Human Action and the Foundations of Economic Prosperity

Hoxie visited New York, and asked Johnson to come to his hotel for the evening. Hoxie “was frightening in his appearance.” He told Johnson that he was finished. “I can see now, all my work has been bunk. All my writing, every lecture I have ever given, has been bunk.” When asked for the reason, Hoxie continued, “I’ve come to see through Veblen. How could a man be so great a scientist and such a damn fool?” Hoxie concluded that “Veblen knew his equations didn’t solve, but he used them just the same.” Johnson closes his narrative by writing “I left him, promising to visit him in Chicago and renew the discussion. But before I could get around to a Chicago trip Hoxie killed himself.”