Socialism, Economic Calculation and Entrepreneurship

A leading scholar in the tradition of the Austrian School of Economics, professor Jesús Huerta de Soto presents a powerful analysis of socialism in a book dedicated to Ludwig von Mises, who underlined the theoretical failures of socialism and opened the famous economic calculation debate of the 1920s and 1930s. Then, as now, economic crises were widely attributed to freedom, business and markets. Then, as now, it was necessary to indicate the interventionist origins of trade cycles, the negative effects of economic policies, the crucial positive force of entrepreneurship, and the intellectual errors and terrible practical consequences of the enemies of liberty. Huerta de Soto s is, accordingly, a very timely book. Carlos Rodríguez Braun, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain This highly topical book presents a new theory on the characteristics of entrepreneurial knowledge. It explores the recent shift among professional economists and scholars in their evaluation of the debate of socialism. Socialism, Economic Calculation and Entrepreneurship presents an application of Israel M. Kirzner s theory of entrepreneurship to the theory of the impossibility of socialism. It discusses the influence of the fall of socialism, with particular reference to the evolution of economic thought. With innovative and timely discussions, this book will appeal to students and academics in the fields of economic systems, the economic analysis of socialism and the history of economic thought. This important resource will also be greatly received by all scholars and students interested in Austrian economics.