Bureaucracy (Paperback)

~ Ludwig Von Mises (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Professor von Mises addressed himself to a particular issue: what is the essential difference between bureaucratic management by government and market management in a system based on private ownership of the means of production? Mises does not discuss bureaus or bureaucrats, but inexorable principles of human action. He does not condemn bureaucracy, which is the appropriate technique for the conduct of government agencies such as courts of law, police departments, and the Internal Revenue Service; however, in economic production and distribution, the bureaucratic method is shown to be an abomination that spells universal ruin and disaster.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Libertarian Pr (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 091088434X
• ISBN-13: 978-0910884341
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,663,162 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perceptive and Concise, June 8, 2006

By	D. W. MacKenzie (New London CT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Bureaucracy is the clearest and most concise version of the calculation critique of socialism. This books is vastly easier to read that the original 1920 article on socialist calculation. It is far shorter and more focused than Human Action. It is also much shorter than Socialism, an Economic and Sociological Analysis. Mises managed to achieve brevity without sacrificing much important content. Bureaucracy is probably his best written book.

There are many subtleties to this book, but the main points are straightforward. Mises contrasts profit management with bureaucratic management. To Mises Bureaucratic management is necessary as far as a few basic public services are concerned. However, the adoption of socialism would mean the extension of bureaucratic management to all areas of the economy. The problem with this is that bureaucracies are inflexible. Changing economic conditions require the adaptation of production. Entrepreneurs implement changes in production because they seek profit. Mises explains why bureaucrats would act irresponsibly- they are not checked by profit and loss accounting. Since public services lack a cash value as generated by markets the costs of increasing public services are unknown. Bureacratic managers would thus over expand their operations without realizing it. Such bureaucratic excesses must be limited by restrictive rules. Hence bureaucracies lack the flexibility of entrepreneurial capitalism.

Mises also considers psychological and political issues, but these points are not as well developed as his economic arguments. One could see this as a weakness, but those who want a more complete version of the von Mises critique of socialism can read his 1922 book- Socialism.

Bureaucracy is the shortest and surest path to understanding the merits of free markets and the dangers of socialism. I can think of no other book that contains so many important insights in so few pages. The closest contenders for this honor would be Menger's Principles, Buchanan's Cost and Choice, and Hayek's Road to Serfdom. Fortunately one can find accessibility and genius in some books, and Bureaucracy excels in both of these attributes.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As timely and insightful now as it was over half a century ago, July 8, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BUREAUCRACY (Lib Works Ludwig Von Mises PB) (Paperback)

Written by professor former Vienna Chamber of Commerce economist Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Bureaucracy is a classic economic treatise, first published in 1944, about how the efficient aspects of private ownership and control of public good production ultimately produces superior results compared to the mishmash of publically administrated plans laced with codes of "officialdom", government incompetence, unforeseen legal wranglings, graft, and other ills. "Bureaucracy in itself is neither good nor bad," Mises states; rather, bureaucracy is a valuable resource for managing certain spheres of human activity, such as policing and courts of law, yet ultimately a failure or even harmful when applied to private enterprise, simply because forced obedience to strict rules hobbles entrepreneurial managers' room to maneuver amid fluctuating market situations, and stifles their innovation in response to evolving consumer wants. "Under socialism... the beginner must please the already settled. They do not like too efficient newcomers. (Neither do old-established entrepreneurs like such men; but, under the supremacy of the consumers, they cannot prevent their competition.) In the bureaucratic machine of socialism the way toward promotion is not achievement but the favor of the superiors... The rising generation is at the mercy of the aged." As timely and insightful now as it was over half a century ago, Bureaucracy is highly recommended especially for college library and economic studies shelves.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Free-Market Perspective on Big Government, September 22, 2000

By	Ryan Setliff "InternetPundit.com" (VA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Bureaucracy (Paperback)

This is a short economic tract from the acclaimed Austrian economist known for his stern defense of free-markets. Mises' sharp verbal logic and analysis of the adverse affect that bureaucracy, socialism, and a bloated public sector has on the economy. This book is a classic. I recommend reading in tandem with his other classics like Human Action, Liberalism in the Classical Tradition, Socialism.