Menard Speaker Series: How Economists Helped End the Draft
Tu., March 17 • 5 p.m. • WB144
This talk shows how economists helped dismantle military conscription. From Adam Smith onward, economists argued that the draft is a form of non-chattel, short-term slavery—inefficient, coercive, and incompatible with a free society.
David Henderson served on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1982 to 1984. He is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and an emeritus professor of economics at the Naval Postgraduate School. His areas of scholarly interest include microeconomics, cost–benefit analysis, health economics, energy economics, and the economics of taxation.
Presented by the Institute for the Study of Political Economy (ISPE). ISPE approaches the study of political economy as an analysis of governance. We examine what it means to have good public and private governance. We analyze which institutions and institutional rules are likely to lead to good governance, and how governance – good and bad — impacts outcomes. We are particularly interested in wealth and income, economic growth, health, freedom and liberty, and quality of life in the American Midwest. In order to positively impact outcomes, we communicate the lessons learned from rigorous academic analysis to students, citizens at large, private organization leadership, and elected and appointed officials.
Upcoming:
Th., April 2 • 5 p.m. • AJ 175: Menard Speaker Series: Vernon Smith, 2002 Nobel Laureate
Theory of Society