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Rating: 
Summary: Mises Expounded and Defended
Review: by Joseph R. Stromberg-- Israel Kirzner�s Ludwig von Mises is a welcome addition to the literature on Mises and economics. It is a very useful book, not only for the academic reader unfamiliar with Mises�s work but also for the intelligent layman. What is quite startling is just how much the author manages to accomplish within the compass of a fairly short work (220 pages). Kirzner announces at the outset that he intends to tell "the story of Mises in his role of economist" (p. ix). His aim is to expound the "subtlety and depth of Misesian economics" while clarifying issues he thinks many readers of Mises have failed to grasp. Furthermore, Kirzner makes the case that Mises was the greatest free-market economist of the twentieth century. The book begins with a thorough summary of Mises�s life (1881-1973) and of his achievements. It covers his education in Vienna in the shadow of the German Historical School and his break with that outlook after becoming acquainted with the opposed views of the Austrian School through reading and talking with Carl Menger (p. 3). Mises attended Böhm-Bawerk�s seminar and began publishing technical papers in economics. His first important work, The Theory of Money and Credit, came out in 1912, breaking new ground and extending the Austrian paradigm. Kirzner introduces the years following World War I, during which time Mises advised the Austrian Chambers of Commerce, helping to avert runaway inflation in Austria; conducted his famous seminar; and published many important books and papers. The Nazi Anschluss drove Mises into exile in Switzerland, but in 1940, he came to the United States and later became a citizen. His masterwork, Human Action, was published in English in 1949, the same year that he began his famous New York seminar. That seminar continued into 1969. Following the biographical sketch of Mises, Kirzner drops back to set Mises�s work in the broader context of early twentieth-century economic thought. Kirzner gives thumbnail sketches of the competing schools�German Historical, Marshallian, and Walrasian. This setting allows him to zero in on what was new and revolutionary in Mises�s writings. According to the author, Mises�s first great accomplishment was to integrate money and monetary theory into general Austrian economics, grounded on insights about marginal utility, subjective value, and acting human beings. Kirzner shows how and why Mises did this and how this led to his breakthrough into the Austrian theory of business cycles. The author continues with a discussion of Misesian economics as a system self-consciously built upon rigorous, if unpopular, epistemological foundations. Kirzner contends that Mises shored up these foundations "because he came to be convinced that the vitally important lessons which economics can teach are likely to be dismissed on methodological grounds by those representing special interests" (p. 69). Mises believed that the rise of economic theory was, in itself, revolutionary in that it undercut earlier moralistic and power-political approaches to the study of human societies. Kirzner proceeds in a straight line to an excellent summation of the Austrian system�s architectonic structure. Apparent detours turn out to be necessary background to Mises�s views and shed more light on them by giving an account of competing ideas and traditions. There is a generous evenhandedness in the way in which Kirzner sorts out differences and agreements between Mises and Hayek. The lucid presentation of difficult concepts make this a useful book even for those who already know a great deal about the subjects covered.
Rating: 
Summary: Economic Man
Review: In his autobiography, Russell Kirk told a story about Ludwig von Mises that I found revealing. The city of Geneva had allocated plots of land upon which citizens could grow their own food. When Mises visited economist Wilhelm Roepke in Geneva, he scorned this method as an inefficient way of producing food. Roepke replied that it was nevertheless an efficient way of producing human happiness. Mises was less interested in happiness, morality, and value judgments, in part because he considered them separate from his main interest, what he called the universal, scientific laws of economics and the "pure logic" of human action. He believed these laws were as simple and true as theorems in geometry. Prof. Kirzner shows how Mises' views grew out of conflicts with various economic schools of thought, then analyzes his approach to market processes, monetary theory, cycle theory, and rate of interest. In the last chapter he portrays Mises as one of the most vigorous defenders of laissez-faire. Kirzner knows his subject, and he does a decent job of trying to explain complex matters in a relatively short space. But the reader with no formal knowledge of economic theory will face some difficulties, including wrestling with terms such as fiduciary media, neutral money, positive time preference, sloping demand curves, praxeology, wertfreiheit, numeraire, and consumer sovereignty. Mises believed he was creating not merely a new economics but a new epistemology. Consequently he shares the philosopher's habit of defining and redefining terms, abstract generalizing, and numerous qualifications and asides. Much the same could be said for Kirzner, who repeatedly interrupts his prose with parenthetical commentary. I imagine many