Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

The book that took apart socialism on its own terms in 1922. Mises shows why a planned economy cannot calculate costs, and looks at its effects on family, work and morals.

Ludwig von Mises

Mises's first big book, from 1912, explains what money is, where its value comes from and how bank credit drives booms and busts. The foundation of the Austrian theory of the business cycle.

Ludwig von Mises

Six lectures Mises gave in Buenos Aires in 1959, on capitalism, socialism, inflation, foreign investment and more. The easiest way into his ideas, and it fits in an afternoon.

Ludwig von Mises

Mises's plain-language case for private property, free trade and peace. Written in 1927, it reads like a manifesto for the classical liberal.

Ludwig von Mises

Written in 1944, during the war, this book traces how state control of the economy led Germany to Nazism. Mises argues that economic nationalism and total war go hand in hand.

Ludwig von Mises