The Theory of Money and Credit - Ludwig von Mises [107]
[5] See Hertzka, Währung und Handel (Vienna, 1876), p. 42.
[6] See Bentham, Defense of Usury, 2d ed. (London, 1790), pp. 102 ff.
[7] See Wright and Harlow, The Gemini Letters (London, 1844), pp. 51 ff.
[8] See Hofmann, "Die Devalvierung des österreichischen Papiergeldes im Jahre 1811," Schriften des Vereins für Sozialpolitik 165, Part I.
[9] [It should be remembered that the German edition from which the present version is translated was published in 1926. See, however, the discussion of British policy, p. 14 above. H.E.B.]
[10] [See p. 124 n above.]
[11] Cp. pp. 219 and 231 above.
[12] Especially Pigou, The Economics of Welfare (London, 1921), pp. 665 ff.
Chapter 14. The Monetary Policy of Etatism
1. The Monetary Theory of Etatism. 2. National Prestige and the Rate of Exchange. 3. The Regulation of Prices by Authoritative Decree. 4. The Balance-of-Payments Theory as a Basis of Currency Policy. 5. The Suppression of Speculation
1 The Monetary Theory of Etatism
Etatism, as a theory, is the doctrine of the omnipotence of the Estate, and, as a policy, the attempt to regulate all mundane affairs by authoritative commandment and prohibition. The ideal society of etatism is a particular sort of socialistic community; it is usual in discussions involving this ideal society to speak of state socialism, or, in some connections, of Christian socialism. Superficially regarded, the etatistic ideal society does not differ very greatly from the outward form assumed by the capitalistic organization of society. Etatism by no means aims at the formal transformation of all ownership of the means of production into state ownership by a complete overthrow of the established legal system. Only the biggest industrial, mining, and transport enterprises are to be nationalized; in agriculture, and in medium- and small-scale industry, private property is nominally to continue. Nevertheless, all enterprises are to become state undertakings in fact. Owners are to be left the title and dignity of ownership, it is true, and to be given a right to the receipt of a "reasonable" income, "in accordance with their position"; but, in fact, every business is to be changed into a government office and every livelihood into an official profession. There is no room at all for independent enterprise under any variety of state socialism. Prices are to be regulated authoritatively; authority is to fix what is to be produced, and how, and in what quantities. There is to be no speculation, no "excessive" profit, no loss. There is to be no innovation unless it be decreed by authority. The official is to direct and supervise everything. [1]
It is one of the peculiarities of etatism that it is unable to conceive of human beings living together in society otherwise than in accordance with its own particular socialistic ideal. The superficial similarity that exists between the socialist state that is its ideal and pattern and the social order based upon private property in the means of production causes it to overlook the fundamental differences that separate the two. Everything that contradicts the assumption that the two kinds of social order are similar is regarded by the etatist as a transient anomaly and a culpable transgression of authoritative decrees, as evidence that the state has let slip the reins of government and only needs to take them more firmly in hand for everything to be beautifully in order again. That the social life of human beings is subject to definite limitations; that it is governed by a set of laws that are comparable with those of Nature; these are notions that are unknown to the etatist. For the etatist, everything is a question of Macht—power, force, might. And his conception of Macht is crudely materialistic.
Every word of etatistic thought is contradicted by the doctrines of sociology and economics; this is why