The Young Rothbard: an Uncomfortable Neoclassical Economist
In my remarks this evening, I would like to set the stage for the Rothbard Graduate Seminar by addressing a pernicious and deeply entrenched myth about Murray Rothbard and Man, Economy, and State: namely, that Rothbard possessed a superficial knowledge of mainstream economics when writing his treatise. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Rothbard deeply engaged with mainstream economic theory throughout his treatise. This is not surprising given that, when Rothbard wrote his treatise, he was a well-trained neoclassical economist who was completely conversant with the research methods and various strands of doctrine that composed the emerging “neoclassical synthesis.” This synthesis of the ideas of Alfred Marshall, Leon Walras, and John Maynard Keynes would come to dominate academic economics in the U.S. by the mid-1950s. The leading architects of this approach were John Hicks, Franco Modigliani, Alvin Hansen and, especially, Paul Samuelson.
Rothbard enrolled at Columbia University in 1942 at the age of sixteen. At age nineteen he received his A.B. degree with honors in economics and mathematics and soon after enrolled in Columbia’s Ph.D. program in economics. In the 1940s, Columbia University was a leading academic institution in the U.S. and housed one of the top three economics departments in the nation. It rivaled the University of Chicago and Harvard University, producing more doctoral degrees than either institution. Notable faculty included Arthur F. Burns, the foremost institutionalist and a leading authority on business cycles; John Maurice Clark, a leading Marshallian and pioneer in Keynesian economics; Harold Hotelling, the renowned mathematical statistician; Joseph Dorfman, an institutionalist and influential historian of American economic thought; and George Stigler, the founder of Chicago price theory.
Rothbard took courses with all these eminent economists but was especially influenced by the institutionalists Burns and Dorfman, and there was mutual admiration between Rothbard and both professors. Burns expected Rothbard to make “a prominent place for himself” in the world. Rothbard recalled that in his lectures Burns “was a brilliant theorist” and his “critique of orthodox theory . . . was excellent.” Rothbard held Dorfman in high esteem as a historian of economic thought, writing that “his knowledge of the sources is unparalleled.” He acknowledged Dorfman as one of his “mentors” along with Ludwig von Mises in the dedication of his two-volume treatise on economic thought. Dorfman in turn appreciated Rothbard’s abilities and agreed to chair his dissertation committee. When the dissertation was completed, Dorfman lobbied to have it published by Columbia University Press.
In addition to studying the institutionalist approach under its contemporary leaders and learning Chicago price theory from its leading light, Rothbard spent an entire year in an honors seminar going chapter by chapter through Marshall’s Principles of Economics, then the bible of neoclassical economic
Article from LewRockwell
LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
