In Rothbard's "Mises in One Lesson", he mentions that Menger withdrew from economics and Bohm-Bawerk commited suicide because of World War 1, which destoroyed the liberalism of the 19th century. Is this true?
just bumping this so it goes into active topics
A 1 minute bump? That's got to be a record.
Yeah well I posted it in the "General" section and then went to the active topics section, but then I saw it wasn't there, so I bumped it so it would be there.
I guess Carl Menger has that effect on people.
BTW, I'm listening to that lecture now (love it when Murray himself speaks!). Can you tell me approximately what the timestamp is when he makes that statement?
It's around when he's talking about Mises's life. I think it's right when Mises fled the Nazis for America.
I've never heard that and I read two economic histories which mentioned Menger's life and works. I remember that he died in relative despair because WWI was an uncool time to be alive, but I never heard mention of suicide.
Edit
Oh right. No clue on Bawerk... Wiki says nothing? :P
Bohm Bawerk, not Menger.
Ok, Rothbard says it at about 55:55 in the lecture, and is apparently quoting from Mises "notes and recollections" from an autobiography he wrote in 1940.
I'm not sure if he's quoting it as a historical fact, as Rothbard says that Mises was distraught and depressed at the time due to having just barely escaped the Nazis and losing everything, starting out broke and jobless in America.
Why anarchy fails
But Bohm-Bawerk really did die in August 1914!! Also, no one got my joke about Crown Prince Rudolf.
According to his biography on mises.de ( http://www.mises.de/public_home/topic/6 ) he had been suffering of a serious ailment for about a year before his death. He died at Kramsach, where he had gone on vacation, was buried there and later his body was moved to the Zentralfriedhof in Wien. No mention of a suicide and, given the seriousness of his illness (following a thrombosis), he probably died of natural causes.
The Zentrlfriedhof is the largest cemetery in Wien and it's known as the final resting place of Brahms, Schubert and Beethoven, not to mention most of the Strauss family members.
I had a mild thrombosis once in my leg. Hobbled me for a month, could barely walk :( Painful. Kept attending classes tho.