Human Action

A Treatise on Economics

By: Ludwig von Mises

Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach

Length: 47 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Human Action is the most important book on political economy you will ever own. It was (and remains) the most comprehensive, systematic, forthright, and powerful defense of the economics of liberty ever written. This is the Scholar's Edition: accept no substitute. You will treasure this volume.

The Scholar's Edition is the original, unaltered treatise (originally published in 1949) that shaped a generation of Austrians and made possible the intellectual movement that is leading the global charge for free markets.

Mises himself wrote the following by way of explanation of why he wrote the book: "Economics does not allow any breaking up into special branches. It invariably deals with the interconnectedness of all phenomena of acting and economizing. All economic facts mutually condition one another. Each of the various economic problems must be dealt with in the frame of a comprehensive system assigning its due place and weight to every aspect of human wants and desires. All monographs remain fragmentary if not integrated into a systematic treatment of the whole body of social and economic relations.

"To provide such a comprehensive analysis is the task of my book Human Action, a Treatise on Economics. It is the consummation of lifelong studies and investigations, the precipitate of half a century of experience. I saw the forces operating which could not but annihilate the high civilization and prosperity of Europe. In writing my book, I was hoping to contribute to the endeavors of our most eminent contemporaries to prevent this country from following the path which leads to the abyss."

The Scholar's Edition of Human Action is the definitive edition of this great work and foundation of every library of freedom.

©1949 Ludwig von Mises (P)2010 Ludwig von Mises Institute

Better be prepared to bookmark

Where does Human Action rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

#3: Human action is definitely Von Mises best work, I consider this book to economics what the principia was to physics; it's final chapter the intellectual equivalent of dropping the mic.

Who was your favorite character and why?

There are no characters, its an economics treatise for goodness sake.

Which scene was your favorite?

Dear heavens, I'm pretty sure an algorithm went wrong here.

If you could give Human Action a new subtitle, what would it be?

Free Markets: Boom.

The most importante book in the World

This os something that every one should read. To understand why we are where we are!

comprehensive analysis human economic action

this audiobook takes a tremendous amount of time to get through but there are several and many high points that can be learned throughout.

Prolix, monotonous performance, but invaluable

Despite the prolixity of the text and the monotony of the reading, I'm sorry to say that this is a "must hear" audiobook. I confess it took me about 6 months to finish.

Unmatched!

A timeless monument of a book. A treatise on Economics as the overarching science to describe human - purposeful - action.
Full of quotable sharp wit and clearest economic thinking of the last (and 21st so far) century.
LvM warns of stateism and interventionism 70 years ago. Nothing's changed, if anything, things are even more grim.

Must read for both leaders and the general public

Prescient for what has happened in the 70+ years since written.

Exposes the charlatans we have in government, business channels, academia, and the limited public (mis)understanding of economics that is rampant in society.

Best book explaining human nature, economics, and politics that I have read.

Necessary to everyone.

The best book for understanding the economical consequences of human actions. A masterpiece. I wish i had read that years ago.

An incredible book

This is the product of an outstanding intelect, it offers a deep analysis of all aspects of the economic science. Recommended to anyone that wants a deeper understanding of economy. A deep understanding of this book will probably do more to augment your economyc knowledge than an economics degree now a days.

Absolutamente Imprescindible

Fantástico, me ha encantado.
Da gusto leer un manual de economía explicada a partir de la naturaleza del ser humano y su libertad de elección como individuo (en vez de intentar encajarlo a la fuerza en obcecados modelos teóricos ciegos a la realidad de su naturaleza). Es por eso que buena parte del libro es filosofía económica y es por eso también que su lectura resulta perfectamente asequible para no economistas.
Además y tratándose Mises del principal exponente de la economía austríaca, resulta especialmente interesante para entender esta importante corriente económica.
La lectura de Jeff Riggenbach es magistral y se entiende sin demasiado problema, incluso para aquellos lectores con un inglés no especialmente avanzado.
En resumen, un libro absolutamente recomendable, imprescindible incluso.

Theory of everything

This explains it all.
It took me several years to get through this audiobook due to its length and scholarly language. It was especially tough to get through the first out of 7 books. But as soon as I started book 2, it became much easier. So many of my previous takes on things had to be reconsidered that it took this long to digest it intellectually. I had to read other books to get up to speed on various subjects, and it inspired me to develop a way of thinking and analyzing. Most chapters made my mind explode in awe as I realized what the author was explaining.
Very well written, although scholarly.