Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action

I picked up Bob Murphy's _Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action_ mostly to see if it might be suitable for teaching an undergraduate course on Austrian economics. But, also, I have to confess that (so far) I've only read parts of Mises' _Human Action_, and Murphy's book promised to provide an overview in roughly one-third the length. I am mostly satisfied with the book on both counts.

Murphy's _Choice_ is not only shorter than Mises' _Human Action_: it's written for the beginner. Undergrads who have taken an intermediate level microeconomics course should find it easy going, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a complete neophyte. There is much less math here (i.e., virtually none) than in the average introductory show more economics text, so even a motivated sixth-grader ought to be able to tackle this book. Of course, the concepts explained are themselves challenging, but Murphy gives plenty of examples to help the modern reader relate to the material, as well as just enough background on Mises and the Austrian school in general to put Mises' work in context.

Although it's not written as a textbook, I would definitely consider using _Choice_ as one of the core texts in a sophomore or advanced undergraduate seminar on Austrian economics. Since the book mostly follows the same outline as _Human Action_, and plenty of footnotes and bibliography are provided, students could easily follow up with the original literature. And, unlike Murray Rothbard with _Man, Economy, and State_ (which reputedly started out as a simplified exposition of _Human Action_, but turned out half again as long as Mises' own work!), Murphy almost always resists the urge to expand on or modify Mises' treatment. I can imagine how tempting that might have been, and this restraint is really where Murphy's book shines: what you get here is an honest attempt to explain the essence of Mises, without long digressions on method or finer points that would distract the beginner. (I should add, for those familiar with Murphy's more polemical side, that he confines himself here to discussing economic theory.) show less