Planning for Freedom Let the Market System Work

[Front Matter and Table of Contents]: This segment contains the title page, publication history, Library of Congress cataloging information, and the table of contents for 'Planning for Freedom'. It lists the works of Ludwig von Mises and outlines the four-part structure of the book, covering the free market, money and inflation, critiques of socialism, and economic ideas. [Foreword to the Liberty Fund Edition]: Bettina Bien Greaves provides historical context for the collection, highlighting Mises's relationship with publisher Fred Nymeyer and the evolution of the anthology. She summarizes Mises's core arguments on price controls, the definition of inflation as an increase in money supply, and the vital role of entrepreneurial profit and loss in creating wealth and directing production to satisfy consumer wants. [Part 1 Introduction and Chapter 1: Planning for Freedom]: Mises distinguishes between 'planning' as a synonym for total government control (socialism) and the interventionist 'middle way' advocated by Keynes and others. He argues that interventionism is inherently self-defeating, as it produces results less desirable than the unhampered market. He specifically addresses how capital accumulation is the only sustainable way to raise wages and how credit expansion inevitably leads to economic depression. [Chapter 2: Laissez Faire or Dictatorship]: Mises defends the maxim of laissez-faire against modern critiques, arguing that it represents the unhampered market economy rather than 'doing nothing.' He critiques J.E. Cairnes's arguments against the doctrine, noting that rejecting individual discretion based on human fallibility logically leads to rejecting government action as well. Mises asserts that the choice is not between 'automatic forces' and 'planning,' but between the individual's plan and the government's exclusive plan. [Conclusion and Footnote on Positive vs. Negative Liberalism]: Mises concludes his discussion on laissez-faire by defining it as the individual's right to choose without dictatorial force. A detailed footnote provides historical context for his refutation of the distinction between 'positive' and 'negative' liberalism. [Capital Supply and American Prosperity]: Mises argues that American prosperity is not a result of superior politicians but of a higher per-head quota of invested capital. He contrasts the high living standards of the United States with the poverty in India, attributing the latter to a lack of pro-capitalist philosophy and the resulting capital shortage. He emphasizes that industrialization requires economic freedom to create both capital and technological knowledge, rather than just machines and textbooks. [Envy, Anti-capitalism, and the Importance of Savings]: Mises examines the global trend of anti-capitalism fueled by envy and the expropriation of foreign investments. He criticizes Keynesianism for failing to recognize the role of saving and capital accumulation in economic improvement. He warns that 'soak the rich' taxation policies in the US are reaching a point of capital decumulation, threatening the very foundation of American wage rates and prosperity. [Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism]: Mises analyzes interventionism (the 'middle-of-the-road' policy) and argues that it is not a sustainable third system but a path toward total socialism. Using price controls as a primary example, he demonstrates how one intervention necessitates further interventions, eventually leading to a government-directed economy. He cites the historical experiences of Germany and Great Britain to show how wartime controls evolved into permanent socialist structures. [Inflation and Price Control]: This section explores the relationship between monetary expansion and price controls. Mises explains that inflation is an increase in the money supply, while rising prices are merely the consequence. He argues that price controls fail to stop the effects of inflation and instead lead to shortages and centralized planning. He uses the Nazi economy as a case study of how price control functions within an all-round system of state management. [Economic Aspects of the Pension Problem]: Mises argues that workers ultimately pay for their own pension benefits through lower take-home wages. He warns that inflationary government policies and deficit spending erode the future purchasing power of these pensions, making them a 'sham.' He emphasizes that true security depends on capital accumulation and the productivity of the employer's enterprise, rather than government promises or union pressure. [Wages, Unemployment, and Inflation]: Mises explains that wages are determined by the marginal productivity of labor, which is enhanced by capital investment. He argues that artificially raising wages through union coercion or government