readers will find the book inaccessible. Kirzner concludes that Mises never explored in detail the problem of translating theory into policy -- the very thing that readers will likely want to know. It was at this point, the last 20 pages or so, that I understood why the book was often unclear. It is worth remembering that Mises called himself not a conservative but a classical liberal, a revolutionary even, in the utilitarian tradition of Bentham and Mill. He was an absolutist in regard to the free market. He believed any government intervention disrupted "natural" processes and necessarily led down the slippery slope to socialism. He saw little role for government except the protection of private property, and therefore scorned measures such as minimum wage, social security, protective tariffs, anti-trust, and progressive taxation. For Mises these were laws that had centralized power in democratic Germany and had paved the way for Hitler and the National Socialist party. No surprise, then, that Mises attached high importance to his own theories and to defending them, for he believed quite literally that he was saving the human race. Unfortunately, this self-centeredness led also to intransigence and harshness toward those who disagreed with him, in a manner reminiscent of another libertarian icon, Ayn Rand. Both came dangerously close to believing in the Marxist fallacy of Economic Man.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: ISI Books has just come out with a series called Library of Modern Thinkers, which will contain summaries of the thought of important (for lack of a better term) conservative and libertarian thinkers - kind of like an Oxford University Press "Past Masters." According to the jacket, current and forthcoming titles will cover Nisbet, Ropke, Oakeshott, de Jouvenal, Lytle. Francis G. Wilson and Will Herberg (in other words, thinkers that wouldn't be included in a series that contains volumes on such worthies as Foucault and Derrida). If Prof. Kirzner's work on von Mises is representative, then this series will be an important contribution to the publishing world. Prof. Kirzner received his doctorate in economics in 1957 under von Mises and has written a number of important studies. This book is well organized and informative. It starts out with a chapter on von Mises' life, a chapter on his role in economics, and chapters on specific facets of his economic thought. It concludes with an overview of von Mises as the 20th century's preeminent free-market thinker. As a layman in economics, I learned a lot about von Mises the man and economist. For example, there is a discussion on methodological differences between Hayek and von Mises, a discussion of the pioneering nature of much of his monetary thought, and how his thought differs from neoclassical economics. I found particularly insightful Prof. Kirzner's comment that Human Action isn't simply a compendium of Austrian thinking, but is truly a brilliant extension of Austrian thought to a vast swath of economic and sociological issues. I have one big problem with the book. It is over 200 pages long, but it is double-spaced! In fact, there are no block quotes. Another quibble: according to the jacket, Friedman and Becker are "exponents" of the Austrian School.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to von Mises and the Austrian tradition
Review: Israel M. Kirzner has done a delightful job as a biographer in his 2001 work entitled Ludwig von Mises: The Man and His Economics. Kirzner writes in his typical style with much precision and detail and yet always keeps it light enough for an interested layman to read. It is an excellent introduction to the great Austrian economist.
The book begins by discussing his personal life as it relates to academia, his wife, and the professional relationships that he kept with his colleagues. Kirzner then continues on to delve into the school of economics that is nearly synonymous with von Mises, Austrian economics. Discussing roughly one area of economics per chapter, the reader is shown the brilliance of the Austrian tradition, Mises' role in economic thought, and the juxtaposition from mainstream economics. While the analysis is not indepth, it provides the reader with an excellent first look at von Mises' ideas and impact on the world of economics and politics.
Having been a student of von Mises, Kirzner is in a particularly good position to write of this man. In addition, Kirzner carried close ties with other Austrian economists of the time. This allows Kirzner to speak personally about events, ideas, and feelings of the time. This first-person approach enhances the familiarity felt by the reader of von Mises. Also, Kirzner's own work in economics, and especially entrepreneurship, drew strongly from von Mises. As such, the evolution of Austrian economics is subtely presented as the student honors the mentor. Kirzner has done a superb job of showing the reader the life and economics of Ludwig von Mises.
"Ludwig von Mises: The Man and His Economics" would be perfect for a reader of limited knowledge on Austrian Economics. For a more indepth look at von Mises, one must read first hand his greatest and most quintessential works. Perhaps of greatest stature is his treatise, "Human Action", wherein he develops the entire field of Austrian economics from scratch. A more introductory (and shorter) pair of books is "Liberty and Property" and "Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism".
