Murray Rothbard was one of the founders of the Cato Institute; but, within a few years, he had come to a bitter parting of the ways with Cato’s president, Ed Crane, and with the Institute’s financial patron, Charles Koch.
How did this split come about? A recent interview gives Crane’s side of the story. (Crane’s comments on Rothbard begin at around 18 minutes into the interview.) Unfortunately, his account is without merit. As he tells the tale, Murray Rothbard was at first a “hero” of his. Rothbard was great company for his friends, but not a good person to have as an enemy; and he did not like Crane.
Why not? The problem, says Crane, was Inquiry magazine, edited by Bill Evers. The magazine aimed to win the political left to libertarianism. Crane thought this a poor strategy, as the left was not interested in moving in a libertarian direction. Evers nevertheless persisted; he wanted to impress his Marxist academic friends at Stanford. In any case, Inquiry was costing Cato a great deal of money. When Crane decided to close Inquiry, Rothbard turned against him and endeavored unsuccessfully to have him fired.
Crane’s remarks misrepresent the facts. A sharp antagonism had developed between Evers and Crane, and Rothbard supported Evers; but Rothbard’s split from Cato was not caused by the closure of Inquiry. Probably the dominant cause was Rothbard vocal criticisms of Ed Clark’s 1980 campaign, managed by Crane, for the presidency. As a result of his criticisms of Crane and Koch, Rothbard was forced off the Cato Board of Directors. I have written about these tumultuous events in more detail here.
The falsity of Crane’s account is readily demonstrable. Rothbard was ousted from the Cato Board early in 1981, but Inquiry was not closed until 1984.
9:46 pm on May 4, 2015
