Walter Williams, R.I.P.

Walter Williams, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, died today at the age of 84. Donald Boudreaux, also as GMU economics professor, has this article in the WSJ:

For 40 years Walter was the heart and soul of George Mason’s unique Department of Economics. Our department unapologetically resists the trend of teaching economics as if it’s a guide for social engineers. This resistance reflects Walter’s commitment to liberal individualism and his belief that ordinary men and women deserve, as his friend Thomas Sowell puts it, “elbow room for themselves and a refuge from the rampaging presumptions of their ‘betters.’ ”

Professor Williams’s insights were not limited to economics. Although not a lawyer, he gave us the best, most concise description of the “living Constitution” view of constitutional law that I have ever heard.

I’m working from memory here, but it went something like this:

How would you like to play poker with me if Mr. Hoyle’s book of rules were a “living document”? When we get to the showdown I could announce that the rules have evolved and my two pair now beats your three of a kind.

Nailed it.