"An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, the capstone of Murray Rothbard’s career, is one of the greatest works of intellectual history written in the twentieth century." — Blurb for a Course Taught by David Gordon
traumerei
writes:
I chuckled. (Though I do agree with Gordon)
January 23, 2012 12:29 AM
Gene Callahan
writes:
That's a blurb for a course -- David almost certainly did not write it. Not even he has such an exaggerated view of the importance of that piece of partisan hackery.
January 23, 2012 3:02 AM
P.S. Huff
writes:
You're right, he probably didn't. I've edited the post accordingly.
January 23, 2012 4:38 PM
Jonathan M.F. Catalán
writes:
I am almost sure that "partisan hackery" is being employed only to sell the course to potential consumers. Not even Mises University's administrator believes that, I think -- although there may be a mistake in believing that the economic history of the past three hundred years is the full scope of our "intellectual history" (even if we assume away the many errors of Rothbard's analysis).
January 24, 2012 4:04 PM
P.S. Huff
writes:
Hola, Jonathan M.F. Catalán! (You are from Spain, right?)
I'm not sure how you're interpreting Gene Callahan, but I am almost positive he meant that Rothbard's book (as opposed to anything dealing with the Mises Academy) was "partisan hackery."
January 24, 2012 7:15 PM
P.S. Huff
writes:
Incidentally, I'm a little surprised by the statement that "students often find [the book] hard to read." Stylistically, that book is almost a masterpiece. At its best, it has some of the poetic flair of H.L. Mencken's Notes on Democracy.
January 24, 2012 7:37 PM
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