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Bureaucracy

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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.

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.

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.

This is an excellent book and a devastating critique against bureaucracy. Even though this book was written in 1944 many of the problems, irritations and false hopes of bureaucracy as outlined in this book are still relevant, if not more so, today. Times may change but bureaucracy does not.

This stands as one of Mises's best books. The author offers an insightful and detailed analysis of bureaucratic management and compares it to private management. He also discusses the affects the former can have on private enterprise. Other topics related to bureaucracy, of course, are discussed. I enjoyed reading this book very much and walked away a better economist because of it.

Length:: 7:21 Mins

Ludwig von Mises' stuff is worth reading twice and this book remains highly pertinent today.

Brilliant, concise, extraordinarily objective and analytical, while delving into the exposition of bureaucracy so thoroughly this reader at least, found the case quite damning.

GREAT BOOK BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOT APPLICABLE TO THE CURRENT DISMAL STATE OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT. DON'T WORRY PERK-UP AND HOPE FOR AN EARLY AND QUICK DEATH. BRING ON THE COMET!!!