“Mises was infinitely patient and kind with even the most dim-witted of us, constantly tossing out research projects to inspire us, and always encouraging the shiest and most awestruck to speak. With a characteristic twinkle in his eye, Mises would assure them: ‘Don’t be afraid to speak up. Remember, whatever you say about the subject and however wrong it might be, the same thing has already been said by some eminent economist.’”
- From ‘Ludwig von Mises: Scholar, Creator, Hero’ by Murray N. Rothbard.
There is hope for all of us in the news that an experiment at CERN may have challenged Einstein’s theory of relativity. It suggests that deep-seated and long-cherished ideas can still be knocked off the pedestal of conventional wisdom. The process may take an age, but as Max Planck observed, Science advances one funeral at a time. If only the study of economics could evolve as quickly. Sadly, the mouthpiece of conventional economic wisdom, the Financial Times, continues to provide the oxygen of relevance to commentators like Martin Wolf, who if his latest article is any guide (“Time to think the unthinkable and start printing again”) has simply gone mad.
Future historians will not look kindly on those who continually and repeatedly advocated the wrong remedies – inflationary money-printing, or the issuance of yet more debt – to a problem in large part caused by unsound money and inordinate debt. Einstein himself defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
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