Texas Tech University

Research on the Origins of Economic Freedom and Prosperity Conference

 

About the Program  Invited Research  Working Papers

Publications  Visiting Scholars  Workshop  Conference


About the Conference

Research Presentations

How economic freedom is improved is much less understood than the benefits freedom provides. Scholars associated with Research on the Origins of Economic Freedom and Prosperity have attempted to address this major gap in our knowledge. If private property and economic freedom are essential for achieving and maintaining a high standard of living, it is crucial to understand specifically how improvements in these areas have been achieved, and if there are lessons that can be replicated in less free areas of the world or less free U.S. states today.

This conference provided a forum for discussion of research that has been conducted as part of the program, as well as for discussion of promising avenues for new research on the program themes.

The conference featured remarks from several distinguished scholars — highlighted by a public program and keynote remarks from William Easterly (New York University), Douglas Irwin (Dartmouth College), and Peter Boettke (George Mason University). Deirdre McCloskey (University of Illinois at Chicago) — whose research has contributed to scholarly debate about the program themes — unfortunately, due to illness, was unable to visit and contribute remarks for the program.

Douglas Irwin — The Case for Free Trade Since David Ricardo

Peter Boettke — Regulation and Entrepreneurship

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Research Presentations

Session 1 — Voice and Exit in Determining Economic Freedom

    • Congressional Voting and Economic Freedom — George Crowley, Associate Professor of Economic at Troy University
    • Institutional Convergence: Exit or Voice — Joshua Hall, Associate Professor of Economics at West Virginia University
    • The Legacy of Representation in Medieval Europe for Incomes and Institutions Today — Andrew Young, Professor of Economics in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration and Research Fellow at the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University

Session 2 — Crisis and Institutional Change

    • Perfecting Tyranny: Foreign Intervention & the Loss of Liberty at Home — Christopher Coyne, F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at George Mason University
    • War and the Growth of Government — Colin O'Reilly, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Stout
    • Coercion vs. Freedom in Economic Development — William Easterly, Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Development Research Institute at New York University

Session 3 — Immigration and Institutional Change

    • Refugee Shock Therapy: How Jordan Liberalized its Economy — Alex Nowrasteh, Immigration Policy Analyst at the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity at Cato Insitute
    • The Grecian Horse: Does Immigration Lead to Deterioration of American Institutions? — Alexandre Padilla, Associate Professor of Economics at Metropolitan State University of Denver
    • Does Mass Immigration Destroy Institutions? — Benjamin Powell, Professor of Economics in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration and Executive Director at the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University

Session 4 — Three Case Studies in Institutional Evolution

    • Institutional Determinants of Moral Beliefs: The Relationship between Property Rights and Morality — Bruce Benson, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Florida State University
    • Regulation and Entrepreneurship — Peter Boettke, University Professor of Economics and Philosophy at George Mason University
    • The Genesis and Evolution of China's Economic Liberalization — James Dorn, Vice President for Monetary Studies at Cato Institute

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