Summer Seminar series: Cato University

Third week in July and I found myself in a plane traveling across the country for my first seminar outside of the George Mason campus this past summer. The destination was Rancho Bernarndo, California just outside San Diego
A week in California... I know what you are thinking beaches, swim suits, and libertarianism. What else could be better right?

Cato University was brilliantly run. Shuttles for those who had to stay at a Hilton hotel down the road next to a Catholic church. Breakfast and lunch served outdoors to allow you to enjoy the sun filled mornings and afternoons. Not a drop of rain to spoil our enjoyment. By the end of the week, I was pampered more than I have been pampered before. The cost was only to travel there; the rest was taking care of by the generous contributions of the donors to Cato. THANK YOU DONORS!

The lectures were filled with information for an hour and a fifteen minutes. Each day would end with a time to relax drink a little and discuss with other attendees upon different types of issues. You found yourself speaking to everyone and anyone on a broad amount of topics. I would have debates with my roommate on different issues as we went to sleep. Definitely a place for discussing your views and enjoy the company of like minded individuals.

Unfortunately, I think filling the day with so many lectures was too much. Almost an information overload. Think of the law of diminishing returns, and enter the idea that we are constantly hearing a lecture (note: there are lectures during dinner), and it is easily understood that many were fighting sleep through some lectures. Just as any seminar some lectures were better than others. Some entertaining while some are rather dull, but enter the chance for the attendees to ask questions and you find yourself fascinated with the discussions that rise.

The lecturers were more diverse from a law professor, economic professor, to even journalists, and historians. It gave you a feeling that the libertarian movement was rising like a wild fire.
The attendees were a mix of college students, high school students, and a variety of individuals in the private sector who paid a large sum to attend the week long seminar. You have the chance to hear the stories of libertarian movement through the older participants and even have a chance to teach them something along from learn from them.

I overall enjoyed Cato University. With diplomas at hand, we each left with a grin on our face although we were all a little disappointed that with such a fantastic location, we were not allowed the benefit of enjoying it for our own relaxation. I give this event a 3.5. It was a blast. I would return and this time be prepared to not expect a lot of time for myself with late nights and early mornings. Also Cato gives you a packet to read at the seminar instead of before. I think it would have been better mailed before the seminar so that I could prepare but the lectures were easily comprehended without them anyway.

Some lectures are dull, but overall worth it. You should go next year. Here is the link.

A Good Turnout

To all those who attended the GMU Economics Department Social. There was a great turnout. I found myself in great discussion and was easily impressed that there were freshmen who were reading Menger's Principles of Economics. Congratulations to all the winners of the books, and a great deal of gratitude towards the professors who attended helping the Economics Department hold a successful event. Thanks to all that attended.

A Must Read for GMU Students Who Enjoy Professor Bryan Caplan

Surfing the web allows for a good amount of time to be spent. It also allows for a great amount of material to be overlooked, and as I had already let most of the month slip by without viewing this post, I submit it for others to view, the opinion Steven White on Bryan Caplan.

Bonus points to Professor Robin Hanson who noticed Steven White never answered Caplan's question on voter bias.

Landsburg on More Sex is Safer Sex and other Surprises

MORE SEX IS SAFER SEX AND OTHER SUPRSISES

Dr. Steven Landsburg

Author of The Armchair Economist, Fair Play, your Price Theory textbook for Econ class

& his NEW book More Sex is Safer Sex

When: Thursday October 4, 2007

Time: 6:00 – 7:20 P.M.

Where: Enterprise 80

Did you know that some people may actually increase the spread of sexually transmitted diseases when they avoid casual sex? Do you know why tall people earn more money than shorter competitors? We should encourage more people to act like Scrooge, because misers are just as generous as philanthropists. The lesson of this fascinating, fun, and endlessly provocative book is twofold: many apparently very odd behaviors have logical explanations, and many apparently logical behaviors make no sense whatsoever.

RAFFLE for the GMU Econ Dept Social

Hey guys, this is a quick message to remind you of the GMU Econ Department's Social this Thursday

There'll be free food and drinks, and it's a chance to get to meet your professors and other econ majors/minors/interested in econ.

