ABSTRACT
The fourtieth anniversary of the publication of the revised third English edition of Ludwig von Mises’ most important work, his economic treatise entitled Human Action, is, without doubt, a magnificent opportunity to make a series of reflections which place the work in the correct context, explain its scientific importance and manifest its great comparative advantages in the university, academic and intellectual world. In addition, a new eighth Spanish edition of Mises’ work at the present time acquires a deep significance, due not only to the full confirmation of Mises’ analysis in all areas by the historic collapse of real socialism in the Eastern European countries, but also to the grave crisis of the neoclassical Walrasian paradigm which, although it has dominated Economic Science to date, has now come to an obscure dead-end.2
Moreover, from the strictly academic point of view, it is now twenty years since we began to recommend Human Action as a basic textbook for courses on political economy at the Complutense and King Juan Carlos Universities of Madrid and, in this time, it has been used as a study and work instrument bymore than 3,000 students, who have been capable of generating a great wealth of academic and intellectual experiences which should by now be known. We will, therefore, discuss below the main contributions contained in
Mises’ Human Action and its comparative advantages in respect of most of the economics manuals and textbooks which could be used as alternatives. Subsequently, after a brief intellectual biography of the author, we will explain the evolution of the successive editions of Human Action all over the world, together with the stimulus it is providing for the development of Economic Science. Our study will conclude with a series of practical educational recommendations, for both students and teachers, relating to the use of this book as a key instrument for work at university.
