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The Curmudgeon as Teacher: Afternoon Coffee with Mark Blaug

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George Stigler

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Abstract

Mark Blaug was one of George Stigler’s first Ph.D. students while attending Columbia University. The two composed a well-structured, almost made in heaven (or elsewhere) match. In a sense, there was something almost doppelganger-like between Blaug and Stigler. Both can be described as curmudgeons of the first water, capable of flaying one alive with their sharp tongues anyone brave (or foolish) enough to tread upon uncertain economic territory. In, at times, an animated conversation over coffee, Blaug explores the role of ideology in economics and the particular stance that George Stigler adopted in this regard. Further consideration is given to the History of Economic Thought, a field that both teacher and pupil embraced, though at times almost surreptitiously.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Craig Freedman

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  1. Craig Freedman
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  1. University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Craig Freedman

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Freedman, C. (2020). The Curmudgeon as Teacher: Afternoon Coffee with Mark Blaug. In: Freedman, C. (eds) George Stigler. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56815-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56814-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56815-1

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