There'll also be a raffle with $25 gift cards for Barnes and Nobles and since we have such an awesome faculty and they write cool books all the time, we also have the following for the raffle: (kindly given by the authors themselves)

Economics - James Buchanan
The Voluntary City - Alex Tabarrok (et al)
The Myth of the Rational Voter - Bryan Caplan
Calculation and Coordination: Essays on Socialism and Transitional Political Economy - Pete Boettke
The Invisble Heart - Russ Roberts
Days on the Family Farm - Carrie Meyer
Tyler Cowen (either Creative Destruction or DYIE)
Roger Congleton
Walter Williams

And they are ALL signed...so SHOW UP!!! =)

GMU Economics Department Reception

This Thursday September 27 in Enterprise Hall on the Third Floor the George Mason University Economics Department is hosting a reception for all students studying Economics.

The reception will start at 3:00 P.M. and end around 4:30 P.M.

It is the chance to meet fellow students, professors, and staff. Food & Drinks will be provided.Of course, we will be there and will be holding a raffle for books written by George Mason University Economics Professors.

In Gratitude

We are pleased to have had such a successful event even though we had encountered some troubles along the way. Thank you for all those who attended and hope that you have enjoyed the debate as much as we had in hosting it. For those who missed the debate, hopefully we will have it online soon in either podcast form or on youtube.com. Perhaps a written form of notes upon the debate if we can clean them up to be read thoroughly.

We would also like to give a large thanks to Professors Caplan and Wittman for their large performance in tonight's debate. You each were entertaining and extremely knowledgeable allowing for the audience to be captivated. We hope we advertised the event well for both of you without displaying any type of bias.

Thank you to Professor Klein for moderating the event keeping the two from 'biting ears'.

And of course a handful of gratitude is still due to the Economics Department in their efforts in getting the room, to Star Labs for the equipment to record, to the technicians that helped at the event, and a great list of others with whom we would not have been able to hold this prestigious event.

ROOM CONFIRMED!

The TUESDAY UPDATE FOR THE DEBATE:
We have confirmation thankfully for Enterprise 80. It is in the bottom floor of Enterprise Hall (building on the photo to the right). If coming from the backside, do not go up the stairs just enter in the doors below and head left through the glass doors. Hope to see you there. Spread the word!

Thank you for understanding and bearing with us and the crazy room thing, and sorry for any confusion. But there'll be tons of food, smart conversation and you KNOW it'll be awesome and worth the constant update checks :)

Hope to see you all on Wednesday!!!

Comment on Ian's Summer Seminars

Just a 3.0 Ian? Someone's not getting invited next year! :)

But I have to say I agree with the fact that it felt really short. After a full week of Smith obsession at the Summer Institute for the Preservation of the History of Economics (man! that's a long title...) plus the History of Economics Conference, the two day and a little bit more Outreach left me wanting for much much more Public Choice.

In part, I guess this was because the topic in itself is so great that you will definitely want to know more about the study of Public Choice. Yes, we did get our own exclusive lecture by Prof. Buchanan and his signed book, we got to hear Caplan explain his book in detail (which hopefully you-ll get to do as well at the debate!) and got great presentations by Don Boudreaux, Georg Vanberg, Todd Zywicki and Bart Wilson. I have to say I loved them all. Hopefully, with some of the new awesome adds to the Econ Department this semester (Garett Jones & Pete Leeson, just to name a couple), next year's Outreach will be a bit longer for those lucky enough to attend.

And well, I have to add this pic. It's just too good. :)

James M. Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, Blacksburg, Virginia.File Photo. (Click pic for link)

Summer Seminars series continued, Public Choice Outreach @ GMU

With all interest upon the upcoming debate between Professors Caplan and Wittman I am sure little are interested in economic seminars you can attend throughout the summer, but here is my next post in the series, the Public Choice Outreach held at George Mason University.

This seminar is another that has a small number of attendees compared to the larger seminars and again I must give credit towards the small number feel. By the end of the outreach you had bumped into all the individuals at least once and received the notion that most had not studied economics nor heard of public choice until they attended this event. The only fault to this seminar was the amount of time it was held in, two days. Yes, only two days. Everyone arrived on Thursday evening and said our farewells by Sunday morning. The event for me will be best summarized by the phrase "short and sweet".

This event receives a 3.0. It is too great event to be ranked below a 3.o, but the time constraints did not allow it to be ranked higher. By Saturday night instead of wishing for the outreach to end, you were hoping they would include one more topic to discuss. I am not being harsh towards this event, especially since I enjoyed it so much. I only wish for more material.

