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My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

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ever mentioned, in dealing <strong>with</strong> the rapidly progressing fall in the<br />

Mark's purchasing power, the boundless increase in the quantity of<br />

banknotes printed. It was viewed as un-German not to accept one of<br />

the "loyal" interpretations of this phenomenon that put all the blame<br />

upon the policies of the Allies and the Treaty of Versailles.<br />

In this regard conditions in Germany certainly changed. <strong>The</strong>re is<br />

in Germany today at least one monthly magazine that has both the<br />

courage and the insight to form an independent judgment on the<br />

economic and social policies of the government and.aims of the<br />

various parties and pressure groups. It is the Monatsblaetter fur<br />

Freiheitliche Wirtschaftspolitik, edited by Doctor Volkmar Muthe+sius<br />

and published by the Fritz Knapp Verlag in Frankfurt. Excellent<br />

articles written by the editor and a carefully selected group of external<br />

contributors analyze every aspect of contemporary economic and<br />

social conditions.<br />

Doctor Muthesius and his friends are unswerving supporters of<br />

free trade both in domestic and in foreign affairs. <strong>The</strong>y reject the<br />

lavish bounties doled out to agriculture at the expense of the urban<br />

population, the immense majority. <strong>The</strong>y are keen critics of the cheap<br />

demagogy of the government's alleged anti-monopoly campaign.<br />

<strong>The</strong>y unmask the dangers inherent in the privileges granted to the<br />

labor unions.... <strong>The</strong>y prefer the Adenauer regime to the only possi.;<br />

ble alternative, a cabinet of Social-Democrats, but they do not close<br />

their eyes to the shortcomings of the Chancellor's policies. And they<br />

are not afraid of repeating again and again that it is only thanks to the<br />

policies of President Eisenhower that West Berlin is still free from<br />

Soviet rule.<br />

A periodical that openly and <strong>with</strong>out any reservations endorses the<br />

free enterprise system and the market economy, this is certainly a<br />

remarkable achievement in the classical land of socialism whether<br />

imperial or social-democrat or nationalist.<br />

Muthesius, well known and appreciated for his writings on economics<br />

and his editorial work, is an enthusiastic Goethe scholar,<br />

and Mrs. Muthesius, born in Weimar and a descendant of the<br />

Goethe family, shares this interest.<br />

Besides the work mentioned above, Lu was supervising the new<br />

Yale edition of <strong>The</strong> <strong>The</strong>ory of Money and Credit, and he had<br />

started to work on a new book, which was to be published by Van<br />

Nostrand, <strong>The</strong> Anti-Capitalistic Mentality.<br />

Another seminar, sponsored by the Volker Fund, was held in<br />

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1956. This Conference on Free<br />

Enterprise, Freedom and the Good Society took place September<br />

5-14, and had been arranged by Clarence F. Philbrook, a longstanding<br />

friend of Lu's. It was meant mainly for economists and<br />

other scholars. Armen A. Alchian, professor of economics at the<br />

University of California, and Bertrand de Jouvenel, president of an<br />

154

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