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FEBRUARY 1995

Murray N. Rothbard until his death. he was S.}. Distinguished Professor of 1926-1995 Economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. And R.I.E for more than ten years, he served as vice president of academic affairs at the Ludwig von at Auburn University. He is survived by his wife of 41 by Richard M. Ebeling years. JoAnn Rothbard. Rothbard met Ludwig von Mises in the late 1940s I first met in June 1974 at an and soon became a forceful advocate of the Austrian Austrian economics conference sponsored by the Insti­ school of economic thought, especially in the form tute for Humane Studies, held at South Royalton. Ver­ developed by Mises. He became a life-long friend of mont. For years. I had been reading his articles in The Mises and his singularly charmingwife Margil. His first Individualist. Rampart Journal. and Libertarian Forum scholarly articles in economic journals were refutations (of which he was the editor). His "Austrian" treatise of the critical reviews of Mises's Human Action. He Man. Economyand State (1962) was among my "sacred establishedhimselfas a profoundAustriantheorist with texts" that taught me a lotofsoundeconomics and many his 1956 essay "Toward a Reconstruction of Utility a,nd of the best arguments with which to do battle with the Welfare Economics." But the publication of Man, various statists of the day. Economy and State in 1962 proved him to be one of the For some reason, I had a mental picture of him in great Austrian economists of the 20th century. Though my mind as a tall, thin, and extremely serious scholar. in the preface he modestly claimed that he was merely What a surprise I had when. instead, I was introduced to attempting to methodically tease out all ofthe implica­ a short. rather rotund man who was constantly laughing tions ofMises's Human Action, in fact. here was a work and telling a seemingly unending stream of stories and ofprofound originality that offered new contributions to anecdotes in a high-pitched. squeaky voice. Every night the theory of capital and interest. competition and during this week-long conference. he held forth until monopoly theory, and monetary and business-cycle the wee hours of the morning with a small group of us theory. In a review of the book, Ludwig von Mises said, who possessed the stamina to stay up, enraptured with "Henceforth all essential studies in these branches of his hilarious interpretations of famous people and his­ knowledge will have to take full account of the theories torical events. He blended history, economics. and po­ and criticisms of Dr. Rothbard." liticaltheory into an overarching schema of libertarian In 1963. he published America's Great Depression, thought, all wrapped up in comical satire. One easily a blistering, scholarly analysis ofthe failures of Federal fell under his spell. Reserve policy and the Hoover Administration in the The memory of this first meeting immediately 1920s and early 1930s. In 1971. Rothbard's Power ond filled my mind when I received a telephone call from a Market appeared. offering a detailed critique of almost friend informing me that Murray Rothbard had died on e\'ery form ofinterventionism, 1973 saw the publicat ion January 7, 1995. at the age of 68. He had suffered a of his For a New . in which Rothbard presented massive heart attack while having aneye examination in the case for the totally free society, In 1982, his Ethics of New York City. Liberty presented a natural-rights foundation for liber­ The basic facts of his life can be summarized fairly tarianism, quickly. Born in New York City in 1926, Rothbard In the 1970s, there also appeared his four-volume received his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia Univer­ history of colonial America and the American Revolu­ sity in 1.956. He taught at New York Polytechnic Insti­ tion. Conceived in Liberty. Over the years, he also con­ tute in Brooklyn from 1963 to 1985. From the mid-1980s tributed numerous articles to collections of essays on OVER~ 1

various themes of revisionist history. He was editor of Left thirty years without Murray Rothbard. and Right (1965-1968), Libertarian Forum (1968-1985), In fairness, it must also be said that during the last ten and The Rothbard-Rockwell Report (1990-1995); and he or fifteen years, many ofthose in the libertarian movement contributed an article to most of the issues of the Mises who had been closest to Rothbard and who, at various Institute's The Free Market. At the time of his death, the times, worked closely with him, distanced themselves first ~wo volumes ofwhat was to be a multi-volume history from him. He sometimes took offense too easilyfrom those of economic thought was just being published by Edward who differed with him on matters of either principle or Elgar Publishers; a two-volume collection ofhis economic policy. And he sometimes replied to these differing views articles will appear from the same publisher in the spring with rebuttals expressed in a tone and style that made of 1995. immediate reconciliation difficult. But ofequal importance to his written contributions But these recent problems at the personal level fade was Murray Rothbard's personal influence on an entire away in importance in comparison to his permanent mark generation oflibertarians. The first three decades after the on libertarian thought and the revival of the libertarian Second World War were not hospitable to classical-liberal movement in our time. Instead, what returns to one's and free-market ideas; it was the heyday ofKeynesianism, memory are those long nights when we were enthralled by socialism, and the welfare state. Only a small band of his humorous tales and melodious singing. If one was thinkers kept alive the vision of a free society and an lucky, Murray would sing a few of the songs from his own unregulated free market-people like Mises, Ayn Rand, opera, Mozart Was a Red, his delightful satire on some of Leonard Read, Henry Hazlitt, Floyd "Baldy" Harper ... and the more peculiar aspects ofAyn Rand's philosophy. And Murray Rothbard. only those who knew him will now be able to recall hearing In the 1960s, Rothbard found young students, some him shout out, in his unique, high-pitched, squeaky voice, already university age. manystill in high school, and drew "monstrous, monstrous," or "evil, evil," when told about them into a circle oflibertarian thought. He inspired them, some recent doings of statists or collectivists. molded them, excited them-forthe cause ofliberty. Many But while the living memory ofthe man will fade, the of them are now among the leading scholars of Austrian lastinglegacy ofhis writings will remain for generationsto economics and the libertarian movement. It would be come-to learn from and to be inspired by. Good-bye, difficult to conceive ofthe libertarian and Austrian move­ Murray-it was a privilege and a treat knowing you. ments as they have developed and evolved during the last