It received a 3.o because the first day was spent as an introduction to public choice; as I wrote before, this event had many individuals who had never heard of it causing for the need to introduce basic public choice ideas. We receive an overview on the history of public choice and were given books and pamphlets to read in order to help further expand the seminar. The second day expanded off of the introductory remarks and became more intriguing. Professor Caplan had attended the seminar and presented everyone with a copy of his book, The Myth of the Rational Voter, which he signed after he spoke on the books main topics. With such great professors such as Boudreaux, Caplan, Vanberg, and Zywicki, it was almost hard to enjoy the final presentation by the experimental economics team at George Mason University led by Bart Wilson and yes they experimented on us which gave most of us a headache since none of us immediately understood how to play their computer simulation.

This event is definitely for all students. If you do not know anything about public choice then the outreach is the best place to start. If you do have a good background in the subject, the outreach is still a great place to attend. With Professors Tullock and Buchanan who helped create this school of thought on the staff at George Mason University, you can only imagine the other rich individuals you will find in the field at the seminar. Yes the Public Choice Outreach receives a 3.0 since this seminar is not too difficult, not time consuming, extremely friendly, and best of all, they help pay for travel expenses for those who live far away.


Note: If you can stay for an extra day and get invited to Caplacon (which everyone was), you should definitely stay and partake in it.

Presents:

IS DEMOCRACY A FAILURE?

A Debate between Professors Bryan Caplan and Donald Wittman

Does every vote really matter?

Why do we have agricultural subsidies? Why do people think foreign aid is 40% of the U.S. government budget? Why are we against immigration?! Economists argue people are rationally ignorant about politics…it’s just too expensive to know what is really going on in politics. Now, what if people were actually irrational and biased, picking the wrong policies in a democracy, on purpose? Are institutions and other democratic mechanisms strong enough to guarantee good outcomes?

Come to the biggest Debate of the Year!

Wednesday September 12^th

At 6pm

ENTERPRISE 80

(Bottom Floor Enterprise

Hall, Map)

Food and beverages will be provided!

More info:

gmueconsociety@gmail.com

gmueconsociety.blogspot.com

Play nice now...

Great News!!!

To ensure a decent level of civility (we're discussing libertarian economic approaches applied to government and democracy...things can get nasty fast!), please join me in welcoming Dan "the sheriff" Klein. Prof. Klein will be the moderator for the Caplan-Wittman debate this coming Wednesday 12th September at 6pm. Our peacekeeper is the co-director of the FDAReview.org (along with Alex Tabarrok), editor of Econ Journal Watch, and a perfect pick to play Dr. Phil for two conflicting views on democracy, as you may read on his awesome paper "The People's Romance: Why people love government".

DON'T MISS IT!

Caplan-Wittman Debate

YOU'RE INVITED

This coming Wednesday 12th September at 6pm marks history, as two huge conflicting views on democracy are finally to be debated, vis-a-vis, in an awesome one time occurrence...

Round 1: The Myth of Democratic Failure

After Professor Wittman's 1989 paper "Why Democracies Produce Efficient Results" (you can access it through JSTOR by logging in here) and his 1995 book "The Myth of Democratic Failure", Don Wittman put forth the argument that "democratic markets work as well as economic markets", clearly defying Public Choice related studies.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce in the left corner a veteran of democracy, who has stood beside his claim for almost 20 years, though thoroughly revised to include responses to those who dared challenge him...
Donald "democracy works" Wittman.










Round 2: The Myth of the Rational Voter

" If you go to the American Economic Association meetings, there you wil learn The Great Truth: the typical economist is a moderate democrat"

You can listen to Professor Caplan comment his new book on Russ Roberts' Econ Talk, get a quick summary of Wittman's main arguments, read an extract from his book on Policy Analysis for CATO Institute, or check out this really neat review on his book at The Economist. Needless to say, Caplan's book has stirred up lots of good, healthy discussion on the topic with the claim that voters are not only rationally ignorant, but simply irrational (apparently quite the "bad" word amongst economists), subject to four main biases that lead democracies to choose bad policies.
Please join me in welcoming on the right corner (drum roll), an expert debateur and sheep tormentor... Bryan "voters are stupid" Caplan.

But don't just take my word for it. Read Don Boudreaux's take on this here.

DON'T MISS THE FINAL, DECISIVE ROUND!

