Political Economy Reading Program

Public Health and Political Economy

The theme for the spring 2025 reading program is Public Health and Political Economy. Participants will explore the challenges and controversies of providing public health in a free society. Key questions include:

• What constitutes public health?
• What role does government and markets play in providing public health?
• How does the COVID-19 pandemic impact the future of public health?

Participants will receive a set of readings that will provide a foundation for the discussions to address these and other questions of importance to the program theme. The schedule of readings and topics of discussion will be posted to this page at a later date.

The program will run at both Texas Tech University and Angelo State University during the spring 2025 semester. Each program will begin with an introductory meeting at the start of the spring 2025 semester, followed by ten (10) discussion meetings. Meetings will be held twice a week throughout the first half of the semester:

• Texas Tech University — Monday/Thursday — 5:00-6:15 PM
• Angelo State University — Monday/Thursday — 5:30-6:45 PM

Dinner will be provided at each discussion meeting. The program will conclude on or before Thursday, March 13, 2025.

Political Economy Reading Program Summit

Participants will also attend a weekend summit on February 7-8, 2025 (Friday/Saturday) at Texas Tech University. The Institute will provide round-trip van transportation between San Angelo and Lubbock for Angelo State University participants. The summit will feature formal remarks from Ryan Bourne, R. Evan Scharf Chair for the Public Understanding of Economics at the Cato Institute, who will discuss his book, Economics in One Virus: An Introduction to Economic Reasoning through COVID-19 (Cato Institute 2021). Participants will engage in interactive discussion groups on issues related to the program theme.

Program Eligibility and Application

Full-time undergraduate students from any field of study are eligible and encouraged to apply. Participants that successfully complete the program receive a $1,000 scholarship. To apply, please visit the link below:

Political Economy Reading Program — Spring 2025 Application

The deadline to apply for the spring 2025 program is Sunday, December 8, 2024.

If you have questions about the Political Economy Reading Program, or if you would like to receive updates and announcements about future programs, please contact the Free Market Institute at free.market@ttu.edu or 806.742.7138.