Ludwig Von Mises Led A Cult In New York City

When Von Mises came to American, he could not get an academic position. He ended up at New York University, funded by the Volker fund and the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), not the normal academic position. He had a seminar, so to speak, from 1948 to 1969. I should find these experiences inspiring. Von Mises started his seminar past retirement age, when he was older than me

His students consisted of the usual youngsters seeking credit for a grade and a weird cohort of adults, who attended year after year.

"As Robert Nozick … said, 'In 18 years of teaching at Princeton and Harvard, I never encountered any professor teaching a seminar where non-degree-seeking adults would continue to attend year after year . . . [Mises was] unique in attracting mature minds without demanding discipleship.'" -- Brian Doherty. 2008. Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement.

Israel Kirzner describes what many saw as Von Mises’ arrogance:

"But by the time I was at his seminar, he was of advanced age and had heard all of the arguments in favor of other points of view. There's no doubt he felt convinced that he knew what was valid and invalid. That awareness on his part was fairly obvious to anyone, from body language if you like, and it could be that some members of the seminar might have felt put off." -- Kirzner, quoted by Doherty

Kirzner also comments on the weird cohort:

"Another aspect of those years that has to be kept in mind is that for various sociological reasons Mises became surrounded by people who were very eager to protect him. Some of those well-meaning individuals may have projected an image Mises is not to be criticized, not to be disagreed with. That was unfortunate..." -- Kirzner, quoted by Doherty

Margit Von Mises, the great man's wife describes the behavior of his acolytes:

"four or five students had formed a group in order to protect the professor against dissident students who opposed his views. They occupied a table ahead of the class next to the professor in order to be ready to protect him against any possible violence." -- Margit Von Mises, quoted by Doherty

Murray Rothbard was one of these followers. Others included Bettina Bien Greaves, Richard Cornuelle, Percy Greaves, Leonard Liggio, Ralph Raico, George Reisman, Hans Sennholz, Louis Spadaro, and Leland Yeager. George Koether was another admirer:

"Mises's friend George Koether, an editor at Look magazine, commissioned a bronze bust of the great scholar." -- Doherty

I have not exhausted the oddities of Von Mises' seminars. These cult meetings were important in preserving the Austrian school until the 1974 South Royalton Conference on Austrian Economics