National Council for the Social Studies 2010 Conference

2010
Denver, Colorado
November 12–14, 2010
Colorado Convention Center
Headquarters Hotel—Hyatt Regency Denver

Understanding Liberty and Choice: Property Rights and Economic Development

Co-sponsored by Liberty Fund, Inc.

Expert panel, featuring: Lee Alston Ph.D. Director, Environment and Society Program, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado;Research Associate, National Bureau for Economic Research (NBER)

Gary Libecap Ph.D. Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California at Santa Barbara;Fellow, Hoover Institution

When: October 22-24, 2009

Where: Scottsdale, AZ-Scottsdale Marriott Suites

Sessions and readings

Session 1: Large Group activity


Session 2: Why Are Some Nations Rich and Others Poor?
North, Douglass C. “Institutions, Ideology, and Economic Performance, “ Cato Journal, 11(3), 1992. pp. 477-88.

Easterly, William. “Planners Versus Searchers.” The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. New York: Penguin, 2006. pp. 3-37.

Session 3: The Philosophy of Property Rights
Hume, David. “Of the Origin of Justice and Property.” A Treatise of Human Nature. London: Oxford University Press, 1896. pp. 176-194.

Locke, John. “Of Property.” in The Founders Constitution, Vol. 1, ed. By Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc., 1987. pp. 580-85.

Session 4: Property Rights and Markets
Alchian, Armen with Harold Demsetz. “The Property Rights Paradigm.” The Collected Works of Armen Alchian, Volume 2: Property Rights and Economic Behavior. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2006. pp. 84-96.

Alchian, Armen. “Market Prices, Property, and Behavior,” The Collected Works of Armen Alchian, Volume 2: Property Rights and Economic Behavior. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, Inc., 2006. pp. 460-80.

Lawson, Robert. “Economic Freedom and Property Rights: The Institutional Environment of Productive Entrepreneurship,” in Making Poor Countries Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Economic Development, ed. by Benjamin Powell. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008. pp. 112-133.

Session 6: Institutional Weakness, Characteristics and Consequences
DeSoto, Hernando. “The Mystery of Legal Failure,” The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. New York: Basic Books, 2000. pp. 153-206.

Easterly, William. “You Can’t Plan a Market,” The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. New York: Penguin, 2006. pp. 60-112.

Session 7: Property Rights and the Future of Economic Development
Leeson, Peter. “Escaping Poverty: Foreign Aid, Private Property, and Economic Development.” The Journal of Private Enterprise, Spring, 2008. pp. 39–60.

Sachs, Jeffrey. “Making the Investment Needed to End Poverty.” The End of Poverty. New York: Penguin, 2005. pp. 244–265.

2009 Economic History Association Meetings

Peter Blair Henry

Peter Blair Henry of Stanford University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about economic development. Henry compares and contrasts the policy and growth experience of Barbados and Jamaica. Both became independent of England in the 1960s, so both inherited similar institutions. But each pursued different policies with very different results. Henry discusses the implications of this near-natural experiment for growth generally and the importance of macroeconomic policy for achieving prosperity. The conversation closes with a discussion of Henry's research on stock market reactions as a measure of policy's effectiveness.

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2009/07/peter_henry_on.html

The 36th Annual Conference of the History of Economic Society

2009 Annual Conference
Denver, Colorado

The 36th Annual Conference
of the History of Economic Society will be held June 26-29, 2009 at
the University of Colorado Denver.

There is an optional reception on Friday, June 26. Conference
sessions will begin on the morning of Saturday, June 27. The
conference will run until mid-day on Monday, June 29.  For
travel accommodations, please try to plan on leaving Monday in the
late afternoon or evening. The airport is only a 40 minute taxi ride
from downtown Denver.

Understanding Liberty and Choice: Free Trade and Globalization

Featured speaker:
Russell Roberts, author of The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity and The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection.

Co-sponsored by Liberty Fund, Inc.

