Lecture series · recorded 2007
The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises
The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises is a free lecture series (10 recordings, 14.4 hours) you can stream or download at freecapitalists.org, with Jörg Guido Hülsmann.
In this ten-lecture course sponsored by George and Joele Eddy, Jörg Guido Hülsmann explains how Ludwig von Mises's life took dramatic turns, what contributions Mises made to the social sciences, and how Mises never gave up and never gave in.
BiographiesWorld HistoryWar and Foreign Policy
Cover painting: Nazi agents with swastika armbands carry Mises's papers out of his Vienna study, March 1938. See every painting in the art gallery.
-
01
1:31:02 Download MP3
Formative Years 2007
Why did Mises do certain things in response to certain events? This first full biography of Mises seeks to answer those many questions. In the first four chapters, Hulsmann covers Mises’ roots: his birth in September 1881 as a nobleman, his family including his brother Richard, the role of family in the region of Galicia in the late eighteen hundreds, his school years, social and economic problems, and his university years. Lecture 1 of 10 from The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises , a George and Joele Eddy Seminar.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographiesWorld History
Read the transcript 11,583 words
-
02
1:28:00 Download MP3
The Austrian School Around 1900 2007
Carl Menger (b. 1840) dared to create something he called the Austrian School of Economics. His was a new way of doing economic analysis. He sided with Aristotle’s realism.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsPhilosophy and MethodologyBiographies
Read the transcript 11,017 words
-
03
1:27:53 Download MP3
Theory of Money and Credit 2007
This 1912 book is Mises’ first great theory. Mises agreed with Menger about the spontaneous emergence of money. No government is needed. Mises used a logical proof called the regression theory. It explained why money is demanded in its own right.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsMoney and BankingPhilosophy and MethodologyBiographies
Read the transcript 11,392 words
-
04
1:22:03 Download MP3
The Great War and Its Aftermath 2007
Mises was not surprised by WWI, 1914-1920. He was posted on the Northern Front of the Austro-Hungarian towns as a Lieutenant in an artillery unit.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographiesWar and Foreign PolicyWorld History
Read the transcript 10,809 words
-
05
1:29:16 Download MP3
A Copernican Shift 2007
Mises’ socialist calculation argument reshaped the debate about socialism. It was not true that socialism could work and could use the same techniques as capitalism. The book Socialism had a decisive impact on Hayek and other rising economists.
Austrian Economics OverviewOther Schools of ThoughtPhilosophy and MethodologyBiographiesWorld History
Read the transcript 11,133 words
-
06
1:30:38 Download MP3
Mises in His Prime 2007
Mises was in his prime from 1920-1934 while he was 39-53 years old. Three main areas in these years were certain people, his intellectual contributions, and other work.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsPhilosophy and MethodologyBiographiesWorld History
Read the transcript 11,409 words
-
07
1:22:45 Download MP3
Years in Geneva 2007
Mises left Vienna for six years in Geneva, 1934 – 1940, to write his treatise and leave behind the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party. In Geneva, Mises held the Chair for International Relations.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographies
Read the transcript 10,464 words
-
08
1:27:22 Download MP3
Nationalökonomie 2007
This work of six years of labor appeared in 1940. It was the predecessor to Human Action published nine years later. Epistemology and value theory were the two central problems.
Austrian Economics OverviewHistory of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographies
Read the transcript 11,518 words
-
09
1:21:04 Download MP3
New Life in America 2007
Arriving in New York in 1940, Mises found many friends from Geneva there, but no income or assets at the age of 59. Mises began writing in English. During this time, Leonard Read created FEE – the Foundation for Economic Education- which later on turned into a forum for Austrian economics.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographies
Read the transcript 10,349 words
-
10
1:24:57 Download MP3
Birth, Decline, and Rebirth of the Second Mises Revolution 2007
Birth: By the late 1940s, Mises was recognized in libertarian centers, but overnight in 1949 he became a central intellectual figure by his publication of Human Action. Leonard Read and FEE became devoted Misesians, along with Hans Sennholz and Murray Rothbard. In 1953 a new edition of The Theory of Money and Credit dealt with monetary reform including a gold standard. Decline: From 1960 to the late 1980s. The followers of Mises were too young to take of leadership roles. The emergence of a so-called conservative movement like The National Review drew support away . Finally, the divisions within the Circle Bastiat between Randians and Rothbard dissipated energies. This decline benefited the Chicago School of Economics. Rebirth: Hayek received the Nobel Prize in 1974 for his business cycle theory. South Royalton Conference occurred in 1974 on Austrian Economics. Most importantly, Mises Institute was established in 1982. Lecture 10 of 10 from The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises , a George and Joele Eddy Seminar.
History of the Austrian School of EconomicsBiographies
Read the transcript 10,687 words
People in this series
Speakers
Recording dates, summaries and topics for 10 of these 10 lectures come from the Mises Institute's page for The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises, checked 2026-09-27.
Community
Discuss this course
No thread on Mises Community names this course yet. Start one.
Questions
About this series
- Is The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises free to listen to?
- Yes. All 10 mirrored recordings stream in the browser or download as audio, at no cost and with no signup.
- How long is The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises?
- 10 recordings, 14.4 hours in total.
- Who lectures in The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises?
- Jörg Guido Hülsmann.
- When was The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises recorded?
- 2007, per the recording dates recovered for this series.
- Is there a transcript of The Life, Times, and Work of Ludwig von Mises?
- Yes. Every lecture in the series has one, 110,361 words in total, free to read on each lecture's page and searchable in the browser.
Playback speed
Keyboard shortcuts
- Space or K
- Play or pause
- J or left arrow
- Back 15 seconds
- L or right arrow
- Forward 30 seconds
- , and .
- Slower and faster
- N and P
- Next and previous lecture
- ?
- This list