Manny Klausner On the Brilliant Mises and Rothbard

Manny Klausner

Nick Gillespie on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Reason magazine recently interviewed Manny Klausner, who was a co-owner of the magazine almost from the start--close enough to be considered by most a co-founder.

The interview covered a wide swath of history concerning Klausner's time with Reason, including Klaunser's telling the story of the time Ayn Rand threatened to sue the magazine. There is also some great discussion about the history of the libertarian movement and the current state of it.


What will be of most interest though to readers here at EPJ is his comments on Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard. He clearly views both as intellectual giants. Klausner actually took a class for credit under Mises at NYU and often rode the New York City subway with Mises after the famous Mises' seminars!

Klausner also knew Rothbard. In the interview, he calls Rothbard "a brilliant, profound, original thinker and systematic economist."

Klausner went on to say that Rothbard was principled and that Rothbard had a "profound influence" on him.

He also identified EPJ friend Walter Block as a "brilliant young" follower of Rothbard at the time.

The full interview is here.

-RW