Subjectivism and Economic Analysis: Essays in memory of Ludwig ...

2LUDWIG M.LACHMANNSubjectivism in economics and theeconomyBrian J.LoasbyI never met Ludwig Lachmann. I did not even begin correspondingwith him until the last years of his life. That was my fault, for Irepeatedly delayed taking the opportunity on the insidious excusethat I would have something more interesting to say in a fewmonths’ time. I should have been more aware, because of what I hadalready learned from his work, that he had many interesting thingsto say at any time. This was immediately demonstrated when I didwrite, as was the courtesy and intellectual curiosity that impressedso many who knew him and his work much better than I did. Sincehis objective was to make what contribution he could—and thatwas not small—to our common understanding of economicquestions, and of the ways in which we might best improve thatunderstanding, it seems appropriate in this chapter to outline thethemes that I have taken from his publications and from hiscorrespondence with me. (I shall cite his final book, which offers anadmirable conspectus of his vision.) As he would be the first to pointout, what follows is an interpretation; but since it is based on someshared points of reference—for example, admiration for the work ofGeorge Shackle and George Richardson, similar ideas about thecompatibility of some of Keynes’s major ideas with an Austrianview, the need to enquire into what happens in markets—and sinceparts of this interpretation were tested in our correspondence, I amreasonably confident that, though certainly not definitive, it isdefensible.12