I worked with Ed for 30 years, beginning in 1982, shortly after Cato moved from San Francisco to Washington. At that time, we had a very small staff lodged in the historic George Watterston House on 2nd St. SE, across from the Madison Building. It was a fitting place for Cato, as Watterston was appointed Librarian of Congress in 1815 by President James Madison, the chief architect of the Constitution. During the War of 1812, the British destroyed the original library located in the Capitol building. Congress purchased Thomas Jefferson’s library, which Watterston incorporated into the new Library of Congress. Madison most likely visited the Watterston House.
Ed was a man of great energy, confidence, and intellect. His passion was to defend liberty so that people could thrive in the pursuit of happiness. His presumption of liberty, bounded by a just rule of law protecting persons and property, was the guiding principle for all of Cato’s policy work. Today, Cato is at the forefront of policy debates on the side of limited government, individual freedom, and civil society based on the principle of nonintervention—that is, voluntary cooperation, letting free markets work their magic.
For Ed, individual freedom trumped economic growth, because if individuals are free, they have the best chance to flourish. He agreed with Peter Bauer that the key to development is to widen the range of individual choice. That is why he valued free trade and abhorred protectionism. Ed understood the importance of institutions in shaping incentives and behavior. When you destroy private property rights and freedom, you destroy the future.
That is also why he supported Cato’s pathbreaking conference in China (1988) and in the former Soviet Union (1990). Both events sought to teach F. A. Hayek’s lesson about the benefits of a system based on a genuine rule of law and free markets resting on private property rights. I worked closely with Ed on those conferences, as well as on Cato’s annual monetary conference, which we launched in 1983 to explore alternatives to government fiat money.
I traveled with Ed to many Mont Pelerin Society meetings and always enjoyed his annual salmon fests. Ed was witty, a formidable debater, and an exceptional entrepreneur in the pursuit of liberty. He allowed me, as my wife said, to be a “free-range chicken,” marching to my own drummer. However, he was on the same path, and his love of liberty was contagious. He devoted his life to spreading classical liberal ideas and recruiting others to do the same. He upheld Cato’s nonpartisan position and remained committed to liberalism. It was Ed who convinced Milton Friedman (by first convincing Rose) to lend his support for Cato’s biennial ceremony awarding the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty.
I was very fortunate that Ed read my paper on trade adjustment assistance, which argued that free trade—not government aid—was the best remedy for creating a prosperous economy. He hired me to edit the Cato Journal, which I did for 40 years. Like Ed, I don’t like to be told what to do by bureaucrats sitting in Washington spending other people’s money. I value individual freedom, responsibility, and excellence—all of which Ed nourished in me and others from day one. May he rest in peace. His legacy of liberty will live on. Thank you, Ed.
