All of us at Students For Liberty are deeply saddened by the death of Steven Horwitz, who passed away on June 27 in Indianapolis, aged 57. A brilliant intellectual and long-time friend of Students For Liberty and Learn Liberty, Steven Horwitz has been an inspiration to many. As such, we would like to pay tribute to his life and work.
Steven Horwitz obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, before earning his PhD in Economics from George Mason University in 1990. He then spent the majority of his academic career teaching at St. Lawrence University, in Canton, New York. Throughout his career, Steve wrote extensively on monetary economics from the perspective of the Austrian School. In 2020, he received the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award from the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Invariably optimistic about human progress, Steven Horwitz expressed his positive vision for a freer future throughout his work. He served as a faculty member for summer seminars organized by the Institute for Humane Studies and the Foundation for Economic Education. Steven was also one of the academic philosophers involved with the Bleeding Heart Libertarians blog.
Some of his published works include Monetary Evolution, Free Banking, and Economic Order (1992), Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective (2000), Hayek’s Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of Social Institutions (2015), and Austrian Economics: An Introduction (2020). Furthermore, his numerous articles have been published in professional journals such as History of Political Economy, Southern Economic Journal, and The Cambridge Journal of Economics.
A passionate educator, Steven Horwitz featured in a number of Learn Liberty videos, as well as contributing a number of articles. The values he espoused hold that respect for individual liberty is an ideal means for empowering the socially disadvantaged.
His emphasis on the uplifting role of free markets is highlighted in a piece wherein he provides an assessment of the role of markets in driving down food costs over time, thus increasing living standards. Furthermore, in another piece, he discussed the ways in which markets made the modern concept of motherhood possible.
In Steve’s Learn Liberty videos, he addressed some common economic misconceptions. In one video, he explained why considering income inequality is not the best means to look at poverty. In other videos, he discussed the role of growth and innovation in addressing issues relating to job creation and resource scarcity.
Steven Horwitz was held in the highest esteem by those who knew him and will be profoundly missed. At Students For Liberty, we celebrate his life and work. Steve’s immense contributions to liberty will not be forgotten. He will no doubt continue to prove an inspiration to many.
