Investor's Business Daily, April 6, 1999
Every now and then a book comes along that both sums up and extends the collected wisdom of some science. Human Action, by Ludwig von Mises, was such a book. Fifty years after it first came out, it is still one of the classics of economics....
There are few economic subjects Mises doesn't touch on in Human Action. Mises clearly explains a range of complex economic ideas -- from inflation to monopoly to government interference in the market. He examines and debunks Marxist notions of class conflict and capitalist exploitation of workers. And he outlines a powerful theory of the causes of business cycles.
But Mises goes beyond pure economics, defending the idea of science and logic itself. His criticisms of those who hold there is no such thing as objective truth seem relevant today when many in the academy decry reason as a tool used to oppress others.
Few books remain in print for 50 years. And few still speak to the vital debates of the day. Human Action is one of those.
