GMU Econ Society Now On LinkedIn

Hey mind as well put your involvment in GMU Econ Society to good use finding a career. Now you can add it as a group on LinkedIn.

Economics Department Essay Contest

New Deadline is March 29 at 3pm -- Enterprise 354: The Economics Department Essay Contest submission period has been extended one week. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of to receive cash prizes and gain writing experience. Each contest has a different prompt and different eligibility. Submit your finished copies (3 copies) to Nicole Ongor before 3pm on Friday March 29th. 

If you have not seen them yet, here are the flyers for the specific prompts:
Buchanan Award
F.A. Hayek Award
Vernon Smith Award

Ayn Rand and the Moral Foundations of Capitalism

Deadline is Wednesday March 13th: The deadline has been extended for students to apply for a conference at Clemson University. Students will participate in an intensive program exploring the moral foundations of capitalism and Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged. Room and board will be covered along with travel reimbursement up to $400. The essay section for the application is being waved. Apply here.

Graduate School Workshop with Professor Dunick

Join the Economics Society for a graduate school workshop with Professor Jason Dunick.

When: Wednesday February 20 at 7:30 pm
Where: Student Union Building II (HUB) --Room 1

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Spring Econ Community Forum with Professor Tabarrok

Join the Economics Society for our Spring Econ Community forum with Professor Tabarrok. Professor Tabarrok will be speaking on the topic of "Launching the Innovation Renaissance." There will be food, as always.

When: Tuesday 19 February at 7:30 pm
Where: Dewberry South in the JC
Professor Tabarrok holds the Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center and is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University. Professor Tabarrok is also research director for The Independent Institute and a research fellow with the Mercatus Center. You can find out more about his research interests in empirical law and economics (tort reform, bountyhunters, judicial electoral systems etc.), voting theory and alternative political institutions, health economics (especially the FDA) by browsing his forthcoming and published papers and working papers. He is also the co-author of an extensive website on the FDA, FDAReview.org, and the author or editor of a number of books including the introductory economics textbooks, Modern Principles. He also blogs regularly at MarginalRevolution.

Law and Economics Seminar

Join the Economics Society for this semester's first session of the Law and Economics Seminar with Jacob Hornberger.

When: Monday 18 February at 6pm
Where: Student Union Building (HUB) at GMU -- Room 3

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Philosopher Alvin Plantinga Receives Prestigious Rescher Prize

World-renowned philosopher Alvin Platinga has received the Rescher Price for Contributions to Systematic philosophy for his work in philosophy of religion, epistemology, metaphysics, and Christian apologetics. Learn more about Plantinga in David Theroux's recent piece in The Beacon.  

David J. Theroux:

"Plantinga’s work is of immense importance to all thinking in epistemology, ethics and economics, especially regarding individual action, entrepreneurship, free markets, civic virtue, and the rule of law. Plantinga has shown that those scholars who attempt to ground reality in naturalism are not just pursuing a futile quest leading to determinism and nihilism but are embracing views that defeat their very intellectual enterprise, including science itself. Unfortunately, many superb classical liberal and libertarian scholars remain unaware of Plantinga’s work and are oblivious of the profound weaknesses in their naturalistic assumptions. In this regard, I authored an earlier, preliminary paper, “Economic Science and the Poverty of Naturalism,” that discusses this dilemma and the crucial value of the critiques of metaphysical naturalism by both C.S. Lewis and Plantinga, especially as this is relevant to the corpus of economic reasoning in the Austrian School, Public Choice and other traditions within what Peter Boettke describes as “mainline economics” in his new Independent Institute book, Living Economics."

Panel Discussion Featuring Israel Kirzner

Join the Mercatus Center at GMU, the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Order at Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Liberty Fund, and the GMU Economics Society for a panel discussion: Dr. israel M. Kirzner's contributions to Market Process Theory and Entrepreneurship Studies.

When: Thursday February 7th, 4-6pm
Where: Mason Inn
            4352 Mason Pond Drive
            Fairfax, VA

Distinguished NYU professor emeritus Israel M. Kirzner will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Order for his pioneering work on the theory of the entrepreneurial market process.

Prior to the Award Ceremony, a panel discussion will be hosted to discuss Kirzner's work on entrepreneurship and its relationship to economic science, organizations and management, and law and public policy.

A reception will follow sponsored by the Liberty Fund.

Economic Lecture Series -- Timur Kuran

Join the GMU Economics Society and Future of Freedom Foundation in welcoming economist, professor, and author Timur Kuran lecture on "Religious Obstacles to Democratization in the Middle East: Past and Present." 

When: Tuesday February 5th
Where: Enterprise 318
5:30 pm – FREE PIZZA!
6:00 pm – Talk with Q&A
8:00 pm – Social hour at Brion's Grille

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ADMISSION: FREE

SPEAKER: Timur Kuran
"Religious Obstacles to Democratization in the Middle East: Past and Present”

Timur Kuran is a Turkish economist, Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Gorter Family Professor in Islamic Studies at Duke University. His teaching and research draw on multiple disciplines, including economics, political science, history, and legal studies.

Presented by:
George Mason University Economics Society
&
The Future of Freedom Foundation
fff@fff.org
(703) 934-6101

Foreign Policy: Idealism, Costs, and National Purpose

We are pleased to announce a new series of scholarly debates, Points of View Conversations, at the George Mason University College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Points of View conversations will address various important issues of our time, and we hope that you will join us in attending these engaging and informative debates.

In our Points of View Conversations, CHSS professors with differing views will examine a particular issue. These conversations are a great opportunity to show the wide variety o

f unique academic thought at Mason, especially among our distinguished academics at CHSS. We look forward, as well, to additional opinions and insights from the audience of alumni, friends, students, and other faculty in attendance.

