In New York, in the late nineteen-forties, Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises, two of the greatest intellects of the twentieth century,
were friends – professional colleagues sharing a common interest in Austrian Economics and Classical Liberalism.
Ayn Rand had expected that Ludwig von Mises would invite her to write
the foreword to Human Action, and was somewhat miffed when he didn’t.
Here, I use Artificial Intelligence to create the foreword that John Galt might have written, if only he had been asked !
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In his seminal work, Human Action, Ludwig von Mises created a comprehensive treatise on economics that continues to challenge the intellectual and political consensus today. Published in 1949 by Yale University Press, it remains the primary text for Austrian Economics. I own a copy of the third edition published by Henry Regnery in 1966, and a beautifully presented seventy-fifth anniversary edition published by the Mises Institute in 2024.
Ayn Rand spent twelve years writing her novel Atlas Shrugged. Her purpose was to explain her political philosophy to a wide audience. It became a very influential book. It sold over 10 million copies.
John Galt is the fictional hero of Atlas Shrugged and his speech – some 64 pages long – is the summary of Rand’s beliefs. Here is an excerpt:
“Productive work is the process by which man’s consciousness controls his existence, a constant process of acquiring knowledge and shaping matter to fit one’s purpose, of translating an idea into physical form, of remaking the earth in the image of one’s values.”
Ayn Rand had expected that her friend Ludwig von Mises would invite her to write a foreword to his magnum opus and was somewhat miffed when he didn’t.
What a shame. What a loss. Now, illustrating what can be achieved with Artificial Intelligence, here is the foreword that John Galt might have written, if only he had been asked !
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“This is John Galt speaking.”
In a world teetering on the edge of chaos, where the voices of irrationality and altruism drown out the clarion call of reason, it is a rare and revolutionary act to stand firm in the pursuit of truth. Ludwig von Mises’s Human Action is one such act—a defiant declaration of man’s capacity for reason and his right to live by the guidance of his own mind.
Where others see only the fog of uncertainty, Mises illuminates the path of human action with the clarity of logic and the foundation of objective reality. He unveils the nature of man as a being of reason, driven by purposeful action in the pursuit of his own life and happiness. Through his analysis, Mises reveals the laws of economics not as arbitrary social constructs, but as the result of the very nature of man’s existence.
To understand Human Action is to understand that all human behavior is driven by the exercise of individual choice, guided by values, and constrained only by the facts of reality. Mises places the individual at the center of his analysis, revealing that economics is not a system of detached principles but the study of how people, motivated by their desires and goals, make decisions in the face of scarcity. These decisions are not random; they are rational actions taken by individuals seeking to maximize their own well-being. The economy, then, is the sum of these individual decisions—each one a reflection of human purpose and reason.
Mises rejects the collectivist notion that the economy can be managed or planned by any central authority. He demonstrates that the market process—the spontaneous order that arises from voluntary exchanges between individuals—is the only mechanism through which resources can be allocated efficiently. Government interference, whether through taxation, regulation, or control, distorts this natural process and leads to inefficiency, stagnation, and ultimately the destruction of wealth and freedom. The central planners, in their arrogance, fail to comprehend the complexity of human action, a complexity that no central bureaucracy can ever hope to manage.
Mises’s principle of praxeology—the study of human action—reminds us that economic laws are not arbitrary rules, but logical consequences of human nature itself. Every action, from the decision of what to buy to the decision of whether to invest in a business, is shaped by the same fundamental drive: to improve one’s condition. In this sense, economics is a moral science, for it recognizes that the pursuit of personal happiness and self-interest is the foundation of human progress.
The principle of subjective value lies at the heart of Mises’s theory. Each individual assigns value to goods and services based on his unique preferences, desires, and needs. The concept of value is not something inherent in the object itself but is the product of human perception. This subjectivity is the key to understanding market dynamics: the interaction of countless individuals, each acting on their own judgments of value, leads to a system of prices that reflects the relative scarcity and demand for goods. Prices, then, are not arbitrary figures—they are the signal through which individuals coordinate their actions, plan their production, and make decisions that lead to greater prosperity.
Moreover, Mises’s analysis of capitalism reveals the incredible efficiency of a free-market economy. Capitalism, far from being a system of exploitation as its detractors claim, is the only system in which wealth is created and distributed according to individual effort, talent, and entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is the hero of the capitalist system, creating new goods, services, and innovations that improve the lives of all. It is through voluntary exchange, where each party to a transaction gains by the trade, that wealth is produced and distributed. Capitalism is not a zero-sum game—it is a system that generates abundance, not scarcity.
The concept of time preference also plays a critical role in Mises’s understanding of human action. The individual’s willingness to defer present consumption in favor of future gains determines the allocation of resources over time. This principle explains the dynamics of savings, investment, and interest rates, all of which are vital to economic development. By recognizing the importance of time preference, Mises offers a profound insight into the nature of economic growth, showing how the ability to save and invest today leads to greater prosperity in the future. In a society that respects private property and the individual’s right to his own labor, the process of capital accumulation can occur—fuelling innovation, technological progress, and an ever-higher standard of living for all.
Mises also takes aim at the fallacy of inflation, a dangerous economic policy that robs individuals of the value of their labor and savings. Inflation, which occurs when governments increase the money supply, is nothing more than a hidden tax on the people. It distorts the signals of the market, causes price instability, and ultimately undermines the foundation of economic order. In Mises’s view, a sound monetary system, based on gold or another stable commodity, is essential for preserving the integrity of the market and the freedom of the individual.
In a world where collectivism seeks to bind the individual to the whims of the state, Human Action offers a comprehensive defense of the sovereign individual—one who understands that his rights are not granted by governments or social contracts, but by his own nature as a rational being. Mises lays bare the moral and intellectual underpinnings of a free society, a society where the individual acts according to his own values, and where cooperation is not forced by coercion but by mutual respect and voluntary exchange.
The heart of Mises’s work is the recognition that man is the ultimate agent of his own destiny. The economic principles that he so meticulously details are not the abstract machinations of a distant economist—they are the operating principles of the human mind in action. To understand Human Action is to recognize that the values of independence, integrity, and self-reliance are not merely ideals but the very laws of human existence.
It is for this reason that Human Action is not merely a work of economic theory—it is a battle cry for human freedom. It is a call to arms for those who would not live as slaves, who would not bow to the dictates of the collective, but who would stand proudly as men and women of reason, of purpose, and of dignity.
In embracing Mises’s work, we embrace the most fundamental truth of all: that man’s mind is his instrument of survival and flourishing. To deny the freedom of action is to deny life itself. And in the pursuit of liberty, as Mises so eloquently demonstrates, there can be no compromise.
This is not just an economist’s book. It is a manifesto for the rational individual—one who will not be bound by the irrationality of collectivism and who will never surrender his right to his own mind. It is the unshakable foundation upon which a society of free men can stand, and through which the world will once again recognize the value of individual rights, private property, and the sanctity of human life.
May this work inspire you to live by reason, to act in your own self-interest, and to demand nothing less than the freedom to do so.
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