Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis
“This book must rank as the most devastating analysis of socialism yet penned… . An economic classic in our time.” (Henry Hazlitt). More than thirty years ago F. A. Hayek said of Socialism: “It was a work on political economy in the tradition of the great moral philosophers, a Montesquieu or Adam Smith, containing both acute knowledge and profound wisdom… . To none of us young men who read the book when it appeared was the world ever the same again.” This is a newly annotated edition of the classic first published in German in 1922. It is the definitive refutation of nearly every type of socialism ever devised. Mises presents a wide-ranging analysis of society, comparing the results of socialist planning with those of free-market capitalism in all areas of life. Friedrich Hayek’s foreword (not available onliine for copyright reasons) comments on the continuing relevance of this great work: “Most readers today will find that Socialism has more immediate application to contemporary events than it had when it first appeared.”
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Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, trans. J. Kahane, Foreword by F.A. Hayek (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1981).
Copyright:
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
People:
- Author: Ludwig von Mises
- Translator: J. Kahane
- Foreword: Friedrich August von Hayek
Formats:
| Format | Description | Size |
|---|---|---|
| EBook PDF | This text-based PDF or EBook was created from the HTML version of this book and is part of the Portable Library of Liberty. | 1.54 MB |
| Facsimile PDF | This is a facsimile or image-based PDF made from scans of the original book. | 36.4 MB |
| HTML | This version has been converted from the original text. Every effort has been taken to translate the unique features of the printed book into the HTML medium. | 1.64 MB |
Table of Contents
- CONTENTS
- Econlib Editor’s Notes
- PUBLISHER’S PREFACE TO THE Liberty Fund EDITION
- FOREWORD
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND ENGLISH EDITION
- TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
- PREFACE TO THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION
- INTRODUCTION
- 1: The Success of Socialist Ideas
- 2: The Scientific Analysis of Socialism
- 3: Alternative Modes of Approach to the Analysis of Socialism
- PART I: LIBERALISM AND SOCIALISM
- CHAPTER 1: Ownership
- 1: The Nature of Ownership
- 2: Violence and Contract
- 3: The Theory of Violence and the Theory of Contract
- 4: Collective Ownership of the Means of Production
- 5: Theories of the Evolution of Property
- CHAPTER 2: Socialism
- 1: The State and Economic Activity
- 2: The “Fundamental Rights” of Socialist Theory
- 3: Collectivism and Socialism
- CHAPTER 3: The Social Order and the Political Constitution
- 1: The Policy of Violence and the Policy of Contract
- 2: The Social Function of Democracy
- 3: The Ideal of Equality
- 4: Democracy and Social-Democracy
- 5: The Political Constitution of Socialist Communities
- CHAPTER 4: The Social Order and the Family
- 1: Socialism and the Sexual Problem
- 2: Man and Woman in the Age of Violence
- 3: Marriage Under the Influence of the Idea of Contract
- 4: The Problems of Married Life
- 5: Free Love
- 6: Prostitution
- PART II: THE ECONOMICS OF A SOCIALIST COMMUNITY
- Section I.: The Economics of an Isolated Socialist Community
- CHAPTER 5: The Nature of Economic Activity
- 1: A Contribution to the Critique of the Concept “Economic Activity”
- 2: Rational Action
- 3: Economic Calculation
- 4: The Capitalist Economy
- 5: The Narrower Concept of the “Economic”
- CHAPTER 6: The Organization of Production Under Socialism
- 1: The Socialization of the Means of Production
- 2: Economic Calculation in the Socialist Community
- 3: Recent Socialist Doctrines and the Problems of Economic Calculation
- 4: The Artificial Market as the Solution of the Problem of Economic Calculation
- 5: Profitability and Productivity
- 6: Gross and Net Product
- CHAPTER 7: The Distribution of Income
- 1: The Nature of Distribution Under Liberalism and Socialism
- 2: The Social Dividend
- 3: The Principles of Distribution
- 4: The Process of Distribution
- 5: The Costs of Distribution
- CHAPTER 8: The Socialist Community Under Stationary Conditions
- 1: Stationary Conditions
- 2: The Disutilities and Satisfactions of Labour
- 3: The “Joy of Labour”
- 4: The Stimulus to Labour
- 5: The Productivity of Labour
- CHAPTER 9: The Position of the Individual Under Socialism
- 1: Selection of Personnel and Choice of Occupation
- 2: Art and Literature, Science and Journalism
- 3: Personal Liberty
- CHAPTER 10: Socialism Under Dynamic Conditions
- 1: The Nature of the Dynamic Forces
- 2: Changes in Population
- 3: Changes in Demand
- 4: Changes in the Amount of Capital
- 5: The Element of Change in the Socialist Economy
- 6: Speculation
- 7: Joint Stock Companies and the Socialist Economy
- CHAPTER 11: The Impracticability of Socialism
- 1: The Fundamental Problems of a Socialist Economy Under Conditions of Change
- 2: Attempted Solutions
- 3: Capitalism the Only Solution
- Section II.: The Foreign Relations of a Socialist Community
- CHAPTER 12: National Socialism and World Socialism
- 1: The Spatial Extent of the Socialist Community
- 2: Marxian Treatment of this Problem
- 3: Liberalism and the Problem of the Frontiers
- CHAPTER 13: The Problem of Migration Under Socialism
