Reflections on Bettina Bien Greaves

I wanted to follow up on Dr. Paul’s comments with my own memories of Bettina Bien Greaves. I met Mrs. Greaves in 1988 at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) seminar. Mrs. Greaves gave one of the opening lectures and I was fascinated by her overview of the principles of Austrian Economics.

Over the next several days, I took advantage of every opportunity to talk with Mrs. Greaves. I relentlessly peppered her with questions about the libertarian movement, economics, history, and even Mises’s opinion of Murray Rothbard’s radical libertarianism. She graciously answered all my questions, and encouraged my interest in Austrian economics and libertarianism.

Once I mentioned I was writing a paper for my Labor Economics class and was interested in finding some free-market articles on the subject. She knew exactly what I needed so she insisted we go to her office where she dug up a book of essays on labor from an Austrian perspective and insisted I take it.

Bettina Bien Greaves not only encouraged me, and countless other who walked through FEE’s doors during her time there, to pursue my interest in the ideas of liberty and the libertarian movement, she set an example of how to grow our movement and encourage those with an interest in learning about liberty. I am grateful I had the opportunity to meet her.