The mission of the Mises Institute, as presaged by Ludwig von Mises in his 1962 review of Murray Rothbard’s Man, Economy, and State:
If we want to avoid the destruction of Western civilization and the relapse into primitive wretchedness, we must change the mentality of our fellow citizens. We must make them realize what they owe to the much vilified “economic freedom,” the system of free enterprise and capitalism. The intellectuals and those who call themselves educated must use their superior cognitive faculties and power of reasoning for the refutation of erroneous ideas about social, political and economic problems and for the dissemination of a correct grasp of the operation of the market economy. They must start by familiarizing themselves with all the issues involved in order to teach those who are blinded by ignorance and emotions. They must learn in order to acquire the ability to enlighten the misguided many.
The entire review is fantastic, and demonstrates the degree to which Mises considered the young Rothbard an eminent and pioneering economist — nothing less than an “epochal” contributor to the science of praxeology. High praise indeed.
h/t Bob Robert.
