I just heard from David Gordon that George Selgin posted on Facebook that my old friend and George Mason colleague and co-author Jim Bennett has passed away. During my eight years at George Mason Jim and I co-authored nine books and dozens of articles, including two in the American Economic Review. I have a framed picture in my office of myself, Jim, Jack High, and F.A. Hayek taken in 1983 when Hayek visited George Mason.
Jim was the hardest working person I have known in my career with the exception of Lew Rockwell. He was not considered to be an Austrian School economist but he supported the Austrians at George Mason and, back in the ’70s, was quoting Mises on bureaucracy in such prestigious mainstream economics journals as Economic Inquiry. He had a deep understanding of politics and bureaucracy and what a curse it all is on society. He would sometimes fantasize about renting an apartment adjacent to the “mixing bowl” traffic mess during D.C. rush hour, throw nails in the highway during the night, then harangue the stranded bureaucrats with a bullhorn while they stood there helpless on the highway. Like my old friend Walter Williams, Jim was a chain smoker. When we would go to lunch at a Fairfax restaurant he would often request “the chain smoking section.” That was back when smoking was still permitted in human society.
Rest in peace my old friend.
