Alan Greenspan’s death at the age of 100 brings to mind another economist who was born in the same year as Greenspan, but who died in 1995. I of course refer to Murray Rothbard, and the contrast between these men of similar backgrounds is striking. In brief, Rothbard was a person of integrity and Greenspan was not.

I may be reproached for violating the maxim to speak only good of the dead, but about this maxim, Laurence Sterne had some apt words:

It is not uncommon for people to conflate victory and liberty with centralization and inflation.