Liberty and Property.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

Liberty and Property 43structure of industry as its exists today.They think that they are cleaver enough tosnatch from business control of the plantsas they are today, and to manage them bysticking to already established routines.While the ambitious newcomer, who will bethe tycoon of tomorrow, is already preparingplans for things unheard of before, allthey have in mind is to conduct affairs alongtracks already beaten. There is no record ofan industrial innovation contrived and putinto practice by bureaucrats. If one does notwant to plunge into stagnation, a free handmust be left to those today unknown menwho have the ingenuity to lead mankindforward on the way to more and more satisfactoryconditions. This is the main problemof a nation’s economic organization.Private property of the material factors ofproduction is not a restriction of the freedomof all other people to choose what suits thembest. It is, on the contrary, the means thatassigns to the common man, in his capacityas a buyer, supremacy in all economic