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Societies for the History of Economics

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Subject:
From:
Samuel Bostaph <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Societies for the History of Economics <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:44:10 -0400
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I regret to say that Mason has missed two of the implicit points I 
was making and one explicit point.

The explicit point was that Rand's understanding of economic theory 
was rudimentary. Her one big insight was that government intervention 
can destroy an economy. She demonstrated how in Atlas Shrugged, and 
advocated a separation of government from economy for a number of 
reasons--one of them being the harm that government can do. The 
others were philosophical and political philosophical.

On the implicit points: First, whatever Alan Greenspan understood of 
economics, there is no evidence of which I am aware that he got it 
from Rand. He wrote some articles while associated with her, but they 
seem unconnected to his apparent later views and actions. So far as 
what he understood of economics is concerned, I have written about 
this for the Mises's Institute's The Free Market. I sincerely believe 
now that I was putting lipstick on a pig.

Second, my quip with respect to Hillary Clinton implied that she 
understood nothing of what she had read of Atlas Shrugged. Perhaps I 
am wrong. Hillary may identify with the villains.

Samuel Bostaph

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