Ludwig von Mises

He who disdains the fall in infant mortality and the gradual disappearance of famines and plagues may cast the first read more

He who disdains the fall in infant mortality and the gradual disappearance of famines and plagues may cast the first stone upon the materialism of the economists.

If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed read more

If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed in winning the support of their fellow citizens and converting them to the endorsement of policies that bring and preserve prosperity, the cause of mankind and civilization is hopeless. There is no other means to safeguard a propitious development of human affairs than to make the masses of inferior people adopt the ideas of the elite. This has to be achieved by convincing them. It cannot be accomplished by a despotic regime that instead of enlightening the masses beats them into submission. In the long run the ideas of the majority, however detrimental they may be, will carry on. The future of mankind depends on the ability of the elite to influence public opinion in the right direction.

...economic history is a long record of government policies that failed because they were designed with a bold disregard for read more

...economic history is a long record of government policies that failed because they were designed with a bold disregard for the laws of economics.

The prevailing legal and moral views of a time are held not only by those whom they benefit but by read more

The prevailing legal and moral views of a time are held not only by those whom they benefit but by those, too, who appear to suffer from them. Their domination is expressed in that fact- that the people from whom they claim sacrifice accept them.

The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all read more

The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all the struggles for liberty.