Rating:
Summary: Solid But Not Spectacular
Review: This is a good overview of Mises, his life and background and his economics. It is workmanlike, basic and easy to read. It is not spectacular but it is very solid. I did enjoy reading it, however. The first two chapters give alot of background information on von Mises's life and work and I found that interesting because it is always nice to know a bit about an author as a person rather than just his work. And the bottom line about von Mises is that he was a couragous, honest and brilliant man and the proof is in the tremendous admiration earned by worthy friends and supporters. The Third chapter takes up von Mises's ideas on methodology, his a priorism and his commitment to value free economics. The two page section "The Intellectually Revolutionary Character of Economics" is really good. Section 5 of the chapter, "Mises' Methodological Defense" didn't really help me understand Mises's case for a priorism as opposed to empiricism, but I already know that from "Human Action" (huan events are complex and variables can't be held constant so it is always possible to come up with different plausible explanations for happenings; you can never isolate specific causes and their effects because it is not clear what is causing what). Section 6 "Mises and the A Priori: The Extremist?" explains what Hayek thought was a critique of Mises and Kirzner shows how it wasn't but I couldn't follow him. The one page section "Mises and the A Priori: Not So Extreme!" was appreciated because it gives alot more plausibility to Mises's claims about economics having to proceed a priori; I like the idea of economic logic but I think empirical studies and just common sense observation have got to play a role in economics, though I need to think about this more. Chapter Four was pretty familiar but "The Entreprenurial Character of the Misesian Market Process" was welcome because it just emphasized for me how central the entreprenuer is to Mises's conception of how the market works. I skipped Chapter Five on monetary theory, the business cycle and interest rates but it looks pretty good. Chapter Six tries to address how Mises reconciled his idea of value free economics with his passionate arguments for capitalism and against socialism and interventionism. Socialism can't work and interventionism produces consequences the intervenionists didn't want and eventually leads to socialism (which doesn't work ;) I accept the arguments by Ayn Rand on the foundations and standard of ethics and so I can argue rationally for capitalism but I don't know that von Mises can. In the end, I think that one has to read von Mises himself to get an appreciation of just how deep and comprehensive his grasp of human action and economics is. But this book does provide a little context and a useful overview. Maybe I was expecting too much; after all, how are you going to do justice to one of the greatest thinkers of all time in 200, double spaced pages? Can't be done.
Rating:
Summary: Solid But Not Spectacular
Review: This is a good overview of Mises, his life and background and his economics. It is workmanlike, basic and easy to read. It is not spectacular but it is very solid. I did enjoy reading it, however. The first two chapters give alot of background information on von Mises's life and work and I found that interesting because it is always nice to know a bit about an author as a person rather than just his work. And the bottom line about von Mises is that he was a couragous, honest and brilliant man and the proof is in the tremendous admiration earned by worthy friends and supporters. The Third chapter takes up von Mises's ideas on methodology, his a priorism and his commitment to value free economics. The two page section "The Intellectually Revolutionary Character of Economics" is really good. Section 5 of the chapter, "Mises' Methodological Defense" didn't really help me understand Mises's case for a priorism as opposed to empiricism, but I already know that from "Human Action" (huan events are complex and variables can't be held constant so it is always possible to come up with different plausible explanations for happenings; you can never isolate specific causes and their effects because it is not clear what is causing what). Section 6 "Mises and the A Priori: The Extremist?" explains what Hayek thought was a critique of Mises and Kirzner shows how it wasn't but I couldn't follow him. The one page section "Mises and the A Priori: Not So Extreme!" was appreciated because it gives alot more plausibility to Mises's claims about economics having to proceed a priori; I like the idea of economic logic but I think empirical studies and just common sense observation have got to play a role in economics, though I need to think about this more. Chapter Four was pretty familiar but "The Entreprenurial Character of the Misesian Market Process" was welcome because it just emphasized for me how central the entreprenuer is to Mises's conception of how the market works. I skipped Chapter Five on monetary theory, the business cycle and interest rates but it looks pretty good. Chapter Six tries to address how Mises reconciled his idea of value free economics with his passionate arguments for capitalism and against socialism and interventionism. Socialism can't work and interventionism produces consequences the intervenionists didn't want and eventually leads to socialism (which doesn't work ;) I accept the arguments by Ayn Rand on the foundations and standard of ethics and so I can argue rationally for capitalism but I don't know that von Mises can. In the end, I think that one has to read von Mises himself to get an appreciation of just how deep and comprehensive his grasp of human action and economics is. But this book does provide a little context and a useful overview. Maybe I was expecting too much; after all, how are you going to do justice to one of the greatest thinkers of all time in 200, double spaced pages? Can't be done.
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