Dynamics of the Mixed Economy applies the insights of modern Austrian political economy to examine economic policy in mixed economies. It compares and contrasts standard approaches to the growth of the state (including public choice) with that of modern Austrian political economy; examines in detail the nature and operation of the interventionist process in the context of nationalization, regulation and the welfare state; analyzes conditions that produce instability under laissez-faire capitalism; argues that the interventionist process is a 'spontaneous order'; and offers several 'pattern predictions' regarding the character and behaviour of really existing economies.

From the General Introduction by editor David Reisman: "...[T]he perspective that most decisively unites these ten classic texts from 1931 to 1968, from the unemployment and deprivation of the Great Depression to the affluence and technocracy of the National Plan, is the conviction that the State is a complement and not a threat to the individual's liberty." The texts are: Vol.1: R.H. Tawney, Equality (1931,1952); Vol.2: Robert Hall, The Economic System in a Socialist State (1937); Vol.3: A.C. Pigou, Socialism Versus Capitalism (1937); Vol.4: Harold Macmillan, The Middle Way (1938); Vol.5: Evan Durbin, The Politics of Democratic Socialism (1940); Vol.6: James Meade, Planning and the Price Mechanism (1948); Vol.7: Anthony Crosland, The Future of Socialism (1956); Vol.8: John Strachey, Contemporary Capitalism (1956); Vol.9: Andrew Shonfield, Modern Capitalism (1965); and Vol.10: Richard Titmuss, Commitment to Welfare (1968). Distributed by Ashgate. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR