Ask anyone who went to Walsh College or the University of Detroit … who was the greatest teacher they ever had? So many come back and say “Harry Veryser.” You’ll hear students say that for the first time ever they understood and became interested in the dismal science. Harry assembled an entire department, at Walsh, of teachers who were deeply rooted in the world of Austrian Economics. One current Mises Institute scholar once told me that “Harry is the most underrated Austrian economist there is, in my mind.”
Harry has an article on Mises.org describing his book, It Didn’t Have to Be This Way: Why Boom and Bust Is Unnecessary—and How the Austrian School of Economics Breaks the Cycle. This is a very unique work (I am reading it now).
Harry was my grad school Professor – I received my MA in Economics under Harry – and today he remains my friend. I remember when I was perusing colleges, deciding where to get my initial (Bachelor’s) degree. Even though I was entering an accounting program, the criteria for conducting my research involved scouring the libraries and bookstores of prospective colleges for quality content. At Walsh, the books of Mises, Hazlitt, Rothbard, Kirzner, Bastiat, Hayek, Hutt, etc. appeared to have committed a takeover of the bookstore. So I chose Walsh, which, at the time, was a highly-ranked CPA mill, but did not have a grad program in economics at the time. That program came later, thanks to Harry fighting for it.
Harry is now at the University of Detroit, where he is winding down toward retirement so he can spend more time reading and writing. While reading this amazing book, Harry’s lifetime of study, pedagogic qualities, and tranquil personality seem to jump right off of the pages.
