Events

By Zoom until further notice

   Upcoming Economics Club Meetings:

Hi everyone, a quick update on upcoming meetings. Due to popular demand we will be moving to 2 meetings per month, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, and of course remaining on ZOOM for the foreseeable future. Our next few speakers are:
 
11 August Author Eric B. Schultz will speak about his latest book, Innovation on Tap: Stories of Entrepreneurship from the Cotton Gin to Broadway’s Hamilton (Greenleaf Book Group, 2019). Written for both entrepreneurs and history fans, Innovation on Tap captures three centuries of innovation in America through the eyes of 25 entrepreneurs--living and departed--who have gathered to ""talk shop"" in an imaginary barroom.  Eric will present an overview of the book and feature a handful of stories as “mini case reviews” that offer lessons about entrepreneurship in the 21st century. Eric has a degree in history from Brown University and earned his MBA from Harvard.  He is the former chairman and CEO of Sensitech and a former CEO-partner with Ascent Ventures.  His nonprofit work includes chairing the Gettysburg Foundation. Eric is co-author of Food Foolish: The Hidden Connection Between Food Waste, Hunger, and Climate Change, and King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict, and author of Weathermakers to the World. His LinkedIn profile is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbschultz/.  To join the meeting, please click on or enter:  Join Zoom Meeting
https://reason.zoom.us/j/443837937 .

25 August Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, speaking on Why the Government Should Pick Winners: Industrial Policy and Economic Growth. Atkinson is founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), recognized as the world’s top think tank for science and technology policy. He is an internationally recognized scholar and a widely published author whom The New Republic has named one of the “three most important thinkers about innovation.” Atkinson’s books include Big is Beautiful: Debunking the Mythology of Small Business (MIT Press, 2018); Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage (Yale, 2012), and The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). He also has conducted groundbreaking research projects and authored hundreds of articles and reports on technology and innovation-related topics ranging from tax policy to advanced manufacturing, productivity, and global competitiveness. He has testified before the United States Congress more than 30 times. President Clinton appointed Atkinson to the Commission on Workers, Communities, and Economic Change in the New Economy; the Bush administration appointed him chair of the congressionally created National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission; and the Obama administration appointed him to the National Innovation and Competitiveness Strategy Advisory Board. He also has served as co-chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s China-U.S. Innovation Policy Experts Group; as a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and on the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information. Atkinson holds a Ph.D. in city and regional planning from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was awarded the prestigious Joseph E. Pogue Fellowship. He earned his master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Oregon, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2014.

8 September, Julian Morris, director of innovation policy at the International Center for Law and Economics, speaking on Bitcoin and Blockchain for Dummies. His talk will Quickly describe the origins of Bitcoin and how it works (simple version of blockchain proof of work; maximum issuance). Explain how the underlying technology, the blockchain, led to other platform chains (Ethereum, Eos, Hyperledger) that have been used for various purposes, including: Initial Coin Offerings, smart contracts, etc. Describe some use cases of blockchain-based smart contracts – e.g. in shipping, self-sovereign IDs. Gothough a specific example –probably an app for tracking COVID-19 status. Discuss challenges for cryptocurrencies/blockchains and possible solutions: different methods of cryptographic proof (proof of work, proof of stake, zero-knowledge proof), use of off-chain smart contracts.  Julian Morris is a senior fellow at Reason Foundation and director of innovation policy at the International Center for Law and Economics. 
Morris graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a master's degree in economics. Graduate studies at University College London, Cambridge University and the University of Westminster resulted in two further master's degrees and a Graduate Diploma in Law (equivalent to the academic component of a JD). Morris is the author of dozens of scholarly articles on issues ranging from the morality of free trade to the regulation of the Internet, although his academic research has focused primarily on the relationship between institutions, economic development and environmental protection. He has also edited several books and co-edited the Electronic Journal of Sustainable Development. Previously, Morris was executive director of International Policy Network, a London-based think tank which he co-founded. Before that, he ran the environment and technology programme at the Institute of Economic Affairs, also in London. Morris has also been a visiting professor in the Department of International Studies at the University of Buckingham (UK).

22 September, Professor Steven Horwitz will speak on Inequality, Mobility, and Being Poor in America. He will talk about how the conventional narrative that the last generation has seen the rich get richer and the poor get poorer while the middle class gets hollowed out has serious flaws. He will look at the data on income mobility, the absolute incomes of the poor, the ability of both poor and rich to purchase various consumption items, as well as the movement of the middle class upward to higher wealth. He argues that the data strongly suggest that life for the average American has never been better and that the opportunity for those who start out poor to move up the income ladder is still strong. He concludes with a brief discussion of the role of health care, housing, and education in this argument.  Steven Horwitz is the Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise in the Department of Economics at Ball State University in Muncie, IN. A member of the Mont Pelerin Society, he has a PhD in Economics from George Mason University and an AB in Economics and Philosophy from The University of Michigan. Horwitz is the author of three books, Monetary Evolution, Free Banking, and Economic Order (Westview, 1992), Microfoundations and Macroeconomics: An Austrian Perspective (Routledge, 2000), and Hayek's Modern Family: Classical Liberalism and the Evolution of Social Institutions (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). He has written extensively on Austrian economics, Hayekian political economy, monetary theory and history, and American economic history. His work has been published in professional journals such as History of Political Economy, Southern Economic Journal, and The Cambridge Journal of Economics. Horwitz is also an Affiliated Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center in Arlington, VA, a Senior Fellow at the Fraser Institute in Canada, and a distinguished scholar at the Foundation for Economic Education. He has done public policy research for the Mercatus Center, Heartland Institute, and the Cato Institute, and has been a guest on several radio and cable TV shows. Horwitz has spoken to professional, student, policymaker, and general audiences throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Asia, and South America. Prior to Ball State, he taught for 28 years at St. Lawrence University in New York, where he is Professor of Economics Emeritus.

 

Important Reminders:
 
1)The Economics Club has always been an oasis of civility and respectful discussion. Please keep that tradition alive and be respectful of all participants.

2)Meeting Details: We assemble at 8 AM for a buffet breakfast, with presentations starting at 8:30, followed by Q & A. Location: private dining room at Plymouth Harbor, 700 Ringling Blvd., Sarasota. Cost this year is $6 per person per meeting.

3) Please wear a name-badge or nametag.