- 1: Migration and Differences in National Conditions
- 2: The Tendency Towards Decentralization Under Socialism
- CHAPTER 14: Foreign Trade Under Socialism
- 1: Autarky and Socialism
- 2: Foreign Trade Under Socialism
- 3: Foreign Investment
- Section III.: Particular Forms of Socialism and Pseudo-Socialism
- CHAPTER 15: Particular Forms of Socialism
- 1: The Nature of Socialism
- 2: State Socialism
- 3: Military Socialism
- 4: Christian Socialism
- 5: The Planned Economy
- 6: Guild Socialism
- CHAPTER 16: Pseudo-Socialist Systems
- 1: Solidarism
- 2: Various Proposals for Expropriation
- 3: Profit-Sharing
- 4: Syndicalism
- 5: Partial Socialism
- PART III: THE ALLEGED INEVITABILITY OF SOCIALISM
- Section I.: Social Evolution
- CHAPTER 17: Socialistic Chiliasm
- 1: The Origin of Chiliasm
- 2: Chiliasm and Social Theory
- CHAPTER 18: Society
- 1: The Nature of Society
- 2: The Division of Labour as the Principle of Social Development
- 3: Organism and Organization
- 4: The Individual and Society
- 5: The Development of the Division of Labour
- 6: Changes in the Individual in Society
- 7: Social Regression
- 8: Private Property and Social Evolution
- CHAPTER 19: Conflict as a Factor in Social Evolution
- 1: The Cause of Social Evolution
- 2: Darwinism
- 3: Conflict and Competition
- 4: National War
- 5: Racial War
- CHAPTER 20: The Clash of Class Interests and the Class War
- 1: The Concept of Class and of Class Conflict
- 2: Estates and Classes
- 3: Class War
- 4: The Forms of Class War
- 5: Class War as a Factor in Social Evolution
- 6: The Theory of the Class War and the Interpretation of History
- 7: Summary
- CHAPTER 21: The Materialist Conception of History
- 1: Thought and Being
- 2: Science and Socialism
- 3: The Psychological Presuppositions of Socialism
- Section II.: The Concentration of Capital and the Formation of Monopolies as Preliminary Steps to Socialism
- CHAPTER 22: The Problem
- 1: The Marxian Theory of Concentration
- 2: The Theory of Anti-Monopolistic Policy
- CHAPTER 23: The Concentration of Establishments
- 1: The Concentration of Establishments as the Complement of the Division of Labour
- 2: The Optimal Size of Establishments in Primary Production and in Transport
- 3: The Optimal Size of Establishments in Manufacturing
- CHAPTER 24: The Concentration of Enterprises
- 1: The Horizontal Concentration of Enterprises
- 2: The Vertical Concentration of Enterprises
- CHAPTER 25: The Concentration of Fortunes
- 1: The Problem
- 2: The Foundation of Fortunes Outside the Market Economy
- 3: The Formation of Fortunes Within the Market Economy
- 4: The Theory of Increasing Poverty
- CHAPTER 26: Monopoly and Its Effects
- 1: The Nature of Monopoly and its Significance for the Formation of Prices
- 2: The Economic Effects of Isolated Monopolies
- 3: The Limits of Monopoly Formation
- 4: The Significance of Monopoly in Primary Production
- PART IV: SOCIALISM AS A MORAL IMPERATIVE
- CHAPTER 27: Socialism and Ethics
- 1: The Socialist Attitude to Ethics
- 2: Eudaemonistic Ethics and Socialism
- 3: A Contribution to the Understanding of Eudaemonism
- CHAPTER 28: Socialism as an Emanation of Asceticism
- 1: The Ascetic Point of View
- 2: Asceticism and Socialism
- CHAPTER 29: Christianity and Socialism
- 1: Religion and Social Ethics
- 2: The Gospels as a Source of Christian Ethics
- 3: Primitive Christianity and Society
- 4: The Canon Law Prohibition of Interest
- 5: Christianity and Property
- 6: Christian Socialism
- CHAPTER 30: Ethical Socialism, Especially That of the New Criticism
- 1: The Categorical Imperative as a Foundation for Socialism
- 2: The Duty of Work as a Foundation for Socialism
- 3: The Equality of Incomes as an Ethical Postulate
- 4: The Ethical-Aesthetic Condemnation of the Profit-Motive
- 5: The Cultural Achievements of Capitalism
- CHAPTER 31: Economic Democracy
- 1: The Slogan “Economic Democracy”
- 2: The Consumer as the Deciding Factor in Production
- 3: Socialism as Expression of the Will of the Majority
- CHAPTER 32: Capitalist Ethics
- 1: Capitalist Ethics and the Impracticability of Socialism
- 2: The Alleged Defects of Capitalist Ethics
- PART V: DESTRUCTIONISM
- CHAPTER 33: The Motive Powers of Destructionism
- 1: The Nature of Destructionism
- 2: Demagogy
- 3: The Destructionism of the Literati
- CHAPTER 34: The Methods of Destructionism
- 1: The Means of Destructionism
- 2: Labour Legislation
- 3: Compulsory Social Insurance
- 4: Trade Unions
- 5: Unemployment Insurance
- 6: Socialization
- 7: Taxation
- 8: Inflation
- 9: Marxism and Destructionism
- CHAPTER 35: Overcoming Destructionism
- 1: The “Interest” as an Obstacle to Destructionism
- 2: Violence and Authority
- 3: The Battle of Ideas
- CONCLUSION THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MODERN SOCIALISM
- 1: Socialism in History
- 2: The Crisis of Civilization
- APPENDIX A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CRITIQUE OF ATTEMPTS TO CONSTRUCT A SYSTEM OF ECONOMIC CALCULATION FOR THE SOCIALIST COMMUNITY
- EPILOGUE
- Introductory Remarks
- 1: The Failure of Interventionism
- 2: The Dictatorial, Anti-Democratic and Socialist Character of Interventionism
- 3: Socialism and Communism
- 4: Russia’s Aggressiveness
- 5: Trotsky’s Heresy
- 6: The Liberation of the Demons
- 7: Fascism
- 8: Nazism
- 9: The Teachings of Soviet Experience
- 10: The Alleged Invitability of Socialism
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
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