The founder President of the Institute of Economic Affairs, Arthur Seldon, has passed away (via MR). He was a champion of liberty in a time of a hostile political climate, but in dusty niches bulbs burned.
According to James Buchanan "Arthur Seldon has, more than most of us, been able to combine realism in prediction with idealism in vision" (source). It's easy to dismiss Seldon as being a trumpeter for the Conservative Party - as I'm sure many newspapers shall - but his academic contributions deserve greater merit. His march of words may be drowned out by his drumbeat of conviction (a phrase coined by GLS Shackle), but his insights extend beyond party borders.
The propositions of Keynes on the power of ideas, of Marx on the dominance of interests, and of Mill on the necessity of conspiring circumstances are sometimes over-simplified.
The above passage comes from Economic Scholarship and Political Insterest, an article he wrote for the IEA. My dissertation is a systematic analysis of how ideas can shape and define our interests, and consequently how the spread of economic ideas precedes regime change. I hope in some small way, I can continue his legacy.
Arthur Seldon, joint founder President if the IEA, 1916-2005.
A new website dedicated to Arthur is now available at www.arthurseldon.org . Any contributions to the site would be most welcome.
Posted by: Matthew | October 14, 2005 at 06:02 PM