Review of Austrian Economics - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian
School of Economics
Jeffrey M. Herbener*
Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders: no one is
relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one
can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards
destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must
thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. No one
can stand aside with unconcern: the interests of everyone
hang on the result. Whether he chooses or not, every man is
drawn into the great historical struggle, the decisive battle
into which our epoch has plunged us (Mises 1988, p. 169).
This is the message of Ludwig von Mises. No one has ever
fought the battle more courageously than Mises, nor had a
more decisive long-run effect. Murray Rothbard is correct
when he says ". . . if the world is ever to get out of its miasma of
statism, or, indeed, if the economics profession is ever to return to a
sound and correct development of economic analysis, both will have
to abandon their contemporary bog and move to that high ground that
Mises developed for us" (Rothbard 1983, p. 5).
Now, as the battle appears to be turning in favor of freedom, is
an appropriate time to reconsider the role of economic theory in these
world-wide changes. Specifically, it is time to consider the work of
Mises and the Austrian school in the development and dissemination
of the economic principles of social progress. Two steps are necessary
to complete this task. The first is to demonstrate the pre-eminence of
the Austrian school in developing the principles of free enterprise.
The second is to demonstrate that Mises is the champion of this
tradition in the twentieth century.
*Jeffrey M. Herbener is assistant professor of economics at Washington and
Jefferson College in Pennsylvania.
The Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1991): 33-50
ISSN 0889-3047
33