History of Economic Thought Society of Australia
UWA Business School
17th July 2025
Since Riko asked me to speak I have been wondering what a middle-aged electrical engineer, turned prospector, could speak about to such an audience as we have assembled tonight.
It must be something that you know nothing about.
What could that be?
Well, I am safe to say that none of you know very much about my mother. So, let us start there.
Nancy Jean Manners was born in Kalgoorlie and became a schoolteacher. Nothing special so far. However, during her patient time, as my mother, she managed to surprise me at least three times.
Not in chronological order, but here are those three occasions: –
1. I did not know of my mother’s interest in geology until I was about sixteen. Every house around Kalgoorlie was full of rocks. Everyone brought home rocks and talked about rocks and ‘what they can tell you.’ My mates would come around, several already going to the school Kalgoorlie School of Mines. They were interested in geology, picked up rocks and started pontificating on what sort of rock they had. But my mother would sidle up and say ‘No, it is not.” This is what it is.’ They looked at me and said, “Ron your mother is spooky, she knows all about rocks.”
When I asked her later how she knew ‘all about rocks’ she explained that she felt, as a schoolteacher in Kalgoorlie, it was important to understand geology. So, she went around to enroll in the geology course at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines. To her surprise, they would not let her in.
They said, no, we do not have women in the classes because of the bad language. “We can’t have you here.” But she gave them her ‘schoolteacher look’ and said, “well, if I promise not to listen would you let me into the class?” So, they let her in, and she was the first woman ever to study geology at the Kalgoorlie School of Mines. That was in 1924.
Later, when I was about fifty, I went back and did some geology subjects myself. That is when I pulled out my mother’s notes. Her notes were far more detailed than mine and particularly useful. She had approached her geological education at the School of Mines with far more dedication than me.
2. Another event was a few years later after mum had moved to Perth, after my father’s death. I was in Kalgoorlie and received a phone call from Prof. Paddy O’Brien from UWA, whom I admired greatly and regarded him as one of the few intellectuals in Perth at that time.
Paddy explained to me, in overly exciting terms, that he had invited William F. Buckley to Perth and that Buckley had accepted. Buckley also had a remarkable intellect and was a noticeably big name, as from his New York base, he was running what was one of the first T.V. interview series, called Firing Line where he interviewed leading statesmen from all over the world. It was a widely followed T.V. series and Paddy said words to the effect, “Manners get your arse on a plane and get down to this event which we are hosting in Winthrop Hall.”
I mentioned to Paddy that I usually stay with my mother as she was experiencing some degree of loneliness and Paddy said, “bring her along to the show and after the Winthrop Hall event we are all going back to my place for a piss-up with Buckley, and bring her too.”
Surprisingly, my mother was able to keep up with William Buckley’s fast-moving presentation at UWA, delivered like a machine gun fires its bullets.
Well, that is what happened, and I cannot remember seeing so many people crammed into one house where Paddy lived, in Nedlands, close to the University of W.A.
The evening was in full swing and then I noticed on the other side of the room that my mother was engaged in an animated discussion with Buckley and I thought to myself, whoa I had better go across and rescue her.
You can imagine my surprise when I found them in mid-discussion, deeply involved in comparing the merits of the early Greek philosophers.
There was no need for me to interrupt, as there was no sign of any rescue being needed and later that night I asked my mother, “Where did you get all that information?”
She quietly took me to her bookshelf and showed me a series of magazines called, The World’s Great Books in Outline.
It was this series of ‘short form’ education aides that enabled my mother to hold her own with anyone we met. I remember how easily she conversed with any of the many visitors that my father brought home for dinner, particularly Dr. Battye, who has been recognized, as they named the Battye Library after him.
Thinking about all these ‘bits of information,’ floating around out there, reminds me of
Hayek’s well-circulated paper The Use of Knowledge in Society, where he explained how that there are so many bits of information, so well dispersed that no-one is in possession of sufficient information to give them the ‘fatal conceit’ of being able to make well informed decisions on behalf of each of us. Those decisions concerning our lives should be our own responsibility.
3. The third time my mother surprised me was when I was about 12 years old. After six years of learning music my mother was disappointed to hear that my music teacher had not explained to me the relevance and the musical overlap that occurred between all the great composers.
She sat me down and, with a blank piece of paper and pen, reproduced from memory, this musical timeline.
I will never forget her detailed explanation of how emotionally stirring music was usually produced during times of intense warfare, hence the addition of the major world conflicts that occurred during the span of these great composers.
That is when I first developed my love and curiosity about timelines.
