Simplified Product Title: Economic Calculation in Socialist Commonwealth

The essay that Mises wrote in 1920 challenged the socialist paradigm in economics and laid the foundation for modern Austrian price theory. When it first appeared, Mises was the sole voice arguing that socialists needed to explain how their pricing system would actually work in practice. Through his proof, Mises demonstrated that socialism could not function because it lacked the ability to distinguish more or less valuable uses of social resources, and he predicted that the system would end in chaos. This led to the "socialist calculation" debate, which lasted for two decades.

This new edition of the essay includes an afterword by Joseph Salerno, who applies the calculation argument to contemporary issues such as environmentalism and business regulation. Salerno emphasizes that the significance of Mises's 1920 article goes far beyond its devastating critique of the viability of socialist economy and society. It also provides the rationale for the price system, free markets, the security of private property, and sound money. Salerno argues that Mises's thesis will remain relevant as long as economists and policymakers seek to understand why even minor government economic interventions consistently fail to achieve socially beneficial results.

The table of contents of the essay includes the following sections: "The Distribution of Consumption Goods in the Socialist Commonwealth," "The Nature of Economic Calculation," "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth," "Responsibility and Initiative in Communal Concerns," and "The Most Recent Socialist Doctrines and the Problem of Economic Calculation."

Salerno concludes that "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth" is surely one of the most important economic articles written in the 20th century. The essay's enduring relevance lies in its ability to elucidate the fundamental flaws of socialist and interventionist economic systems, and to provide a robust justification for the price system, free markets, and the security of private property.

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