I Chose Liberty - Ludwig von Mises Institute

92 I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians
for UGA’s Red and Black newspaper, including those of Harry Browne, Jerome Tuccille, and
Noam Chomsky. Then in 1979 a friend just happened to say to me, “You ought to be teaching
economics.” I liked the idea and so went to graduate school at Georgia State University. During
that time I attended the first ever Cato Summer Institute in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
in 1978 and have subsequently spent a week at FEE and attended several Mises Institute
gatherings. Since 1980, I’ve been full-time at a two-year college and have published a number
of opinion pieces on economics issues and a book, The Concise Guide to Economics, always
from the perspective of Austrian-libertarianism.
Jim Cox is associate professor of economics and political science at Georgia Perimeter College,
Clarkston campus.
20
TYLER COWEN
A SHORT INTELLECTUAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
When I was very young, about ten, I fell in love with the game of chess, largely through
watching the Fischer-Spassky match on television. My interest in intellectual pursuits dates
from that time. Plus, I had learned to read early, at about the age of three, from my grandmother.
I always loved reading, and could always read very quickly. I was always what we
today call a nerd, born and raised in New Jersey.
When I was about thirteen, I decided I wanted to read all of the good books in the public
library. I started with the Dialogues of Plato, an important early influence on me, though I
never agreed with much of what Socrates said. Philosophy was a central interest of mine.
My father was a significant early influence. He had been a Goldwater Republican, but
became an increasingly radical libertarian. He brought home some issues of The Freeman,
and The Incredible Bread Machine. I learned some simple things from the former, and loved
the latter. More generally, his frank anti-government talk was a big influence on me. He had
an amazing ability to coin a memorable phrase or offer an unforgettable perspective.
At the public library I found Ayn Rand; my grandmother also recommended her to
me. Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal had a big influence on me, as did Atlas Shrugged. Hayek
and Rothbard followed shortly thereafter. I was reading much philosophy at the same time,
mostly the classics, and a bit later started on history.