This Interview was originally published in French by Institut Coppet as part of a series of interviews with economists conducted by Grégoire Canlorbe.

Ludwig von Mises’s majestic magnum opus, Human Action: A Treatise on Economics, was published on September 14, 1949. In the nearly seven decades since its appearance, Human Action has come to be recognized as one of the truly great classics of modern economics.

THE AUSTRIAN: How did you first become acquainted with Austrian economics and the Mises Institute?

ROBERT LUDDY: I was first introduced to Austrian economics by Dr. Bill Peterson, a student of Ludwig von Mises. We met when he was the Lundy Chair of the Philosophy of Business at Campbell University. Dr. Bill and I became lifelong friends and I was honored to learn under his mentorship until his death in 2012. Over the years, we attended Mises University with my two children as well as many Mises conferences.

Ten years ago, South America was witnessing the rise of what came to be known as the “pink tide.” Characterized by an allegedly kinder and softer version of socialism than the “red” communism of Castro’s Cuba, the pink tide had begun with the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 1998, followed by the election of Lula da Silva in Brazil in 2002, and followed by the rise of the Kirchners in Argentina in 2003.

Concrete Economics: The Hamilton Approach to Economic Growth and Policy
Stephen S. Cohen and J. Bradford DeLong
Harvard Business Press Review, 2016
xi + 223 pages

Cohen and DeLong are well-known economists, but they indict their fellow economists for an overemphasis on theory. Away with models that have little relation to reality, our authors say. Instead, we need to graph a simple lesson about the source of America’s prosperous economy.

Donald Trump has announced his economic advisory team and unveiled a preliminary broad brush economic program that his prospective administration would implement. He has promised to fill in the details of his America First Economic Plan as the election approaches. So how should we grade his choice of advisers and his economic plan at this point?

No matter who wins the presidential election next month, the media and the political class will whoop up the result as another triumph of American democracy. Regardless that the winning candidate’s path to power was paved with lies and shenanigans, we will be assured that “the system works.” But the only certainty at this point is that America will have another bad president for the next four years.

In the introduction to a talk I gave at the Mises Institute this year, I noted how, in the early part of the twentieth century, a convergence of interests between social progressivists and ideological empiricists led to the publication of the Flexner Report and the subsequent enactment of licensing laws.

The War on Cash continues to gain momentum within the circles of the politically influential.

Bloomberg yesterday posted an article on a new book titled The Curse of Cash, written by Kenneth Rogoff former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund and current Harvard University economist.