Hayek Program Podcast

In February 2016, Hayek Program Don C. Lavoie Senior Fellow Virgil Storr sat down with Emily Chamlee-Wright, President & CEO of the Institute for Humane Studies and alumna of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship program, to discuss her research on economics and culture. In Part 1 of this interview, Chamlee-Wright discusses her time as a student at George Mason University, her work with her mentor Don Lavoie, her research on the role of culture in Austrian economics and post-disaster recovery, and her use of field-work in understanding the social world.

Thirty years ago, in October 1986, James M. Buchanan was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. On October 6, 2016, the Hayek Program hosted an event to reflect on the significance of Buchanan’s Nobel Prize and the various strands of influence his work has had in subsequent decades of scholarship. This interdisciplinary panel discussion features David Schmidtz (University of Arizona), Barry Weingast (Stanford University), and Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago Booth School of Business). CC Music: Twisterium

Thirty years ago, in October 1986, James M. Buchanan was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics. On October 6, 2016, the Hayek Program hosted an event to reflect on the significance of Buchanan’s Nobel Prize and the various strands of influence his work has had in subsequent decades of scholarship. Michael Munger, Professor of Political Science at Duke University, delivered the Keynote Lecture on "James Buchanan's Contributions to Political Economy and Social Philosophy." CC Music: Twisterium

On September 8, 2016, the Hayek Program hosted a book panel on 'Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship,' co-authored by Hayek Program Don C. Lavoie Fellow Virgil Henry Storr, Hayek Program Senior Fellow Stefanie Haeffele-Balch, and Mercatus PhD alumna Laura E. Grube. The panel included author Virgil Storr and panelists Peter Boettke, Daniel Aldrich, Lori Peek, and Emily Chamlee-Wright. The panelists discussed the findings of the book, namely how communities gain access to resources needed to rebuild after natural disasters while overcoming the collective-action problem. CC Music: Twisterium

Hayek Program Senior Fellow Jayme Lemke sat down with Director Peter Boettke to discuss the commonalities between the three approaches to understanding the social world discussed previously in this series: Austrian economics, public choice economics, and the Bloomington School’s multiple-methods, real-world approach to institutional analysis. Read more: bit.ly/threeschools CC Music: Twisterium

Hayek Program Senior Fellow Jayme Lemke sat down with Director Peter Boettke to discuss the Bloomington School of Political Economy in this wide-ranging interview. They discuss the Ostroms’ approach to understanding self-governing societies, their use of multiple methodologies, and the continuing relevance of the Bloomington School to current research in political economy. CC Music: Twisterium

Hayek Program Senior Fellow Jayme Lemke sat down with Senior Fellow Donald Boudreaux to discuss the Virginia School of Political Economy in this wide-ranging interview. They cover the foundations and impetus of the Virginia school, the key insights of public choice economics, and the continuing relevance of these insights for today. Read more: bit.ly/virginiaschool CC Music: Twisterium

Hayek Program Senior Fellow Jayme Lemke sat down with Associate Director Christopher Coyne to discuss the Austrian School of Political Economy in this wide-ranging interview. They discuss a brief history of Austrian economics, the role that value and prices play in economic calculation, the importance of knowledge and institutions in Austrian methodology, and the continuing relevance of Austrian economics for today. Learn more: bitly.com/austrianschool CC Music: Twisterium

Is our modern world the product of changing institutions or the result of shifting opinions about them? At a recent event hosted by the Hayek Program, Don Boudreaux and Deidre McCloskey explored this question in a fascinating discussion on the latest installment of Professor McCloskey’s Bourgeois Era Trilogy, 'Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World' (University of Chicago Press, 2016). This new volume challenges conventional wisdom about the causes of the wealth of nations and builds a powerful case for the initiating role of ideas – the liberal ideas of equal liberty and dignity for ordinary folk – in creating the Great Enrichment from 1800 to today.

On Wednesday, April 25, 2012, the Hayek Program hosted a panel discussion on Hayek Program Distinguished Senior Fellow Lawrence H. White’s book, ‘The Clash of Economic Ideas: The Great Policy Debates and Experiments of the Last Hundred Years.’ This book interweaves the economic history of the last hundred years with the history of economic doctrines to understand how contrasting economic ideas have originated and developed over time to take their present forms. The discussion was chaired by Hayek Program Director Peter Boettke and included comments by Douglas Irwin, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, and Perry Mehrling, Professor of Economics at Barnard College. Professor White begins the panel with a discussion of the main contributions of his book, which is followed by comments from Professor Irwin and Professor Mehrling, respectively. Professor White concludes with a response to his commenters.

Mercatus Center Academic & Student Programs recently hosted the 2016 Advanced Austrian Seminar at which Dr. Israel M. Kirzner, Professor Emeritus of Economics at New York University, delivered the keynote lecture, “The History and Importance of the Austrian Theory of the Market Process.” In this talk, Professor Kirzner examines the history of thought in Austrian economics, specifically focusing on the developments in the 20th century, to develop a link between the Austrian theory of the market process and the notion of subjectivism as the central idea in Austrian economics.

On January 21, 2016, the Hayek Program hosted a book panel on Jacob Levy's 'Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom.' The panel included author Jacob Levy and panelists Peter Boettke, Alan Levine, and Richard Boyd. The panelists discussed whether the pressure between the rationalist suspicion of intermediate group power and the pluralist suspicion of the state can ever be reconciled in a liberal society.