Here are two of the economic timelines that we use at Mannkal. These economic timelines similarly show how various economists influenced each other and various theories supplanted other theories, often for wrong reasons. They show how Public Choice Theory came into existence.
I think that the worlds of economists and great composers have so much in common with respect to influence and public pressures.
Well, that is all you need to know about my mother, and it explains where I inherited my curiosity, and passion for timelines.
Now here is a list of all the things I wished to speak on tonight (but only if I had a 2-hour timeslot).
They are:
1. Since 1977 and continuing until today my main concern is that the main problem facing Australia is the difficulty in the formation of capital.
Using some earlier notes extracted from https://www.mannwest.com/capitalism-breathes-through-tax-loopholes/
Capitalism Breathes Through Tax Loopholes
… Back to my story
Shortly after writing that 1977 piece, on the difficulty of generating capital, I was visited in Kalgoorlie by Professor Harold Dulan [University of Arkansas] who was writing a book that brought him to the same conclusion.
His book was called Capital Formation Perspective for Australian Resources Development. I spent considerable time with Professor Dulan, who was surprised at Australia’s lack of concern. He said in his paper:
“The lack of a forceful and directive public and private policy to maximize the development of Australian natural resources, the myopic view of foreign capital inflow and the naiveté towards the private enterprise system combine to place Australia in a holding pattern in which time works against her advantages. Australia’s participation in world industrialization is in jeopardy.”
“The question for Australia is time. How long can she wait to form the requisite capital, allow migrant intake to accelerate, maximize the development of her natural resources, and assume a more sophisticated role in world industrialization? It is a serious situation for Australia.”
The time I spent with Professor Dulan caused me to take this matter even more seriously and I regard that meeting as a significant business lesson – that as you run your business career always aim to generate a surplus that you can quarantine, and direct toward research, growth, expansion or whatever is your passion.
Always remember that your earnings are yours. You own the property rights to your earnings. No one else can have a prior right. It is for you to decide how they are distributed. Paying a fair rate of tax is acceptable but it is not why we were put on earth!
Yes, you can pay all the claims that other people make on you but prioritize these so that payments to those who create value come first. That lesson is just as important as deciding how much money that you need.
It depends, of course, on what you wish to achieve and how soon you wish to achieve the balance between earning money and achieving your major goals. Money is only of use if you can do something sensible with it.
Let me warn you that the cards are stacked against you generating that vital surplus. I am talking about the importance of you looking for loopholes so that you can achieve your goals.
I will come back to loopholes later.
2. I was going to talk about the two major projects that I am working on right now: –
The Mannkal / Mannwest Research Data Base that we have been working on for two years and it is nearly ready to launch. This will be a detailed index of economic and political topics totaling about 2.5 terabytes of information. It will all be searchable and, whilst it is only currently available from any interested scholars who can access it from our office, we hope shortly to have it launched online so it can be accessed externally. More to follow.
The Backbone Australia Project, where we are devising methods of encouraging business and political leadership to step forward and speak freely. The reason there is virtually no business and political leadership is that the minute somebody speaks up they get their heads kicked in. Not a great incentive to be a leader.
Surely there is something we can do to incentivize heroism to encourage these potential leaders to stand up and speak up instead of just simply continuing to bend over. Here is the information/website for BackBoneAustralia.com – https://www.backboneaustralia.com/
Books – will we see a return to an interest in books or is the era of books over? I have two book quotes to pass onto you tonight: –
- Francesco Petrarch 1346 – “There is something special about books… books thrill you to the marrow; they talk to you, counsel you, admit you to their living, speaking friendship. They introduce other books; each one creates a desire for another.”
- “The right book at the right time can change your entire life.”
- https://www.mannwest.com/shop/
- I also have a small selection of books that you may be interested in and they are for sale tonight and the author is happy to sign, particularly my latest book The Impatient Libertarian which outlines the five economic, philosophical and business individuals whose influence, on me, has resulted in the formation of our Mannkal Foundation which I’m pleased to say that we are on target to say we have assisted 3,000 Western Australian scholars for study support in Australia and overseas, in time to match our 30th anniversary in 2027. Our Mannkal team is the best ever and the assembled group of scholars we have for this year is, again, one of our finest. We are getting particularly valuable feedback from overseas host institutions. As well as supportive comments from parents, such as this email received this week.
“Dear Jeanette
Our daughter is involved in the Mannkal program.
She just completed her degree in environmental science. This was a progression of having completed year 12 rather than a considered decision by her. Even in her final year she was letting her future merge rather than being self-authoring.
Having joined the Mannkal program she is invested in the program related commitments and learning activities with zest and enthusiasm (over and above the excitements and fun offered in the travel). This we believe is a function of your nurturing and developmental style and the program design.
