After graduating in engineering I went to the University of Kansas to get an MA in economics as a vehicle for allowing me to decide if I wanted to continue in economics.
Vernon L. Smith

After my stellar first grade academic achievements, I continued to perform well in the city primary schools - except for penmanship, which was not my forte.
Vernon L. Smith

Caltech was a meat grinder like I could never have imagined.
Vernon L. Smith

I can still memory - taste the fresh buttermilk pancakes and hot buttermilk biscuits - both made with lard! - that were cooked on the top, or in the oven, of that ancient iron stove.
Vernon L. Smith

I gradually became persuaded that the subjects, without intending to, had revealed to me a basic truth about markets that was foreign to the literature of economics.
Vernon L. Smith

I still have my original social security card signed when I was 13.
Vernon L. Smith

In 1941 I finished at Allison Intermediate School (grades 7-9), and started at North High School, commuting by bicycle about 5 miles from home to school.
Vernon L. Smith

In the 9th grade I began my first wage work for the West Side Drug store delivering prescriptions and sundries on my bicycle to customers who called in orders.
Vernon L. Smith

Yes, long hours and a hard life for my parents, but for a six to seven year old every new day dawned with fresh excitement when you have not a care in the world, and so much to learn and witness.
Vernon L. Smith