WEDNESDAY 12th SEPTEMBER @6PM

* The place for the debate is ENTERPRISE 80 (bottom floor of Enterprise Hall, scroll to the top of the blog for a link to the map)

First of many posts on Summer Seminars - History of Economics @ GMU

If you had scrolled to the bottom of this blog you would have found that there was a post about the History of Economics Society's wonderful weekend at George Mason University in June this past summer. As great and wonderful that event was, it followed another event, The Summer Institute for the Preservation of the Study of Economic Thought. Little did most know that there was such an event taking place. The turnout was not small but not extremely large as well. It was a good mixture of students and professionals sharing ideas.

If I had to rate the event (do not worry, I will) I would take into account the size of the attendees. Does a smaller number attendees cause an event to lose any points in a rating? Of course not. In fact, a more limited amount of attendees allows students to mix more with professionals and learn material they otherwise would not have learned.

For my first seminar this past summer I would have to say that this event was an eye opener, a great beginning to what my summer would include and become. Never before had I met a group that knew so much on Classical Economists and their works. In most economic circles you find that economists know who Adam Smith was and his work, along with Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. Ask most in the circles to debate over their ideas and you would find that most have not even read the cherished works. We go to class; we had it beaten into us. There was no need to read these sacred economic texts. At the Summer Institute for the Preservation of the Study of Economic Thought, there was more discussion since they had actually read the text. There were those who argued upon the books speaking upon the 'darkside' of certain economic heroes such as Smith and Ricardo only to find others defending the economic champions. I had never experienced economics in this way. Before it was seeking for truth in the world. At this event, we all knew the truth, we were all in agreement upon the system. The argument was upon what did our economic heroes really mean, where did their ideas come from, and why did they raise arguments against their ever increasing economies?

It was an event worth sitting through. Although I only was able to sit through the first two days of the week long event, it was worth it. It is free, a chance to meet different types of individuals, and a chance to get a glimpse of history of economic thought. Out of a ranking of 0 to 5, this seminar receives a 3.5. * A 3.5 in my view point means that this was not completely out of an undergraduate's league. Although we as undergraduates have not had the chance to read the great works of the great economists, we receive a deeper depth upon their works. 3.0 means that I would go again if I had the time and opportunity to attend. The 0.5 is added because I would tell upperclassmen (JRs and SRs) to attend such a great event.


* Note this rank is my own preference; therefore a ranking accurate only to me. This post is for the benefit of all readers to know of the seminars and to read if they may enjoy them. Notice I did not rank it according to a point system. There is no need for a point system upon all the seminars because each seminar is different how can I grade them all to a point system without being bias towards a certain system. Its an overall rank merely because it is my preference and I rank it according to how I view the seminar.

Greet and Meet

This Wednesday September 5 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. the GMU Economics Society is hosting a chance for students interested in economics to meet one another. No, you do not have to be an econ major to attend, but an interest in the subject may be helpful.

Professor Meyer will be at the event to assist students on planning their class schedules.
Come to speak to Prof. Meyer or to ask upper class students on which professors are worth taking, what classes would be the most beneficial, or any other question that you may have.

Perhaps you are interested in the libertarian ideas and wish to ask other students their views upon the subject...
Come Wednesday September 5 in Student Union Building II (SUBII Fairfax campus) in the VIP Room on the 2nd Floor. The event will last from 6 in the evening and end at 7 or a little later. There will be food and beverages provided.

Student Organization Day

On Thursday August 30, George Mason University held their Student Organization Day. It gave incoming students the chance to learn about different organizations, why they should join, and the events they are holding this semester.

We had a great turnout for our first year taking part in the Student Organization Day festivities. For those who did not get a chance to speak to us, you are more than welcome to email us at GMUEconSociety@gmail.com with any questions.

We are entering our third official year as the GMU Economic Society. A brief history of events were the Professor Caplan and Professor Iannocconne debate over the "Rationality of Religion". Professor DiLorenzo spoke on his book Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe, and last spring we had the great debate between Professor Hanson and Dr. Balan on government paternalism.

Economics is a diverse and fascinating subject. As such, this semester our events are as diverse, welcoming J.C. Bradbury to discuss his latest book, The Baseball Economist. Landsburg of Fair Play: What Your Child Can Teach You About Economics, Values, and the Meaning of Life and The Armchair Economist: Economics & Everyday Life fame will speak about his new book More Sex is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics. Jim Flynn of the "Flynn Effect" fame will speak upon the Good Society.