We hope you will join us for the first Points of View debate between economics professor Christopher Coyne and public and international affairs professor Mark Katz. They will address the topic of “Foreign Policy: Idealism, Costs, and National Purpose.”

Where: Meese Conference Room in Mason Hall room #DO23

When: Tuesday, November 27 at 7:30 pm

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Law and Economics Seminar -- Session 3

Join the Economics Society for the third session of our Law and Economics Seminar. We will be continuing our discussion on the Lochner v. New York case. Hope to see you there!

Where: HUB Room 3
When: Monday, November 26 at 6:00 pm

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Reading Discussion Group

Join the Economics Society next week for the last reading discussion group of the semester! For next week's reading discussion, we ask that you read an article on any economic topic or study and then bring it to the meeting. We will do an overview of each of the topics and how they relate. This will be a great opportunity to learn about all types of interesting studies in the field of economics.

Where: Enterprise 318
When: Wednesday, November 14 -- 7:30

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Economic Liberty Lecture Series -- Dan Smith

Join the GMU Economics Society and Future of Freedom Foundation in welcoming economist, professor, and author Dan Smith lecture on "A Tale of Two Disaster-Stricken Communities: Joplin and Tuscaloosa."

When: Monday November 5th
Where: Sub II Rooms 3-5
5:30 - Free Pizza ($0)
6:00 - Lecture with Q&A
8:00 - Social Hour at Brion's Grille

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 SPEAKER: Dan Smith
"A Tale of Two Disaster-Stricken Communities: Joplin and Tuscaloosa"

Daniel J. Smith is an Assistant Professor at the Manuel H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University in 2011. Dr. Smith's research primarily focuses on studying the institutions that emerge to foster economic and social cooperation between socially distant, or even hostile, groups. His dissertation, which won the Don Lavoie Memorial Graduate Student Essay Prize, explored the institutions that emerged to facilitate trade between Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Medieval Spain, resulting in a period of relative peace and prosperity. He has also detailed how similar institutions have emerged in other diverse contexts, such as disaster-stricken communities, among competitors in the Tour de France, and even among brawling soccer hooligans in England. Dr. Smith has also published opinion editorials in such prominent outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the Birmingham News, and the Jefferson City News Tribune, and has been interviewed on numerous radio and television programs across the nation.

Law and Economics Seminar -- Session 2

Join the Economics Society tonight for the Second Session of our Law and Economics Seminar. We will be continuing the discussion on the Lochner v New York case. Hope to see you there!

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Caplan-Pearlstein Debate

Join the Economics Society this week as George Mason's own Bryan Caplan debates Steven Pearlstein on the topic of government withdrawal from an active role in subsidizing higher education.

When: Wednesday, October 24 at 6:30
Where: Johnson Center Cinema

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Discussion Group: The Role of Economists

There will be no reading for this week. We are going to discuss the role of economists in the political sphere. Economists have some special knowledge that is useful to voters and policy makers, but how should this knowledge be shared? Think about these three possible roles for economists:

Prescriptive advice - suggesting policies for maximizing utility, in addition to or in opposition of current policy goals.

Efficiency experts - not judging policy goals, but offering economics as a way of more efficiently achieving those goals.

Critics - "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design" -Friedrich Hayek

Do you think one of these roles is better than others? Can you imagine a different role for economists to play? Think about what roles popular economists have been playing in the most recent election.

As always the discussion group will be held in Enterprise 318.

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Economics Society Fundraiser at Panda Express

Supply your demand for Chinese food and help Econ Society too! Come out to GMU Economics Society's fundraiser Thursday 18th between Noon and 3pm and have 20% of your purchase fund future Economics Society events! You will need our flyer so that we can get the contribution so don't forget it! 

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"Classical Liberalism as a Form of Progressivism"

Join the GMU Economics Society and Future of Freedom Foundation  in welcoming economist, professor, and author Steven Horwitz lecture on "Classical Liberalism as a Form of Progressivism!" 

Monday October 15th 
5:30 pm - *Free* Pizza ($0)
6:00 pm - Lecture with Q&A
8:00 pm - Social Hour at Brion's Grille 


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Biography

Steven Horwitz is Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He completed his MA and PhD in economics at George Mason University and received his A.B. in economics and philosophy from The University of Michigan. He is the author of two books, Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective (Routledge, 2000) and Monetary Evolution, Free Banking, and Economics Order (Westview, 1992), and he has written extensively on Austrian economics, Hayekian political economy, monetary theory and history, and macroeconomics. In addition to several dozen articles in numerous professional journals, he has also done nationally recognized public policy work on the role of the private sector during Hurricane Katrina for the Mercatus Center, where he is an Affiliated Senior Scholar. The author of numerous op-eds, Horwitz is a frequent guest on TV and radio programs, particularly on the Great Recession and monetary policy. His current research is on the economics and social theory of the family, and he is at work on a book on classical liberalism and the family.

GRE Event

Join the Economics Society and Princeton Review for zero price pizza and a chance to learn how you can improve your GRE scores.

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Em Econ 101: An Economic Analysis of Brian Emulation

Join the Economics Society as we welcome George Mason's own Robin Hanson.

When: Wednesday, September 26 at 6:00pm
Where: Student Union Building (HUB) -- Front Ballroom

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Abstract:
"The three most disruptive transitions in history were the introduction of humans, farming, and industry. If another transition lies ahead, a good guess for its source is artificial intelligence in the form of whole brain emulations, or "ems," sometime in the next century. I apply standard social science to this unusual situation, to identify a relatively-likely reference scenario set modestly far into a post-em-transition world. i consider families, reproduction, life plans, daily activities, inequality, working training, property rights, firm management, industrial organization, urban agglomeration, security, and governance."