Two "Capitalism and Society" lectures are scheduled for fall semester. The series is organized by Jeremy Jackson, assistant professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics.
Benjamin Powell, inaugural director of the Free Market Institute and professor of economics in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University, is set to present “An Economic Case for Open Borders” Monday, Sept. 28.
James Otteson, executive director of the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism and Thomas W. Smith Presidential Chair in Business Ethics at Wake Forest University, is scheduled to present “The End of Socialism” Monday, Oct. 12.
Each lecture will begin at 4:15 p.m. in the AgCountry Auditorium located in Barry Hall. Attendance is open to all members of the Tri-College community and the public.
Powell is the North American Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education and a senior fellow with the Independent Institute. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics and finance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and his master's degree and doctorate in economics from George Mason University. Prior to joining Texas Tech University, he taught economics at Suffolk University and San Jose State University.
Powell is the author of "Out of Poverty: Sweatshops in the Global Economy," editor of "Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Development" and co-editor of Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis." He has written more than 50 scholarly articles and policy studies. His primary fields of research are economic development, Austrian economics, and public choice.
Otteson earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his doctorate from the University of Chicago. All are degrees in philosophy.
He specializes in political economy, business ethics, the history of economic thought and political philosophy. His publications include "Adam Smith's Marketplace of Life;" "Actual Ethics," which won the Templeton Enterprise Award in 2007; and "Adam Smith." His most recent books are "The End of Socialism" and an edited collection of primary sources called "What Adam Smith Knew: Moral Lessons on Capitalism from Its Greatest Champions and Fiercest Critics."
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