The following arrived in my inbox:
I am glad about the publication of Hülsmann’s book. It has a delightful prose and shows mastery in the domain of relevant literature as well as historical details taken from Mises’ personal archive I think. I also regret that the book had been published without some valuable references contained in the 2003 draft available at mises.com. I specially miss the interesting references to Chayanov, Strumilin and Varga, that threw light upon the inner soviet reaction to Mises’ work. Even so this book is a masterpiece.
I already had had the opportunity to read his “Knowledge, Judgment and the Use of Property”, Review of Austrian Economics 10, no1 (1997). It contains sharp insights in the pitfalls, from the Misean point of view, of the Hayekian reading of the impossibility of economic calculation. The chapter 10 of his book also gives some additional historical references in favour of the new Misean critique.
I think that Austrians have misread Liberal-socialist literature of 30’s. Austrians have amplified some clearly foolish assertions of Lange and have neglected the more mature work of Dickinson. A new reading of market socialism paying attention to the deep pragmatic aims of these scholars, would lead to new conclusions about the feasibility of the proposition that paradoxically finds some support in Hayek’s works.
The works of Hülsmann among other Misean scholars like Jeffrey M. Herbener, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Murray N. Rothbard and Joseph T. Salerno, are very interesting for a Liberal-socialist eye, because contrary to their intentions and much to the regret of Hayekians, reveal the soundness of the informational point of view in favour of market socialist thesis.
I am preparing a work analyzing these issues. Unfortunately it is in Spanish and in this part of the world we only count with some Hayekians Austro-liberals, willing to see a tuning between Mises and Hayek. I will have to wait until its translation for a better feedback from Miseans. I hope they were able to see in it a further argument to dehomogenize Mises and Hayek, even though they certainly will reject more general conclusions of my work.
Kind regards, Alejandro Agafonow
