Ludwig von Mises Archives

The paramount matter is the conflict between economic freedom as represented in the market economy and totalitarian government omnipotence as realized by socialism.

Printed paper is the least fit to serve as money.  Paper destroys the monetary system. Various commodities have been employed until silver and gold and then gold alone won out because its quantity cannot be manipulated by the governments.

"Are the interests of the American wage earners in conflict with those of their employers, or are the two in agreement?" The affluence of the rich in a capitalistic economy is not at the expense of the poor. Profits are plowed back into enterprise, benefiting the common man.

Private enterprise systems improve human cooperation and further peace and prosperity. Economic systems with which governments intervene are called liberal, or middle of the road economics. They declare they are not socialist. They say they wish to preserve market systems. But, is that possible? No. Nothing will be left of the free market. Capitalism and socialism cannot coexist. Step by step, interventionism erodes capitalism into some form of socialism. The clear distinction between production and government must be reestablished and left untouched.

The private seminars that Mises held, and which were so successful in Vienna beginning in 1919, were actually separate from the University. Mises here remembers many of his seminar participants, like Hayek, Haberler, Schutz, and Machlup. He was glad to have contributed to the development of international cooperation among so many economists.

In this 1958 speech, Ludwig von Mises explains why, under socialism, "freedom" means the elimination of dissent. The socialist goal is bondage, not liberty.