A prominent Austrian economist recently claimed on Facebook that Murray Rothbard “had extremely bad practical judgment in politics.” In support of his view, he said that he was “pretty sure” that Rothbard would have supported Donald Trump in the current election; and this, in his opinion, would be a mistaken course of action He contrasted Rothbard’s position with that of Mises and Hayek, who he was “absolutely sure” would have been repulsed by Trump.
Is it not absurd to condemn someone for bad judgment on the basis of a conjecture on how he might have acted in a situation many years after his death? Rothbard’s political judgments were not deduced from a theory but reflected his assessments of particular situations. Feelings of certainty about what he and others would have done have no cognitive value.
Critics of Rothbard often bring him up when there appears little point in doing so. Though they dislike him, he is often on their mind.They are like people who break mirrors and walk under ladders to show that they are not superstitious.
9:32 am on July 25, 2016