By our experience this is making a wonderful difference to shaping her worldview and self-confidence. She is becoming ever increasingly more self-authoring and bolder in exploring future pathways.
As parents we are deeply grateful and appreciative of the opportunity she has been given and convey our thanks and appreciation to Mannkal program, its benefactor and yourself.
Kind regards
Parents of a 2025 Mannkal Scholar”
Our book bonus tonight is a free eBook, just released yesterday. The author is Eamonn Butler (a recent visiting speaker to Western Australia), and the title of his new eBook is An Introduction to Schools of Economic Thought, very closely aligned with the thrust of this conference.
The link to this free eBook is here, An Introduction to Schools of Economic Thought.
- Is this a suitable time to be a graduate (in Australia and internationally?)
Refer to the F.T. Article
- Every year I take on a new challenge that is just a little beyond my capabilities.
- Last year it was to travel to Texas to deliver a presentation on Is it Time for a Peaceful, Civil Revolution (having tried politics, education, and all other alternatives)?
- Next month my challenge is to travel to Argentina and talk about Australia versus Argentina with respect to any successful outcomes in the next few years. So far, I am optimistic for Argentina under a President who is thoroughly schooled in Austrian Economics. Whereas in Australia, under the spell of a Trotskyite Prime Minister, I am not so sure?
Thinking of travel reminds me of Saint Augustine who once said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only one page.”
There are some interesting comparisons between Argentina and Australia. Around about 1901 we were the two most prosperous countries in the world. Since then, it has been a rocky passage for both countries. The other thing in common is that our countries also contain some very bright people. For instance, here are three major inventions to come out of Argentina: –
1. The ballpoint pen (invented by Laszlo Biro.
2. Cardiac Radiofrequency Ablation by Dr Mauricio Rosenbaum.
3. Fingerprint Identification System by Julian Vucetich.
And here are three notable inventions to come out of Australia: –
- WiFi – The individuals at Australia’s CSIRO.
- Blackbox Flight Recorder by Dr David Warren.
- Heart Pacemaker by Dr Mark Lidwell & Edgar Booth.
Notable is the fact that many of these inventions were made by people not born in Argentina or Australia but having moved there. Both countries are largely populated by people who have come from somewhere else, and they are most welcome when they bring skills with them. Ten years ago, we produced this important chart:
I hope to update this chart and develop a similar Argentinian version. What does this chart tell you Governments excel at one thing, in particular, and that is ‘destroying the value of our currency.
CONCLUSION
Let me conclude with a brief recollection of one experience during my time in Russia – September 1990, as part of the Transition to Freedom Team sent to train the Russians on how to manage free enterprise, which coincidently arrived in the same week as we did. Our trip was sponsored by Washington’s CATO Institute and The Soviet Academy of Sciences. Among the distinguished delegates was James Buchanan, busily collecting examples of concentrated benefits with costs shared by the many.
Part of our visit was to the obligatory sidewalk artists.
This was a very speedy process for my three colleagues who were handed a very quick and easy cartoon, and they paid US$10 for the exercise.
However, in my case, something was really going on – beyond my immediate comprehension. The attractive young artist was ‘doing a real job’ on me. Going into such detail that she gathered up a sizeable audience who were all talking excitedly amongst themselves and occasionally exchanging comments with the artist herself.
She was looking deeply into my eyes, and I felt some form of magnetic attraction (perhaps I had been away from home too long?).
At last, she was finished, and we instinctively rose to our feet and then entered the warmest embrace imaginable.
The crowd cheered, I was confused. Everyone was chatting approvingly.
Helplessly I asked our interpreter, “What is next? Am I to be raffled? What’s the girl’s name, what am I supposed to do next?”
He quietly smiled and said, “No, it’s not like that at all, this girl is respectably married but she has created considerable interest with her comments as she was sketching you.”
He then spoke with her and then explained to me the reason she took so long. “She saw the outside world through your eyes, and she was so excited; now she is sad because she will never know that world.”
My friends, we are all part of that ‘outside world’ and that is our good fortune to have the freedom to choose our own destiny.
We have a responsibility to explain this to all those around us, just how good it is to live in such a land of opportunity.
Such a small proportion of the world’s population share our good fortune in this regard, which is why we should be so proud to defend the few remaining economic freedoms that gave us this opportunity.
Tonight, I have the good fortune of sharing the evening with you all and, to thank you, for keeping the flame of “The History of Economic Thought,” burning so brightly!
Thanks, so much.
Ron Manners AO
17th July 2025