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Summer 2002 — Volume 22, Number 2 Front Cover: Ludwig Von Mises and His Father, Arthur Edler Von Mises Summer 2002 — Volume 22, Number 2 Front cover: Ludwig von Mises and his father, Arthur Edler von Mises. THE AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS NEWSLETTER Summer 2002 — Volume 22, Number 2 Copyright © 2002 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute 518 West Magnolia Avenue, Auburn, Alabama 36832-4528 phone (334) 321-2100; fax (334) 321-2119 email [email protected]; website www.mises.org The Austrian Economics Newsletter is published quarterly by the Ludwig von Mises Institute. Beginning with this issue and continuing Interviews With Six Young Economists in the next, the Austrian Economics Newsletter explores the education, experiences, and intellectual ambitions of a new generation of economists teaching in the Austrian tradition. THE NEW Interviewed in this issue are: • Edward Stringham San Jose State University GENERATION: • Shawn Ritenour Grove City College ART • Peter Calcagno P 1 Wingate University Interviewed in Part 2 (Fall 2002 issue) Interview with Edward Stringham will be: • Christopher Westley AEN: You’ve been coming to Mises Institute conferences since Jacksonville State University your undergraduate days. • William Anderson Frostburg State University STRINGHAM: I was a sophomore at Holy Cross when I • Gregory Dempster saw a debate about the legalization of drugs with one of the Hampden-Sydney College professors in the Economics Department, Walter Block. I was very impressed and signed up for his class for the following semester. I always had a vague interest in the types of ideas he presented in class, but never before did I know it was the subject of systematic study. Block was great. He really got me excited about Austrian economics, libertarianism, and ideas in general. After working on an equities trading desk for part of the year following college, I started at George Mason Univer- sity, where I completed my Ph.D. in economics four years later. AEN: What was Professor Block’s class like? STRINGHAM: The first few months were like shock therapy. I sat listening eagerly to everything he said. I was very curious. I had never heard anyone advocate privatizing the roads or privatizing the oceans, but everything seemed to make sense. It really got me thinking. The idea that the market enabled individuals with differing interests to interact peacefully was very appealing. I was in agreement that laissez-faire was a better way to structure society, so I started thinking how far this could EDWARD STRINGHAM be extended. Could all social relations be handled by the market and voluntary interaction? Edward Stringham (B.A. Holy Cross College; Ph.D. George Mason Univer- It was around this time when the police in Worcester were sity) is assistant professor of economics really starting to clamp down on college-age drinking and after at San Jose State University. seeing them harass so many partygoers, I started wondering if the police could be privatized. Businesses typically care about LUDWIG VON MISES INSTITUTE their clientele while bureaucrats do AEN: Then you discovered there away from studying Austrian eco - not, but could this logic be applied was a vast literature on this subject. nomics in graduate school, and try to the police as well? to pretend they are mainstream STRINGHAM: Yes, so I started economists. This advice is given to In class Block had presented the with a few of the major works in libertarians in other disciplines as classical-liberal position on limited anarchist libertarian political phi- well. government and one day I went losophy: Randy Barnett, Bruce into Block’s office and told him I Benson, David Friedman, Hans This scheme advises that it is better was going to write a paper entitled, Hoppe, David Osterfeld, Murray for young free-marketeers to Rothbard, and Lysander Spooner. I attempt to get a job by hiding their had never really spent summer views, or at most being very mod- vacations reading school-related erate in one’s positions. In my books, but Block had told me that opinion, this is terrible advice not ALTHOUGH he envied me for being able to read only from a perspective of personal IT IS NOT all these books for the first time. development but also from a per- Sure enough he was right; it was all spective of personal success. It is IMPOSSIBLE really exciting. Around this time I not clear that the stealth strategy is went to the Mises University so I a good one. Are there any success FOR SOMEONE read the monographs they had sent stories and have these people made me as well. All of these books gave any significant contributions to the TO BE A TOP me a great introduction to Austrian study of markets? economics. MAINSTREAM