When: May 14-16, 2009

Where: Washington D.C., Hotel TBD

What: Working conference, including:

* Keynote address and extended Q and A with Russell Roberts.
* Required pre-conference readings (298 pages) and 2.5 hours of podcasts.
* Small group Socratic seminars.

Who: PTA members only, by application (limited to 30 participants)

* Deadline: Applications must be received by February 25, 2009.
* Selected attendees notified via email February 27, 2009.
* $200 deposit due with application. (Deposit refunded after the program or upon notification of non-acceptance to the program.)
* Participants responsible for their own travel.

2 nights single occupancy lodging and meals plus $500 travel stipend.
(Attendance at all sessions required to receive stipend.)

Selection from the applicant pool will reflect the FTE's desire to assemble a conference group with the following characteristics:

* commitment to excellence in teaching economic reasoning;
* diversity of teaching experience, background, current economics-related teaching assignment, and school type; and
* geographic/demographic diversity (regional, rural/urban, etc.).

Apply on-line Here

Questions: Ken Leonard, kleonard@fte.org
206-910-9374



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260 Russell Blvd. Suite B · Davis, CA 95616 · Phone: 530-757-4630 · Fax: 530-757-4636 · information@fte.org

West-Coast Annual Economics Teaching Conference

West-Coast Annual Economics Teaching Conference

Hosted by: The College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno & McGraw-Hill/Irwin

When: April 16th-18th, 2009

Where: Reno, Nev University of Nevada, Reno

This first annual West Coast Economics Teaching Conference is designed to address the specific interests and needs of teachers of college-level economics. This West Coast conference mirrors the Teaching Economics Conference on the East Coast, which has been held at Robert Morris University for the last 20 years. Past participants represent over 100 colleges and universities from 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada.

2009 HISTORY OF ECONOMICS SOCIETY CONFERENCE

2009 HISTORY OF ECONOMICS SOCIETY CONFERENCE
DENVER, COLORADO
JUNE 26-28, 2009

The 2009 meetings of the History of Economics Society will held at the University of Colorado Denver over June 26-29. Those wishing to submit a paper or propose a session may do so at http://www.hes-conference2009.com/.

The conference will begin with an opening reception on Friday, June 26 and will end mid-day on Monday, June 29. The meetings will be held at the University of Colorado Denver - Kenneth King Academic and Performing Arts Center at the University Downtown Denver Campus.

The campus location in lower downtown Denver affords easy walking access to hundreds of restaurants and a variety of hotels in all price ranges. The campus has extremely limited dormitory facilities mean that there will likely not be a dorm housing option available. Conference rates will be arranged with several hotels within easy walking distance of the campus. Direct flights from London and Frankfurt make this a very accessible location for those traveling from Europe. Registration information will be posted in due course.

If you encounter any problems with paper/session submission or have any other questions about the conference, email directly at HES2009@ucdenver.edu.

Teaching Economic History of the United States

A number of us include American History in our teaching loads. I thought that for those of you who have not considered the FTE on the ground program EFIAH - the info below might be of interest - especially if you live near Ohio or an interested in Vegas.

EFIAH

June 23 - 26, 2009	Federal Reserve Bank1	Jacksonville, FL	Open
July 21 - 24, 2009	Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland2	Cleveland, OH	Open
July 27 - August 1, 2009	The Tuscany Suites	Las Vegas, NV	Open

² commuter program; priority given to Northeastern Ohio residents; $425 stipend available

http://www.fte.org/teachers/programs/history/dates.php

Other resources include (for your summer reading)

Hamilton's Blessing
by John Steele Gordon
(Gordon will be the honors speaker at MCC on April 15 - my students and I will get to hear his presentation -"The Origins of American Affluence")

Hamilton's Curse
by Thomas DiLorenzo

One Nation Under Debt: Jefferson, Hamilton and the History of What We Owe
by Robert Wright

2009 Teaching Economics Conference Cal State Fulleton

Worth Publishers is proud to sponsor a series of one-day teaching symposia meant to explore our economic and teaching landscape in these uncertain times. In partnership with premiere Economics Departments across the country, Worth publishers is committed to bringing educators together to meet with leading faculty, administrators, authors, and economists to attend workshops and to trade insight and teaching strategies. Our distinguished list of speakers represents leading economists and educators from across the country including 2008 Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman.

