Childhood and family background
In the years from 1904 to 1914, Mises attended lectures given by the prominent Austrian economist Eugen von Boehm-Bawerk. Mises taught at the Vienna University in the years from 1913 to 1934, while also serving as a principal economic adviser to the Austrian government.
To avoid the influence of National Socialists in his Austrian homeland, and fearing repression due to his Jewish ancestry He received an honorary doctorate from Grove City College.
Despite his growing fame, Mises listed himself plainly in the New York phone directory and he welcomed students freely to his home. Mises died at the age of 92 at St Vincent's hospital in New York.

Professional life
Part of a series on Libertarianism Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Geolibertarianism Green libertarianism Right-libertarianism Left-libertarianism Minarchism Neolibertarianism Paleolibertarianism Austrian School Chicago School Classical liberalism Individualist anarchism Civil liberties Free markets Free trade Laissez-faire Liberty Individualism Non-aggression Private property Self-ownership Economic views Libertarian theorists History Movement Parties Theories of law Views of rights Criticism of libertarianism Mises wrote and lectured extensively on behalf of classical liberalism and is seen as one of the leaders of the Austrian School of economics. In his treatise on economics, Human Action, Mises introduced praxeology as the conceptual foundation of the science of human action, establishing economic laws of apodictic certainty rejecting positivism and material causality. Many of his works, including Human Action, were on two related economic themes:
Mises argued that money is demanded for its usefulness in purchasing other goods, rather than for its own sake and that any significant credit expansion causes business cycles. His other notable contribution was his argument that socialism must fail economically because of the economic calculation problem — the impossibility of a socialist government being able to make the economic calculations required to organize a complex economy. Mises projected that without a market economy there would be no functional price system, which he held essential for achieving rational allocation of capital goods to their most productive uses. Socialism would fail as demand cannot be known without prices, according to Von Mises. Mises' criticism of socialist paths of economic development is well-known.
The only certain fact about Russian affairs under the Soviet regime with regard to which all people agree is: that the standard of living of the Russian masses is much lower than that of the masses in the country which is universally considered as the paragon of capitalism, the United States of America. If we were to regard the Soviet regime as an experiment, we would have to say that the experiment has clearly demonstrated the superiority of capitalism and the inferiority of socialism.
These arguments were elaborated on by subsequent Austrian economists such as Hayek.
In Interventionism, An Economic Analysis (1940), Ludwig von Mises wrote:
The usual terminology of political language is stupid. What is 'left' and what is 'right'? Why should Hitler be 'right' and Stalin, his temporary friend, be 'left'? Who is 'reactionary' and who is 'progressive'? Reaction against an unwise policy is not to be condemned. And progress towards chaos is not to be commended. Nothing should find acceptance just because it is new, radical, and fashionable. 'Orthodoxy' is not an evil if the doctrine on which the 'orthodox' stand is sound. Who is anti-labor, those who want to lower labor to the Russian level, or those who want for labor the capitalistic standard of the United States? Who is 'nationalist,' those who want to bring their nation under the heel of the Nazis, or those who want to preserve its independence?

monetary economics and inflation;
the differences between government controlled economies and free trade. Contributions to the field of economics
The Theory of Money and Credit (1912) • Socialism (1922) • Liberalism (1927) • Omnipotent Government (1944) • Human Action (1949) • The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (1956)

The Theory of Money and Credit
Nation, State, and Economy
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis

• Full text: [1]
  Critique of Interventionism
  Liberalism
  Epistemological Problems of Economics
  Omnipotent Government: The Rise of Total State and Total War
  Bureaucracy
  Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
  
  
  
  • preceded by Nationalökonomie in 1940 (Full German text in PDF)
    Theory and History: An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution
    The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality
    The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science
    Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow Books
    
    Austrian School
    Praxeology
    Analytic-synthetic distinction and Ludwig von Mises' response to the Kantian challenge
    Contributions to liberal theory
    Hans-Hermann Hoppe
    Israel Kirzner
    Liberalism in Austria
    Libertarianism
    List of Austrian scientists
    List of Austrians
    Ludwig von Mises Institute
    Mont Pelerin Society
    Murray Rothbard
    Richard von Mises - Ludwig von Mises' brother
    Karl Polanyi - with whom von Mises debated leading to Polanyi's book The Great Transformation Further reading