A brief comment on the second essay on Austrian economics by Richard Ebeling and Jeffrey Lee, South Royalton, Vermont. All essays are here.
First, Richard Ebeling.
Richard told me a funny story about a bus trip from Sacramento to South Royalton, Vermont. Amazing! If I remember correctly, Harry Watson and I had our airfare paid for. I don’t know why we were treated like this. Luckily, it didn’t seem to affect Richard’s attitude, although he seems a lot friendlier and more excited than he usually appears.
One of my favorite parts of his second essay is his reminiscence of the late Sudha Shenoy. I remember her well. I was 23 and had never had a long relationship with an Indian woman. I liked her a lot, especially her laugh, which was infectious. I had actually heard of her famous father, the economist BR Shenoy, and I think I may have read a thing or two of his writings. Also, if I remember correctly, he was the first economist I read who was critical of the Indian government’s central planning. I can’t believe she died in 2008; it seems much more recent.
This is so sweet Memories of Sudha By the late John Blundell.
Second is Jeffrey Lee.
I think Jeffrey is right to be generous in interpreting Milton Friedman’s famous statement to the South Royalton group that there is no such thing as Austrian School economics, there is only good economics and bad economics. I didn’t take it to mean that the Austrian School didn’t have important insights. I took it to mean that the people there shouldn’t be tolerating erroneous statements and claims just because they sound Austrian. And I didn’t see that people there were tolerating such claims.
The photo above is of Suda. The other was taken with my late friend Harry Watson and his wife, Ida Walters, in front of the South Royalton Hotel. This is the “scene of the incident.” I visited Harry and Ida in New Hampshire in September 2015 and drove up to see the hotel. Harry and Ida met at a conference and were married shortly thereafter.