decree leads to unemployment. Governments often respond with credit expansion (inflation) to hide this unemployment, but this only leads to a cycle of rising prices and further instability. He concludes that the only pro-labor policy is one that encourages capital formation. [The Gold Problem and the Fiction of Government Omnipotence]: Mises defends the gold standard as the only system that makes money's purchasing power independent of political machinations. He refutes the 'cheap-money' fallacy, explaining that interest rates are determined by time preference, not government decree. He also argues that Keynesian full-employment policies are merely a method of using inflation to adjust real wages that have been pushed too high by union coercion. [The United States Gold Reserve and Benjamin Anderson]: Mises discusses the shrinking US gold holdings and introduces Benjamin Anderson as a key critic of the 'pseudo-progressive' philosophy. He analyzes the two lines of Marxian thought—integral revolution and reformism—and argues that the New Deal followed the step-by-step socialist transformation outlined in the Communist Manifesto. He praises Anderson's honesty and his fight against credit expansion and the abandonment of the gold standard. [Lord Keynes and Say's Law]: Mises defends Say's Law of Markets against Keynes's attacks. He explains that Say's Law refutes the myth of general overproduction, showing that commodities are ultimately paid for by other commodities. He argues that Keynes did not actually refute Say's Law but merely provided a pseudo-scientific rationalization for popular inflationary policies that governments were already practicing. He characterizes Keynesianism as the 'eating of the seed corn.' [Stones into Bread: The Keynesian Miracle]: Mises critiques the 'Keynesian Revolution' as a revival of mercantilist fallacies and the doctrines of Silvio Gesell. He discusses the failure of Keynes's predictions regarding German reparations and the London World Economic Conference. Mises argues that Keynesianism gained academic popularity because it offered a way for professors to justify labor union policies that had caused mass unemployment, by shifting the blame to the monetary system. [Liberty, the Welfare State, and Economic Planning]: Mises contrasts the libertarian system of voluntary cooperation with the authoritarian system of command. He critiques Friedrich von Hayek's 'The Constitution of Liberty' for suggesting that the Welfare State might be compatible with liberty, arguing instead that the Welfare State is merely a gradual method for realizing socialism. He describes two patterns of socialism: the Russian nationalization model and the German 'planning' model where private ownership exists in name only. [My Contributions to Economic Theory]: In this address, Mises summarizes his major contributions to economics, including the application of marginal utility to monetary theory, the monetary theory of the trade cycle, and the proof that economic calculation is impossible under socialism. He discusses his work on 'Human Action' (praxeology) and his disagreement with Frank Knight on capital theory, siding with Frank Fetter on time preference as the sole explanation for interest. [Economic Teaching at the Universities]: Mises criticizes the lack of ideological diversity in university social science departments. He specifically reviews a textbook on socialism by Paul Sweezy, edited by Harvard professors, which he describes as an uncritical eulogy of the Soviet system. Mises argues that 'academic freedom' is being used as a shield for a monopoly on 'progressive' fallacies, while sound economic theories are proscribed or ignored. [The Political Chances of Genuine Liberalism and Historical Trends]: Mises argues that the shift toward socialism is not an inevitable 'revolt of the masses' but a result of the ideologies spread by intellectuals. He challenges the Hegelian/Marxian dogma that historical trends are irreversible and always lead to progress. He suggests that a genuine liberal revival is possible if the public, particularly housewives concerned with low prices, can be convinced of the benefits of the unhampered market. [Profit and Loss: The Dynamics of the Market]: Mises provides a comprehensive analysis of the nature and function of profit and loss in a market economy. He defines profit as the result of an entrepreneur's success in anticipating future consumer wants and adjusting production accordingly. He refutes the idea of 'excessive' profits, arguing that they serve to shift capital into the hands of those who serve the public best. He warns that the abolition of profit through taxation or price control leads to economic chaos and the destruction of capitalism. [Index and Colophon]: Index of terms and names mentioned in the text, followed by typographic and production details of the book.