Top mainstream economists often Upon attending the Mises Insti- like what they do and devote their ECONOMIST tute’s seminar I was surprised to entire lives to their fields of study, meet so many scholars who were so unless someone is that commit- AND A TOP both really knowledgeable and pas- ted to mainstream economics it is sionate. I was amazed. If their goal doubtful one will be able to make AUSTRIAN, was to get people excited about any mark. Many young free-mar- Austrian economics, they did a keteers think they can have it both THIS IS HIGHLY good job. I have had some good ways, but this is questionable. A UNLIKELY professors, but none who were as young student could commit 10 . enthusiastic as the ones I experi- years of his life to becoming a rep- enced that week in Auburn. The utable mainstream economist, but experience really got me thinking by doing so he would be necessar- and later convinced me to go to ily devoting less time to Austrian “Why Libertarians Are Commies.” graduate school. economics. Block was taken aback. I told him, “Libertarians advocate privatiza- AEN: Where your interests in the AEN: The point actually seems tion everywhere else, so why not prospects for full privatization con- obvious: Austrian economics can’t police and courts as well?” Block tinued. advance if people are not studying looked around, closed the door, it and advocating it. and then told me, “There are two STRINGHAM: Sure, and this is as types of libertarians: limited gov- it should be. There are some peo- STRINGHAM: Exactly. Although ernment libertarians and anarchist ple who spend a lot of time pro- it is not impossible for someone to libertarians. I am an anarchist lib- fessing how young Austrians be a top mainstream economist ertarian.” That really piqued my should proceed and how they and a top Austrian, this is highly interest and it was all downhill should lead their careers. They say unlikely. The law of comparative from there. that young Austrians should shy advantage would tell us this would 4 AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS NEWSLETTER LUDWIG VON MISES INSTITUTE people with my success. I had been repeatedly told by others that I would not be able to get a job if I was an Austrian, and one classical liberal institute at my university even told me I should remove lib- ertarian articles from my C.V. I chose not to take this advice, and when I went on the job market I was explicitly libertarian and explicitly Austrian. My dissertation did not make moderate free-market propositions that almost no one would deny, but instead made the claim that gov- ernment is not needed for the enforcement of contracts. This was the polar opposite of the stealth strategy. be non-optimal nonetheless. Aus- work, than be an outcast at a trians should try to be the best Aus- higher-ranked program. My com- AUSTRIANS trians they can be, rather than try- mittee—Peter Boettke, Bryan ing to compete against M.I.T. Caplan, and Todd Zywicki—was SHOULD TRY TO economists at their own game. The very helpful throughout, and I can- failure to do this is the biggest pit- not think of any others who teach BE THE BEST fall of many young people inter- at the Ph.D. level under whom I ested in free markets in general. would rather write a dissertation. AUSTRIANS They compete on margins they are THEY CAN BE bad at and unfortunately they have Boettke was a real asset and the , little success. best dissertation chair I could have RATHER THAN asked for. Being able to engage in I eschewed such a strategy and friendly debates about Austrian eco- TRYING TO decided to be Austrian all the way. nomics and libertarianism with the I went to the graduate school where likes of Boettke, Caplan, and Tyler COMPETE I would have the most opportunity Cowen would not have been possi- to study Austrian economics. ble at a mainstream school. Without AGAINST M.I.T. George Mason University has a the backing of one’s committee it is number of classical liberals and a difficult to find a job, so I recom- ECONOMISTS number of courses that talk about mend that students pick a school Austrian works. This is the strength where their committee members AT THEIR of G.M.U. and hopefully they will will support them and allow them to play it up even more. Ideally there be Austrian. OWN GAME. would be more programs like it, or even better programs that could AEN: You seemed to do very well I ended up receiving the most compete to be more Austrian. on the job market. interview requests in the entire his- tory of the program at G.M.U. I would rather learn from people STRINGHAM: Maybe I lucked Granted Harvard was not knock- who will be supportive of Austrian out. In any case, I surprised a lot of ing at my door, but that was not my VOLUME 22, NO.
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