This book is probably one of the most prescient analyses ever written in social philosophy. By analysing the basic character and prerequisites of economic calculation, the author explains why exclusively state-controlled economic production will never work. He thus effectively provided an explanation for the demise of communism 70 years before it finally happened (this book was first published in 1922). To some extent this book is clearly a product of its time, a polemical argument from a time of crisis. The author's portrait of socialism as absolute state control was no doubt more timely in an age of rising dictatorships than it is today. But on the other hand this is a book for the ages thanks to the author's philosophical capacity. Anyone who wants to think through the political problem of state control vs. private action (a problem which certainly extends beyond economics) would be well-advised to begin with this great book. The problems are more multifaceted today, but the arguments of a hundred years ago are in this case far more insightful than much of what is written nowadays.

The difinitive deconstruction of Socialism and its' variants, logic like facts is a stuborn thing. Written in 1936 Mr. Mises's critique is applicable to the problems that face the US today. ( )