George Koether (1907-2006)
We are very sad to report that George Koether, born in 1907, has died at the age of 98. He was a journalist, speechwriter, businessman, lecturer, economist, and a friend to Ludwig and Margit von Mises, a longtime ambassador for Misesian economics.
Indeed, he knew and worked with nearly every important libertarian thinker in the 20th century, including Henry Hazlitt, Anthony Fisher, Fritz Machlup, Bruno Leoni, F.A. Hayek, and Murray Rothbard. He assisted in the editing and writing of Margit's wonderful book, My Years With Ludwig von Mises, and made possible the publication of Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow by Ludwig von Mises.
He commissioned the bust of Mises in the Mises Institute library.
Koether was interviewed for the Fall 2000 issue of the Austrian Economics Newsletter. He said:
"There’s an ongoing debate in the Austrian world about whether we need to focus our resources on gaining academic influence or reaching the public. Mises always worked to do both, but we should never forget the last chapters of Human Action in which Mises places special emphasis on public education. You have got to get the message out to the public. This is essential. Mises worked to boil down his views for a popular audience. We need to keep this activity going. Let’s let the mainstream economists adopt the attitude that they have some secret knowledge which they refuse to share with the public. We want to get the ideas out there, and we can. We can do an end run around the arrogance of the mainstream. That’s what Mises did."
Even as recently as last year, he attended Mises Institute events and provided wise counsel concerning our activities. He was scheduled to receive the 2006 Gary Schlarbaum Award for Lifetime Achievement in the cause of liberty.
Comments (2)
I met George only once at the 2001 History of Liberty Conference. I found him to be incredibly knowledgeable as well as just plain nice to talk to.
Published: March 23, 2006 12:29 PM
My sister, Pat, and I met Mr. Koether in an ice cream store on US1 shortly after Christmas of 2005. We chatted about ice cream and candy briefly and then he asked me if I knew how to type. I told him I was a retired executive assistant; yes I could type. He told me he had been very lucky all his life and he felt lucky that he had met me that day. He told me to call him George and he wanted to dictate some letters to "some very important people around the world," and he wanted me to transcribe some important information for his last two books. I thought he was kidding, so I laughed. George was serious! My sister and I met with him briefly a week or so later and he was going to make the tapes so I could take them home to transcribe them for him. He gave me a tape recorder to use and asked me to come back the next week to pick up some tapes. The day came to pick up the tapes; however, his daughter told me he was sleeping and they "would call me at a later time if they needed me." She said he told her about meeting me and how we were going to work together to get his books finished. Several weeks passed, he didn't call, so I decided to return his tape recorder with a letter to him. I don't know if he ever saw that letter. He was one of the most interesting, delightful people I have ever met. I'm just sorry that I was not able to help him realize his goal of writing two more books before he died. I wish he could have lived to be 100, or perhaps even 110. He was so bright of mind, appeared physically fit, and so eager to help others understand the economy and life in general. He was a very intelligent, funny, kind gentleman, and I'm proud to have known him, even for so short a time.
Published: April 6, 2006 9:44 PM