“‘Ma’ Riess of Rapallo”—Laughlin

The future publisher and poet James Laughlin visited Pound often in Rapallo. A little-known memoir of his visits with Pound is included in this chapter and casts new light on Ezra’s milieu, as well as on Laughlin’s future career.

Planting the Seeds of a Chicago Tradition

This chapter traces the beginning of economics at the University of Chicago to study the development of a Chicago tradition. The Chicago tradition begins with James Laughlin, the first chair and founder of the department in 1892. He put his stamp on Chicago economics in ways that would serve to nurture future generations but would also prove to be regrettable. Laughlin, during his sometimes-controversial career, placed himself well within the boundaries defining Classical Liberalism. He helped create the persistent, but at times quite misleading, appearance that identified the Chicago department as a virulent breeding ground of ultra-conservative thought, tarred by a predilection for ideologically tinged policy prescriptions. The chapter then looks at the Chicago School of Economics.