A Critique of Interventionism

Ludwig von Mises

In the sequence of Mises’s books concerning policy, this book followed Socialism, and was the first to present a new theory of interventionism.

In Mises’s view, interventionism is an inherently unstable policy because it creates new dislocations that would seem to cry out for further interventions, which, in turn, do not solve the problem. The end of interventionism is socialism, a fate which can be logically avoided only by a sharp turn towards free markets.

Along with Socialism and the Liberalism, this book stands as a masterpiece of policy logic.

A Critique of Interventionism by Mises

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Meet the Author
Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises was the acknowledged leader of the Austrian school of economic thought, a prodigious originator in economic theory, and a prolific author. Mises’s writings and lectures encompassed economic theory, history, epistemology, government, and political philosophy. His contributions to economic theory include important clarifications on the quantity theory of money, the theory of the trade cycle, the integration of monetary theory with economic theory in general, and a demonstration that socialism must fail because it cannot solve the problem of economic calculation. Mises was the first scholar to recognize that economics is part of a larger science in human action, a science that he called praxeology.

Mises Daily Ludwig von Mises
There is only one way that leads to an improvement of the standard of living for the wage-earning masses, viz., the increase in the amount of capital invested. All other methods, however popular they may be, are not only futile, but are actually detrimental to the well-being of those they allegedly want to benefit.
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References

Kritik des Interventionismus: Untersuchungen zur Wirtschaftspolitik und Wirtschaftsideologie der Gegenwart. [Critique of Interventionism: Inquiries into Present Day Economic Policy and Ideology]. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1929. English translation of the 1976 German new edition. Translated by Hans F. Sennholz. Revised English translation of the 1976 German new edition. Translated by Hans F. Sennholz. Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Foundation for Economic Education, 1996.

Kritik des Interventionismus: Untersuchungen zur Wirtschaftspolitik und Wirtschaftsideologie der Gegenwart. [Critique of Interventionism: Inquiries into Present Day Economic Policy and Ideology]. Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1929. English translation of the 1976 German new edition. Translated by Hans F. Sennholz. Revised English translation of the 1976 German new edition. Translated by Hans F. Sennholz. Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Foundation for Economic Education, 1996.