Note from Antal E. Fekete
September 2005

Note re: Where Mises Went Wrong

Where Mises Went Wrong was written as a rejoinder to Sean Corrigan's series of papers criticizing me by name, posted on the website LewRockwell.com. I sent it to Lew whom I have known for over twenty years and with whom I thought I have had a cordial relation. I asked him to post my rejoinder so that his readership could see both sides of the argument. Lew refused.

The late Percy Greaves, the author of the pamphlet "Mises Made Easier", used to be upset whenever economic research was mentioned in his presence: "Research? What research? All the research has already been done by Mises. All that is left is to explain Mises to the public."

I am also an admirer of Mises. I have acknowledged my intellectual indebtedness to him many times. I have made a conscious effort to use his terminology in preference to others. I have approached the criticism of Mises carefully and modestly. I have not rushed into print with it. I even withheld the publication of my own theory of interest for several years because it was in conflict with that of Mises on several points.

Bettina Bien, the widow of Percy Greaves, is a good friend of mine. She used to invite me to her home in Irvington-on-Hudson for dinner. We discussed Mises and economics a great deal. She had attended the Mises seminar at New York University for 18 years. She is a serious, devoted, and honorable student of Mises. She painstakingly put together the most complete bibliography of Mises. Years ago I asked her if she could explain some inconsistencies that I thought I have discovered in Mises' work. While she agreed that they appeared to be inconsistencies, she couldn't offer an explanation.

I welcomed Lew's founding of the Mises Institute because I believed that it was dedicated to the search for and the dissemination of scientific truth, as was Mises himself. I am sadly disappointed to see that Lew is outdoing Percy. Not only does he think that all the research has been done and all we need to do is to regurgitate it again and again; he also thinks that Mises needs an "intellectual bodyguard".

Science has nothing to fear from an open debate. Feeling of insecurity is characteristic of a cult. Mises would have abhorred the idea that his scientific heritage has fallen to the care of a self-appointed "thought police" that would censor and suppress all dissent.

The style and approach of Corrigan and Blumen fall short of the high ideals of Mises. These gentlemen cannot for a moment assume that their selected targets may write and act in good faith. They do not want to dispute. They want to discredit. In refusing to publish my rejoinder Rockwell has stooped to their level. I am sorry for him. He prefers sycophants to thinkers.

Antal Fekete

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