Nov 14 Newport Beach Mises circle

Miscellaneous Current Events
1

So Daniel, Lilburne, JonBotswik [sp?], Jonathan Catalan and myself all went to the Newport Beach conference with Peter Klein, David Gordon, Doug French, Robert Murphy, Tom DiLorenzo, and George Reisman. I’m sure these guys want to share their experiences so I will just give a funny story that happened to me. I was in the bathroom during the break and washing my hands [ good hygiene ] then Robert Murphy comes to the next sink and I say to him in a joshing fashion ‘I can’t believe I’m washing my hands next to Robert Murphy’ And being that Robert Murphy has a quick wit he says:

‘Yea, some people wait their whole lives for this moment’

I told him ‘I will tell my kids about this one day’

Great conference though, got to talk to all the speakers. I got a few books:

Introduction to Economic Reasoning by Gordon

Philosophical Foundations of Austrian Economics by Gordon

Mystery of Banking by Rothbard

Betrayal of the American Right by Rothbard

Men Against the State by James Martin [ This book was really interesting because it is about 19th century individual anarchism in America, brand new book. Looks very sweet. ]

2

I met Jonathan M. F. Catalan and JonBotswick and chatted briefly. I got a few books, including George Reisman’s bible, Capitalism. The most original presentation was Peter Klein’s on business school and greed. David Gordon was shorter than I expected. Gordon’s comedic routine and Bob Murphy’s comedic routine were worth the $85 registration fee.

3

I love that book! It makes me wish Gordon attempted a more ambitious work on Economics, I think it would become one of the finest around.

4

Like I wrote in the other thread, I apologize that I did not stick around to talk to you guys after the lectures. I was caught by surprise by the fact that my friend had shown up (we had met at Cato University) and we went to get a drink at the bar, and then I headed home. I, unfortunately, only bought two books: Capitalism and Human Action (I had waited until I could get an opportunity to have many of my favorite economists sign my copy, and this was such an opportunity). I agree that Peter Klein’s lecture was probably the most interesting. I do not mean to belittle Dr. Reisman, as he is inequivocally bright and the knowledge he has to offer would be difficult to find elsewhere, but his lecture was probably the most boring. He is a great writer, but not so great of a public speaker (he seemed to be reading off a piece of paper).

I hope there’s another one nearby sometime in the near future. If anybody who did not go to Mises Circle is interested in what David Gordon’s “top five books” were, I recorded them on my blog. They were:

  1. Rothbard, Murray, What Has Government Done to our Money
  2. French, Douglas, Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply
  3. Murphy, Robert, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal
  4. Woods, Tom, Meltdown
  5. Paul, Ron, End the Fed
5

By the way, kudos to the Mises Institute for actually putting the accent mark in Catalán. Not many people do that when they make name tags for me.

6

I just realized you have a second middle initial in your name. How do insert an accented “a” into the text field?

EDIT: I didn’t fill out the yellow autograph form because I wanted to personally hand the speakers my books and shake their hands.

7

Btw, perhaps Bob Murphy will mention your episode with him at his next presentation.

8

Thanks, Jonathan. I’ve been wanting to know that. That’s all the more reason for me to get French’s book too.

By the way, did you guys see video cameras set up?

9

Yeah, he’s mentioned other bathroom encounters in his talks before.

10

Were you able to? Doug French was at the table where the signed books were left at, but I already had a little rum in me and so I didn’t feel the necessity to make myself look like an idiot!

In regards to accents and other special characters, I use a feature on Windows XP which allows you to use an “international keyboard” tailored to Spanish speakers. The keyboard is the same, just that some combinations will produce accent markets, or umlats or what have you. The F stands for Finegold; in Spain you have two last names, your father’s and your mother’s. The M is for Michael, which is my middle name through my “American name” (confusing, I know… in Spain there are no middle names, but since my dad is American I got a middle name). I’ve been meaning to get rid of “Finegold” altogether, but I’m too lazy and I should probably embrace my Jewish history.

11

You could also just look up the ASCII alt code to do it. The á in his name is Alt+0225.

12

I was hoping Bob Murphy would mention it when he gave his lecture, but I figured he wouldn’t so as to not embarrass LM.

Awsome!! áááá

Yeah, I also did it in San Francisco. You just have to talk your way into getting them to notice you. I got Peter Klein to sign my copy of the Case Against the Fed after having a lengthy conversation with him, and he told me that I better not sell it on eBay. Doug French was pretty difficult because he was having a bunch of private conversations. Bob Murphy was the most approachable guy there, plus he was talking to Lilburne. Louis Carabini signed my copy of his book and I thanked him for sponsoring the event.

Yeah, they do it in Mexico too. Nothing wrong with being Jewish.