Human Action
A Treatise on Economics
by Ludwig von Mises, Bettina Bien Greaves · first published 1949
65% recommend33% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Exhaustive, first-principles treatise on economics from the Austrian school, covering purposeful action, money, central banks, inflation and profit; suited to readers wanting a deep, systematic grounding.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"Human Action: A Treatise on Economics" is the first comprehensive treatise on economics written by a leading member of the modern Austrian school of economics. Von Mises contribution was very simple, yet at the same time extremely profound: he pointed out that the whole economy is the result of what individuals do. Individuals act, choose, cooperate, compete, and trade with one another. In this way Mises explained how complex market phenomena develop. Mises did not simply describe economic phenomena - prices, wages, interest rates, money, monopoly and even the trade cycle - he explained them
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Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt Human Action by Ludwig von Mises
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗…Rothbard - 'For a New Liberty': https://mises.org/library/new-liberty-libertarian-manifesto And for those who want to really go deep (some might say, far into the weeds!), I'll add Ludwig von Mises - Human Action: https://fee.org/resources/human-action-by-ludwig-von-mises/ Disclosure: I worked a very short stint at FEE almost a decade ago.
on “Ask HN: What are the must-read books about economics/finance?” ↗If you're the kind of person who reads Diplomacy by Kissinger for an introduction to geopolitics or the Bible to understand christianity, then I'd highly recommend Human Action by Ludwig von Mises for a very strong understanding of economics. One of the best (and largest) books ever written on economics, you don't have to be of the Austrian school to get a lot out of it. It…
on “Ask HN: Best book(s) to learn about the basics of economics?” ↗…transaction. Fraud is the commission of force, and thus cannot be voluntary. both parties BELIEVE they will improve their situation Of course. And that's the best that we can do. I'd urge you to read Human Action, by Mises, where this problem is addressed quite completely. The thing is, only the participants themselves can truly know what their goals are, so there is no one in a position to gainsay. Indeed, sometimes…
on “A paper trail of betrayal: Google's net neutrality collapse” ↗…believe something doesn't make it legitimate. Lots of people followed the Soviet and Nazi programs and it created human suffering on a level never seen before in human history. You really should read Human Action by Mises. It lays out on a philosophical level why all this stuff is fundamentally irrational and necessarily leads to mass human suffering.
on “Thomas Sowell interview” ↗…to understand these books, you may come away having no idea what your political leanings are): 1. Karl Marx - Communist Manifesto, and Das Kapital 2. Ludwig von Mises - Socialism, and Human Action 3. Hayek - Road to Serfdom Those are some of my favorites. There is a giant queue I have left to read, and I've also left off some good ones. There are quite a few additional books and Great…
on “Ask HN: What has been your most rewarding job or project and why?” ↗I enjoyed this article and because I know David reads this I wanted to suggest the book "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises. It seems like his discussion of profits in that book might be pretty interesting with your line of thought. I saw in an interview that John Mackey of Whole Foods got a lot out of…
on “Profits = Freedom” ↗Yes, Human Action is big, thick and highly recommended. You can find one or more earlier and still quite useful print editions on the net (as I understand it, the subsequent edits weren't heavy).
on “Ask HN: Best book(s) to learn about the basics of economics?” ↗I like Price Theory by David D. Friedman (http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_ToC...) and Human Action by Ludwig von Mises (http://mises.org/resources/3250).
on “Ask HN: what are some good resources to understand economics?” ↗…Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo, The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions by Thorstein Veblin, The Road to Serfdom, Individualism and Economic Order by F.A. Hayek, Human Action by Ludwig von Mises.
on “Ask HN:Economics Classics?” ↗…Your bloody Sturlunga is evidence of the aggressive nature of the statism you propose as "necessary". >Ok, apparently you haven't yet read much about economics Sure homie. Update me when you have read Human Action. To me markets are capitalism, but people equivocate on "capitalism" as also the current statist crony corporatism. Wittgenstein teaches us to be clear about what we mean. If you're not familiar with…
on “I’ve Joined the White House’s U.S. Digital Service” ↗…protect anything outside of their interests[0]. Free markets are good and necessary for human flourishing[1]. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Creature-Jekyll-Island-Federal-Reserv... [1] https://www.amazon.com/Human-Action-Ludwig-Von-Mises/dp/1614...
on “The Contradictions of Sam Altman, AI Crusader” ↗Not completely naive, I hope: "Human Action" and "The Theory of Money and Credit" by Ludwig Von Mises are excellent, extremely detailed and informative reads. bokonist presents a good overview of the Austrian case against inflation / monetary dilution…
on “Inflation as a Compound Annual Interest Rate” ↗…choices I'll make -- BASE jumping, etc. -- may seem absurdly risky to you, but in fact, they really do bring to me a greater return than the alternative. You can learn a lot more about this in Mises' Human Action. He shows how each person's actions can only be viewed as a black box, the rest of us have no way to gainsay them (nor right to do so, but that's a different discussion). Indeed, sometimes a person's…
on “Google, what were you thinking?” ↗Please, don't go without read "Human Action" by Ludwig von Mises.
on “Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I've automated my job?” ↗