On Hülsmann's Fabulous Book

I do declare that Jörg Guido Hülsmann’s 1050 page biography of Ludwig von Mises, titled Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism, which details his life and work, and also the history of the Austrian School of Economics, is the best book I have read in a long, long time. Indeed, for the last few days I have been waking up at 4 AM so that I could get down to reading it without any disturbance. It is an unputdownable book, and I recommend it to all those who wish to learn more about this school of thought – especially people like Kaushik Das, Vipin Veetil, Kumar Anand and Chandra, my little troop, who have been studying the Austrian paradigm on their own, the hard way. In this book they will discover the intricacies of Austrian theory and be able to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys. For example, Friedrich Wieser and Joseph Schumpeter turn out to be bad guys, and even Friedrich von Hayek doesn’t fare too well (he is a Wieserian and not a Mengerian, and a “neo-liberal” as opposed to Mises’ unflinching laissez faire “classical liberalism"). Chandra recently presented me with a copy of Wieser’s Natural Value, but after reading Hülsmann I have decided never to read the Wieser book, which sowed the seeds of great confusion.

There is also much dope on Lord Lionel Robbins (after whom the LSE library is named) – and he is a very bad guy, who turned to Keynesianism and interventionism to play British politics à la the LSE. Hint: Don’t study at the LSE. Not that the USSA’s “Ivy League” universities are any better. Read about what Yale University Press did to the second edition of Mises’ magnum opus, Human Action.

India's liberals would also find dope on Friedrich Naumann - some good, some bad. Perhaps the FDP should name their think-tank after Max Weber, who comes off quite well.

The book also talks of many “heroes” in the saga of modern subjectivist economics, and the book lists many who stood solidly behind Mises – from Henry Hazlitt to Leonard Read to Hans Sennholz (whose student, the late Uday Sher Singh, was a good friend of mine and told me many great stories of his beloved teacher). Percy Greaves and his wife, Bettina Bien Greaves, are also portrayed as faithful followers. There is also a fair bit on the American “anarchists” led by Murray Rothbard. An interesting aside is about Rothbard's and Mises' experience with Ayn Rand and the Randian "cult." We also read about the “neo-liberal” takeover of the Mont Pélérin Society, and its politics. Lew Rockwell also features. There is also a discussion on the "conservatives" of the USSA, which is educative, for neither Mises, nor Hayek, nor, for that matter, James Buchanan, call themselves "conservative."

A free PDF download of Hülsmann’s book is available here. But I recommend you buy and treasure this great book, handsomely bound, which is now the pride of my modest library.

Of course, the ultimate hero of the story is Ludwig von Mises. This is a book about this great economist and social philosopher who stood steadfastly by truth and liberty, and never wavered. A towering giant of a man. The “historical setting” of the school in Hapsburg Austria is also very well documented.

I am much inspired by the story of Mises’ life, his trials and tribulations. I am also far better informed about his ideas. I have learnt a lot.