Archivist’s Pick: Drucker on the Air

Here’s this month’s piece from the Drucker Institute’s archivist, Bridget Lawlor. By drawing lessons from the vast treasure trove of papers and other objects that are collected in Peter Drucker’s archives, Bridget is giving new life to decades-old material.

With a doctorate in international law, Peter Drucker wasn’t an economist by training, and he sometimes had a few harsh words for the dismal science. Nonetheless, he began his teaching career as a professor of economics at Sarah Lawrence College and later served as a professor of political economics at Bennington College.

In this five-minute audio clip, a 37-year-old Drucker debates the question “Can Free Competition Now Prevent Inflation?” with Ira M. Mosher, William Yandell Elliott and Sylvia Porter. Recorded in 1946, the snippet comes from “America’s Town Meeting of the Air,” a radio broadcast produced by ABC from 1935-1956, with the hope of enhancing the public’s interest in current events.

Our hope now, of course, is that it enhances your interest in past ones.

A poster for America's Town Meeting of the Air
A poster for America’s Town Meeting of the Air

America’s Town Meeting_1946