And of course let us not forget about, our great debate this upcoming month. Professor Caplan debates Professor Wittman. They will be debating over each others books The Myth of the Rational Voter and The Myth of the Democratic Failure. Unfortunately due to the Pan Hellenic Council we do not have a room as of yet, but we are working to overcome this dilemma. The event is scheduled for the 12th of September at 6 in the evening. Stay tuned to our blog for any updates.

If the interests at the Organization Day are an expectation of how the events will be it should be a great semester. For those interested in taking some classes stay tuned to this blog for info on our event this upcoming week.

Welcome!!!

The year has started and we are ready to roll!



The George Mason University Economics Society has grown incredibly in the past year. To allow the society further growth, we have created this blog to allow officers to blog and have guest bloggers under their name. Here we will keep you posted on our coming events, what members of our Society are doing, what our professors at Mason are up to and discuss everything that has to do with economics and liberty. So, feel free to post any commentaries about things you want to see done in our group, topics you want to discuss, etc.



Shy? Send us your comments and questions to gmueconsociety@gmail.com. Can't wait to start ranting about economics and the endless list of things related to it? Send us an e-mail, we'll make you our guest blogger!



Last but not least...if you are wondering who is coming up with all these silly ideas, scroll down to see who we are.

GMU Econ Society - Officers

Clockwise:
Renata Saettone, Treasurer:
I think it was in 7th grade, when I first heard one of my teachers talking about "the Great Depression of 1929", when inflation and unemployment were the two main economic factors of the Depression. He was saying that unsustainable inflation affects the country in so many ways that it is the key for a country to do well if they can sustain their inflation.There it was when I fell for Economics and fell for trying to find answers to the economy's behavior by looking at the past, realizing what is happening today and even to predict economic effects in the future.
Right now, I am a senior student of Economics at GMU interested in macroeconomic issues such as labor markets, trade deficits and economic growth, but also in the business and finance side of economics. Hoping to do an MBA after graduation and work in financial services or banking.

Astrid Arca, President:
Slightly workaholic and completely addicted to economics and all that pertains to the not-so-"dismal science", I'll be the one you can blame this year if anything goes wrong or you don't like our events. Somewhat loud and outspoken (my Latin genes are hard to overcome and I use way to many exclamation marks), I'll be easy to spot and easy to point at if, once again, I mess things up. Wow, my pessimistic bias is painfully strong. Hopefully, all the hard work the GES officers and myself have done and are still doing will prove me happily wrong. Oh right, I'm a senior in Economics at Mason and hope to start my PhD at our Alma Mater next fall, enjoy molten chocolate cake and long walks along the beach (not really, but well...)

Thao Nguyen, Secretary:
I'm majoring in Economics , and also minor in French. I love to read and move around. My life right now is all for Economics and the GMU Bookstore. By the way, sleepyhead is me !!!

David Williamson, Vice-President:
I am a senior at Mason, double majoring in Math and Economics. I work for Penske Truck Rental, and now my sleep schedule looks more like a normal person's than a college student's.

Ian Dunois, Student Liason:
I served four years in the military before starting my studies in Economics. Military to Economics strange transition; of course not. Once I took a class in Economics, the world began to make sense and I have been Searching For Truth since then which led me to join in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church on Easter this year and have spent the summer in economic seminars that promote the free market virtues in an irrational world. I am in my last year here at GMU but hope to start graduate school here in the fall to learn the logic of the Austrian School. You can find me at Economic Society events or at St. Bellarmine Chapel near the Krasnow Institute, Carow Hall, and the Buchanan House where I participate in events held by the Catholic Campus Ministry.

Jaime Artieda, President 06-07
I am from Quito, Ecuador and I am currently in my senior year at George Mason University. I am majoring in Economics BS and Global Affairs BA. As President of the society for this passed year, I had the pleasure to meet interesting people and expand my interest in the study of economics.Throughout, my undergrad years I realized how important it is to promote the understanding of economics. Economics is everywhere you look, every day since the moment people wake up until they go back to bed; every choice people make is part of this beautiful science, Economics. I hope you find the GMU Economics Society a dedicated and responsible group that will help you to appreciate economics and its implications elsewhere.

HAVE A GREAT YEAR!