Ralph Raico (; October 23, 1936 – December 13, 2016) was an American

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

historian of European

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

and a professor of history at

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...

."Ralph Raico"

The Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has m ...

. Retrieved November 15, 2013.

Early life and education

Raico was from New York City,"Ralph Raico"
Future of Freedom Foundation. Retrieved November 15, 2013. where he attended

The Bronx High School of Science The Bronx High School of Science, commonly called Bronx Science, is a public specialized high school in The Bronx in New York City. It is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Admission to Bronx Science involves passing the Sp ...

. Through the

Foundation for Economic Education The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is an American conservative, libertarian economic think tank. Founded in 1948 in New York City, FEE is now headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a member of the State Policy Network. FEE offers ...

, Raico and his classmate George Reisman arranged to meet with economist

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; 29 September 1881 – 10 October 1973) was an Austrian School economist, historian, logician, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is ...

, who subsequently invited them to attend his graduate seminar on

Austrian economics The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian school ...

at the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. There, he met fellow seminar attendee

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian ...

, who befriended him. Rothbard and his friends Raico, Reisman,

Ronald Hamowy Ronald Hamowy (; April 17, 1937 – September 8, 2012) was a Canadian academic, known primarily for his contributions to political and social academic fields. At the time of his death, he was professor emeritus of Intellectual History at the Univ ...

and

Robert Hessen Robert Hessen (born 1936) is an American economic and business historian. He is a professor at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a senior research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. He is an Objectivist and has ...

formed a "self-conscious intellectual and activist salon" they named the Circle Bastiat.. In the mid-1950s, the Circle Bastiat also brought Raico into contact with novelist

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

and her followers, informally known at the time as The Collective. Raico attended the first lectures about Rand's philosophy of

Objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievemen ...

.. Eventually, relations between the two groups soured, leading to an incident in which the Circle parodied the Collective, performing a skit in which Raico played the part of Rand's protege

Nathaniel Branden Nathaniel Branden (born Nathan Blumenthal; April 9, 1930 – December 3, 2014) was a Canadian–American psychotherapist and writer known for his work in the psychology of self-esteem. A former associate and romantic partner of Ayn Rand ...

.. By the summer of 1958, Rand and Rothbard had broken off all ties, and the groups stopped associating. Raico received his B.A. from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and his Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where his adviser was

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Hayek ...

Career

While at the University of Chicago, Raico founded ''The New Individualist Review'', a libertarian publication which first published in April 1961 and produced 17 issues until it ceased publication in 1968.. Raico and other graduate students comprised the editorial board. Hayek and

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...

and later economist

George Stigler George Joseph Stigler (; January 17, 1911 – December 1, 1991) was an American economist. He was the 1982 laureate in Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is considered a key leader of the Chicago school of economics. Early life and e ...

were on the advisory board. In 1981, Friedman wrote that he believed the publication had "set an intellectual standard which has not yet, I believe, been matched by any of the more recent publications in the same philosophical tradition".Riggenbach, Jeff (July 18, 2011)
"The Journalism of Hamowy and Raico"
''Mises Daily''

Mises Institute Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a libertarian nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, United States. It is named after the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises (1881–1973). I ...

. Retrieved January 23, 2020. Raico later became senior editor of ''

Inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...

'' magazine. He was an associate editor of ''

The Independent Review ''The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering political economy and the critical analysis of government policy. It is published by the Independent Institute, a conservative li ...

'' (a journal published by

) and a senior fellow of the

which published his work on the history of liberty and the connection between war and the state."Ralph Raico biography"

. Retrieved November 15, 2013. Raico translated Mises' book '' Liberalismus'' and various essays by

into English.

Death

Raico died on December 13, 2016 at the age of 80.

Publications

Books

* ''Gay Rights: A Libertarian Approach''. Libertarian Party (1975). . * ''Classical Liberalism in the Twentieth Century''. Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University (1990). . * ''Die Partei der Freiheit: Studien zur Geschichte des deutschen Liberalismus''. Introduction by Christian Watrin. Translated by Gabriele Bartel, Pia Weiss, and

Jörg Guido Hülsmann Jörg Guido Hülsmann (born 18 May 1966) is a German-born economist of the Austrian School of economics who studies issues related to money, banking, monetary policy, macroeconomics, and financial markets. Hülsmann is professor of economics at th ...

. Lucius & Lucius (1999). . .
''Great Wars and Great Leaders: A Libertarian Rebuttal''.
Introduction by

Robert Higgs Robert Higgs (born 1 February 1944) is an American economic historian and economist combining material from Public Choice, the New institutional economics, and the Austrian school of economics; and describes himself as a " libertarian anarchis ...

. Auburn, Alabama:

(2010) . . * ''The Place of Religion in the Liberal Philosophy of Constant, Tocqueville, and Lord Acton''. (2010). . . :: Book version of Raico's

dissertation. * ''Classical Liberalism and the Austrian School''. Auburn, Alabama:

(2012). . .

Book contributions

* "Classical Liberalism and the Austrian School." in ''The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics'', edited by Peter J. Boettke. Edward Elgar Publishing (1988). . . * Introduction to the 50th-anniversary edition of

John T. Flynn John Thomas Flynn (October 25, 1882 – April 13, 1964) was an American journalist best known for his opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and to American entry into World War II. In September 1940, Flynn helped establish the America F ...

's ''The Roosevelt Myth''. Fox & Wilkes (1998).. . * "World War I: The Turning Point" and "Rethinking Churchill." in ''The Costs of War: America's Pyrrhic Victories'', edited by John V. Denson. Transaction Publishers (1999). .

References

Works cited

* * * * *

External links

Raico's article archives at Mises.org

Raico book and paper archives at Mises.org

Bio
at Future of Freedom Foundation
Ralph Raico: Champion of Authentic Liberalism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raico, Ralph 1936 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American political writers Buffalo State College faculty City College of New York alumni Historians from New York (state) Libertarian historians Libertarian theorists Mises Institute people Non-interventionism People from New York City University of Chicago alumni Writers from New York City