Kalergi, Richard Nikolaus, Graf von (1953). An idea conquers the world. London: Hutchinson. pp.p.247.
  3. ^ Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis by Ludwig von Mises.

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