Originally published by Yale University Press in 1944, "Bureaucracy" is a classic fundamental examination of the nature of bureaucracies and free markets in juxtaposition to various political systems. "Bureaucracy" contrasts the two forms of economic management - that of a free market economy and that of a bureaucracy. In the market economy entrepreneurs are driven to serve consumers by their desire to earn profits and to avoid losses. In a bureaucracy, the managers must comply with orders issued by the legislative body under which they operate; they may not spend without authorisation and they may not deviate from the path prescribed by law. Writing in an age of exuberant socialism, Ludwig von Mises here lucidly demonstrates how the efficiencies of private ownership and control of public good production ultimately trump the guesswork of publicly administered 'planning' through codes and 'officialdom'. Although Mises aptly critiques bureaucracy and expounds thoroughly upon the immense power of law-like codes of commissions and administrations, he does not condemn nor dismiss bureaucracy but rather frames its proper bounds within constitutional democratic governments.

著名經濟學傢，他把奧地利學派帶入20世紀，被稱為“現代奧地利學派之父”。米塞斯曾任維也納大學經濟學教授，並擔任維也納商業委員會的首席經濟學傢。納粹占領奧地利之後，米塞斯被迫離開祖國並於1940年移居紐約。米塞斯一生著述甚豐，包括25本專著和250多篇論文。他的作品在他生前就不斷再版並被譯為20多種文字。他的主要作品包括：《反資本主義的心態》，《官僚體製》，《自由與繁榮的國度》，《人的行動》和《社會主義》。