Yesterday, TCC’s friend, Jonathan Pearce, wrote an interesting missive over at Samizdata.net. As well as being supportive of the TCC’s work (JP, thanks for the plug), the article provides interesting insights into the materials and debate concerning the causes and political atmospherics of the recent economic bust. I particularly like the lengthy comments section that follows the main article. Indeed, for wholly understandable reasons, this conversation again indicates that Austrianism is gaining what public relations types call ‘traction’ amongst those thinkers truly interested in the genuine causes of things. Excellent.
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Last week, Jamie Whyte, James Tyler, Tom Clougherty and I attended a dinner with numerous others at which the former Prime Minister of Georgia, Vladimer ‘Lado’ Gurgenidze spoke. Hosted by good our friends at the Adam Smith Institute, the evening was a showcase of sound reform and what can be achieved by politicians who have a clear vision and will to set people free. Don’t take my word for it. Get a flavour from the man himself, here. It is with great sadness that I have learned in the last 24 hours that an old friend, Walter Allan, died last Friday. A Scottish graduate in economics, Walter not only went on to work with the publishing house MacMillan as a commissioning edtior but in the early 1990s he served as the Editorial Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs. In recent years I understand that he divided his time between his wife Eunice in Manchester, teaching commitments at the Cass Business School in London, and the writing of numerous economics and business studies textbooks. A driven and natural teacher, writer and raconteur, “Wal” as he was known to his friends, was also one of the funniest people you could ever have the pleasure of working with. Mindful of his larger than life character, his outrageous humour and his sheer sense of life, I and many other free marketeers will miss him greatly. Walter Allan, rest in peace. My wife, Helen, is director of Nurses for Reform which is a campaign organisation that she set up back in 2006 to oppose the politicisation of healthcare. This morning she phoned to tell me that her latest missive had appeared in the hard and on-line editions of the Daily Telegraph. With a PhD on health economics she is not only a staunch supporter of consumer power but she is also an ardent debunker of sectional vested interest.
Robert P. Murphy – Only the Austrians can Can Explain Depressions Christopher Westley - Why the Fed Got Birthed? Peter G. Klein – Did Keynesian Economics Win the Battle of Ideas? Doug French – Failure and Prosperity Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr. – Parallel Lives: Liberty or Power? Joseph T. Salerno – The Macroeconomics of the Fed: Mainstream and Austrian Mark Thornton – What Were They Saying in July 2007? George A. Selgin – The Fed’s Dismal Record Gary North – Heckle and Jekyll: How Murray Rothbard Got the Fed’s Story Right Thomas E. Woods, Jr. - The Source and Workings of the Latest Crisis Ron Paul – My Battle Against the Fed For me, it was not only a delight to listen to and meet Lew Rockwell but it was also a particular pleasure to meet and talk with Congressman Ron Paul. A most intelligent and moral person, I found him to be every bit the gentleman I had expected. I am delighted to announce that from next week David Carr of Carr and Kaye, will become the TCC’s solicitor and as such our partner in keeping law and order. A staunch and long time friend of freedom, David, has very kindly offered the organisation a gracious discount so as to help us on our way. Like many in London’s free market community I have known him for years and am really looking forward to working with him. On Monday night I spoke to the monthly gathering of an interesting group called Progressive Conservatives. The event was chaired by Shane Frith and attended by some 15-20 people including a number of candidates for political office. The title of my talk was ‘‘Free Market Thoughts on Political Atmospherics of Money, Banking and Finance’ and ultimately I achieved my objective. By the end of the meeting everyone understood that the woes of recent times are not the product of so called market failure. Instead, they are the problems of state failure in the form of top down planning and control in the areas of money and banking. Indeed, by the time I left following the discussion session, many not only had a greater understanding of the ideas and work of The Cobden Centre but crucially they had a more sophisticated and coherent understanding of the institutional underpinnings of what would constitute a genuinely free society.
I am also looking forward to meeting lots of other enthusiasts for the Austrian School of Economics and exchanging views and opinions with them. Indeed, it is concerning these aspects of the trip, that I am reminded of what Churchill once said: “If you love your job, you will never work again!”
Now, it is true that these things take a long time to play through, but as a sociologist I am excited by the long-term cultural, political and economic impact of these sorts of numbers for social reformers such as us. For everyone at TCC, Paul’s recent book ‘End The Fed’ is a must read. Have you got your copy yet? Fascinating. As a liberal free trade internationalist and speaking personally, I have always been suspicious of the state paraphernalia that goes with increasingly endless attempts to centrally plan where people can or cannot live on this planet. Passports, ID cards and point-based immigration visa systems all seem pretty potty to me – as do the massive state welfare systems that are required to legitimate their draconian deployment (“we can’t allow foreigners here to take our (nationalised) schoolsnhospitals” - http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/polin/polin061.pdf – and the like!). Recently, I was working with an organisation in London that wanted to hire a US intern for a while but found that it could not do this because it could not afford the time and effort now required by the Home Office to fill in all its forms. And even if they did, they were pretty sure from the outset that their request would be turned down. What sort of national and socialistic craziness is this? Why turn away the money, know how and potential of bright eager people? Now, while this concerns me, it is not really my bag. I don’t obsess about this issue day to day. But I am pleased that other people do. For example, I am really pleased that Jose Appleton and her excellent Manifesto Club- http://www.manifestoclub.com/about - Bravo, I say people of the world unite! |
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