Desperately Seeking Ludwig, F. A., and Milton

PETER BOETTKE:

"Right now the economics profession has not had a clear intellectual leader step forward to challenge the emerging statist hegemony in the wake of our current financial situation. We are in a state of desparately seeking the next Ludwig, F. A., and Milton. No disrespect to the great economists amongst us, e.g., Andrei Shleifer, or my colleagues at GMU, e.g., Tyler Cowen and Russ Roberts, but the arguments emerging from these talented men do not have the 'force' of those presented by Mises, Hayek and Friedman. And without that intellectual force, our future in the US is potentially very bleak as statism will crowd out market creativity, and wealth creation. Where is the next intellectual figure that will explain the impossibility of socialism, why the worst get on top, and why government policies are counter-productive?

How do we find these type of economists and how do we cultivate them? And without them can we survive the statist onslaught on our economic freedom?"