Added: Feb 23, 2006
From: misesmedia
Duration: 37:49
What kind of man was Ludwig von Mises? As this unique film shows, Mises (1881-1973) was a man who never stopped fighting for freedom: not when the Nazis burned his books, not when the Left blackballed him at universities, not when it seemed as if statism had won. With courage and genius, he fought big government until the day he died ... in 25 books, hundreds of articles, and more than 60 years of teaching. Mises's battles against Communists, Nazis, and other socialists, are featured in this film, as are his ideas of Liberty. There is also the old Vienna he loved, the Bolshevik prime minister he dissuaded from Communism, and a cast of villains from Lenin to Hitler, as well as such supporters and students as Murray Rothbard, Ron Paul, Bettina Greaves, M. Stanton Evans, Mary Peterson, Joseph Sobran, and Yuri Maltsev. Among his many accomplishments, Mises showed that socialism had to fail, that central banking causes recessions and depressions, that the gold standard is honest money, and that only laissez-faire capitalism is fully compatible with Western civilization. Mises was the twentieth century's foremost economist, and one of its most important champions of Liberty. Here is a film that does justice to this extraordinary man, and to his equally extraordinary ideas.
Channel: News
Tags: austrian capitalism economics free freedom liberty ludwig market mises socialism von
Moragauth Says:
Oct 25, 2008 - I agree. Make sure you do it in a way that you die slowly and painfully.
Moragauth Says:
Oct 25, 2008 - He won't or probably can't.
Moragauth Says:
Oct 25, 2008 - I am a consumer and nothing you say will reduce me to a "citizen".
teenflunkie Says:
Oct 27, 2008 - I'm a science/math type but I was once very clueless about economics. So I read Human Action ( well most of it ). I was amazed that I could KNOW economics ( through Misean epistemological methodology ). I also came to discovery that ignorance of economics usually leads to unsound or disatrous political thinking or doctrines. Mises is a very important fellow indeed.
scientistwriter Says:
Oct 31, 2008 - dude im the same as you haha.
mj011n1r Says:
Nov 6, 2008 - Same here.
voister81 Says:
Nov 10, 2008 - I plan to read Human Action. Man, as a guy in Science(math) I came to realize Social Science IS NOT CRAP :)). Maybe much more interesting than science!! I'll buy Human Action now.
hymnofashes Says:
Nov 18, 2008 - Markets are defined by regulation. (Patent regulations, delimited public goods, etc.) and economies are also subsets of the natural environment. Production decisions are generally consumer-driven, but often also by political forces or the preferences of those who either produce, seize, or happen to inherit (look at the Saudis) valuable capital. I have those reservations about 'free' markets.
hymnofashes Says:
Nov 18, 2008 - The fundamental problem with laissez-faire economies is that there is a demand in the market for devices and individuals whose purpose is to subvert the market itself by monopolizing information, creating barriers to entry, destroying equality of opportunity, or most commonly creating value for private shareholders by cannibalizing goods in the public sphere. I agree about the gold standard, though.
hugolp Says:
Nov 19, 2008 - The best way to monopolize a market is having the goverment issuing a law and using people taxes to inforce that law. Otherwise, if you dont use the goverment, you have to pay the effort of keeping the monopoly. And that is very very expensive and ends up in having another company taking over your market anyways.
norcofreerider604 Says:
Nov 23, 2008 - An exclusive monopoly is the invention of government, not the market. Since the market is driven by competition, abusive "monopolies" will fail quickly as better goods/services beat it out.
TaylorDykstra Says:
Dec 2, 2008 - most monopolies that have appeared throughout history have been supported by government through protectionism ex. guild monopolies. But even with government sponsored monopolies, the free market will many times find ways around it. The government monopoly imposed on railroads and therefore swift transportation was overcome by the advancement of the automobile. Free market capitalism even has found ways around monopoly.
freezyfreeze Says:
Dec 2, 2008 - Mises was an economic genius. He preached free market and condemned socialism. I especially loved his take on price control. Alot of the time government thinks they are helping, but ultimately hurt. Like when govt. raises min. wage. Mises says if you raise min. wage with no regard to total capital income, raising min. wages actually creates mass unemployment. Leave economics to economists, politics to politics. Govt plays its hand into too much economics and alot of the time fail horribly.
hymnofashes Says:
Dec 2, 2008 - First- be adults. I am not trolling. Don't flag me. You seem to be arguing that anti-monopolistic legislation is unwarranted because the government causes monopolies. That doesn't make sense. No one responded to my concerns. You just asserted that the government is really behind monopolies. I can show that monopolies are often behind the government. If you don't define the relationship between the government and business, it will exist anyway, and it will not be subject to democratic input.
ashilionair Says:
Dec 8, 2008 - hmmm rocka fella sure didnt kill anyone but he robbed the people in amerika and turned them to slave labour and his family continues the job
Johnhoulgate Says:
Dec 8, 2008 - I wasn't too thrilled with the Rockefeller reference either, but overall, this was a great presentation of Ludwig Von Mises.
ogello Says:
Dec 18, 2008 - politics should be about = freedom Freedom should be about = economy economy should be about = politics. economists regulating the country since the economy is the drivin motor in a funcioning society isnt that scary a thought to me. Put a libertarian in charge of change, give it a 5 years gradualisation.. and we should see something we have never seen before. oh yeah and eliminate the un and the eu. very important:)
bbpro Says:
Dec 20, 2008 - I'm watching it as we speak and just saw that part too, and I didn't care for it, but otherwise this video looks great thus far.
franz9z Says:
Dec 21, 2008 - Von Mises was a true freemaket friend.Not a Half-Socialist as Friedman and Chicagoschool FED-Monetarist State Power defenders!
franz9z Says:
Dec 24, 2008 - I agree Von Mises was a genius.His works should be morerecognized.Austrian school must noticed.I don´t like the way Friedman´s followers allways try to discredit Von Mises,Hayek and Rothbard!They are worse then keynesians,that is more honest in the debate, but Friedmans Followers are a gang of back-stabbers!!Watch out for them and debate them.Friedman would not take a debate with Rothbard!
calebabcxyz Says:
Jan 5, 2009 - ok nazi how about you at least spell America right!!!
calebabcxyz Says:
Jan 5, 2009 - I concur with your theories, as I too believe Ludwig was a genius but the principle of economics relates directly to freedom to provide us with politics and a political standpoint to which we live.
SearchBillHicks Says:
Jan 6, 2009 - The coal mines of Appalachia during the 1920's and the United Fruit Company's Guatemalan plantations during the 1940's are excellent examples of how a free market can be just as oppressive as a socialist state. I believe the true purpose of a democracy is to maintain a balance between both principles. Everyone seems to think we can only have one or the other when what we need is a healthy balance of both. Such a balance cannot truly exist with a central bank printing worthless money.
Ooftyman Says:
Jan 7, 2009 - Von Mises definitely had a huge contribution on 20th century economics. Sadly, I think "Tricky Dick" was right though when he said "We're all Keynesians." Well, I'm not, but I think the current measures Obama is taking will definitely further entrench idiocy in Washington. As much as I hate to admit it, I think Keynes had a bigger impact on modern economic thinking, despite his the perpetually failing policies influenced by his work.
Moragauth Says:
Oct 25, 2008 - Why don't you shut up you retarded crank? You're the liar here. Fucking idiot, judging Mises with your propaganda-induced beliefs. Crawl under a rock and die.