Books of tne 1 imes May 27-1944 By JOHN CHAMBERLAIN I' 1913 the world was on the threshold of a some etatism, some interventionism. But it is golden age. Despite occasional depressions, doomed to slavery if etatism becomes a universal all the great nations of the West were grow- creed. ing richer, and the standard of living was uni- versally rising, for the poor as well as the well- When a nation of continental proportions and endowments, such as Russia or the United States, to-do. Contrary to popular expectation, trade between even the heavily industrialized countries goes in for interventionism or autarchy, it does not necessarily make that nation bellicose. But was increasing; Germany and England, two na- it is the cause of belligerence in less favored na- tions which feared they must compete with each tions. Excluded from markets, the less favored other to the death, were actually the best of mu- tual customers. In the United States, with the nations must try to get along more or less on passage of the Underwood tariff, a downward re- their own. But if they can't export, they can't vision of a whole host of import duties, it began raise the foreign exchange with which to buy the to look as though even the great Hamiltonian raw materials they lack. The logical answer to this state of affairs is to raise the cry for "Le- name was about to be subscribed to the theory that people were fools when they refused to buy bensraum." Von Mises doesn't blame England, France and the United States for the rise of in the cheapest market. nazism in Germany; after all, the Prussians led Yes, even as the world moved toward the the European march away from free trade to- Golden Age the storm clouds blew up. The great ward interventionism in the late nineteenth experiment in a global division of labor ended century, and the first World War, which was di- in a frightful war, a stultifying peace and a rectly responsible for the universal economic reversion to the cut-throat economics of eight- idiocy of the Twenties and the Thirties, was cer- eenth-century mercantilism, with nations every- tainly welcomed by the Kaiser. But no matter where paying lip service to the slogans of abun- where the ultimate blame should lie, the facts of dance and plenty as they throttled production recent history remain what they are: the inter- and exchange with quota restrictions, competi- tive currency devaluation, sterile political loans, vention of "have" nations has been accompanied by the bellicosity of the "have-nots." higher tariffs, progressively stiffer taxes for armaments, and even attempts to reach com- Government 'Planning' and War plete autarchy. How did such madness come about? To Lud- Why must Government "planning" and inter- wig von Mises, exiled Viennese economist, the ference in the workings of the market lead to only explanation is that human beings are idiots. cut-throat mercantilism and war? Because Some are worse idiots than others, and the worst planning can only be accomplished by closing idiots of all are the Germans, who could have the nation's border. One can't raise the price become prosperous beyond the dreams of avarice level, or foster a new uneconomic industry, if foreign traders are free to enter the market with through trade, but chose instead to make the whole continent of Europe a poorhouse through cheaper goods. One can't keep wages at an un- economic level if immigrants are free to enter subscribing to an economic philosophy that pro- vokes militarism and war. Von Mises' explana- the country and take jobs at their own evalua- tion of what ails the world is to be found in tion of their worth. To control things internally, "Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total a nation must at least partially secede from the State and Total War," which is one of the great natural world division of labor. And when every books of our age. nation goes in for "planning," the result is a compartmentalized world. International anarchy Uncompromising Critic of Statism is the fruit of universal national "planning" in Von Mises is absolutely uncompromising in his a world of many sovereign states. criticism of what he calls "etatism," after the Von Mises' book is part economics, part his- French word for statism-or Government inter- tory. The historical section is devoted to a rapid- vention in the economic process. He fails in fire sketch of how Germany, under the leadership realism when he seeks to exonerate business men of the Prussians, fell prey to the delusions of from leading the push toward etatism; after all, etatism and autarchy. An uncompromising anti- the first great interventionists were the tariff- Nazi, von Mises insists that Hitlerism must be seeking manufacturers, the railroad builders who eradicated root and branch. But he hasn't much cried out for Government subsidies, the oil and hope that the defeat of Hitlerism will lead the steel men who sought to corrupt Legislatures in nations back to economic sanity. Like his the hope of getting politically supported advan- Viennese colleague, F. A. Hayek, who is also an tages. But no matter what its origin, etatism exile from nazified Austria, von Mises thinks the is a check and a drain on the energies of men. nations of the West are committed to the heresies Every subsidy is paid eventually in the forced of Government intervention in the economic proc- labor of someone, for it amounts to taking the ess. Farmers want the state to underwrite their product of the labor-time of one man and handing costs of production, business men want Govern- it as a gift to another. The world can absorb ment-supported cartels, labor unions insist on Government help in organizing and bargaining. *OMNIPOTENT GOVERNMENT: THE RISE OF So what To von Mises the answer is obvious: a THE TOTAL STATE AND TOTAL WAR. By Ludwig von Mises. 291 pages. Yale. $3.75. world war every generation.