Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973) was an Austrian-born economist who immigrated to the United States while advocating free markets and laissez-faire. He was an outspoken critic of socialism and is considered the founder the "neo-Austrian School" of economics. But Mises also felt that government should not take positions on morality either.

Mises built on the Austrian School of economics founded by Carl Menger, as expressed in his book Principles of Economics. Mises supported the Austrian emphasis on individual action and the benefits of a free-market economy.

Mises' classic work was "The Theory of Money and Credit" (1912), in which he integrated macroeconomics into microeconomics by integrating the theory of money into the general theory of marginal utility. Other Austrian economists rejected his work, forcing Mises to start a neo-Austrian school of economics.

Mises felt that society does not benefit from an increase in the money supply, that increased money and bank credit causes inflation and business cycles. Mises supported a 100 percent gold standard.

A follower of Mises, F.A. Hayek, won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1973 for elaboring on Mises' business cycle theory.