Blog from the seminar.

Krugman slides - here.

We received an updated version of


http://www.krugmanonline.com/books/the-return-of-depression-economics-and-the-crisis-of-2008.php

Agenda - http://www.worthpublishers.com/econsymp09/socal/agenda.html

April 24 and 25th meeting at

Tangeman University Center
University of Cincinnati
Uptown West Campus
265 Tangeman University Center
Cincinnati , OH 45221-0220


http://www.worthpublishers.com/econsymp09/midwest/agenda.html

Foundation for Teaching Economics

Understanding Liberty and Choice:
Free Trade and Globalization

Featured speaker:
Russell Roberts, author of The Price of Everything: A Parable of Possibility and Prosperity and The Choice: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection.


Co-sponsored by Liberty Fund, Inc.


When: May 14-16, 2009

Where: Washington D.C., Hotel TBD

What: Working conference, including:

* Keynote address and extended Q and A with Russell Roberts.
* Required pre-conference readings (298 pages) and 2.5 hours of podcasts.
* Small group Socratic seminars.

Foundations of a Free Society

June 12 - 15, 2008 the Liberty Fund colloquium entitled "The Foundations of A Free Society" will be held in Indianapolis. Steve Pejovich, conference director, has selected a number of readings designed to generate discussion.

Milton Friedman - Free to Choose

B Roggy - Can Capitalism Survive?

Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations

D. North and B. Weingast - The Constitution and Commitment

F. Hayek - Liberalism

P. Manet - Intellectual History

S. Pejovich - Transaction Costs

G. Libecap - Contracting for Property Rights

R. McChesney - Government as Definer of Property Rights

S. Huntington - Clash of Civilizations

S. Pejovich - The Role of Culture

Other Pejovich readings

Capitalism and the Rule of Law

Understanding the Transactions Costs of Transition

Property Rights and Economic Theory

Free Trade, Globalization, and Economic Development

The series of joint FTE and Liberty Fund colloquium continues in May with:
Understanding Liberty and Choice: Free Trade, Globalization, and Economic Development.

As with the previous colloquium, the unique characteristics of the FTE and Liberty Fund approaches will be integrated. The keynote speaker, Pietra Rivoli will bring her expertise to our discussion which is centered around a number of readings including her acclaimed book - The Travels of a T Shirt in the Global Economy.

Looking forward to our discussions in May. Please feel free to post questions, comments or resources here that are relevant to our meeting.


Click here for a look at the full conference schedule as well as our readings.

Liberty Fund - March 17-19

I will be in Indianapolis as an FTE representative for the Liberty Fund “Co-Sponsored Alliance Meeting”, March 17-19, 2008.

This meeting will consist of two Socratic sessions on the morning of the 18th followed by 4 breakout sessions relating to the logistics of Liberty Fund conference.

Socratic Session One

Why Liberty? A Collection of Liberty Fund Essays

On Liberty - JS Mill

The Use of Knowledge in Society - FA Hayek

Capitalism and Freedom

Socratic Session Two

Why Liberty? A Collection of Liberty Fund Essays

A Place of Learning - M Oakeshott

Breakout session one

Discussion Leading

Database Management

Breakout session two

Program design and best practices

Conference guidelines and administration

Breakout session three

Liberty Fund Conference Program

Proposal Development

Breakout session four

Readings and copyrights

Conference evaluation and feedback

Economics of Disasters

On March 6 the FTE was in Tempe for:

The Economics of Disasters workshop. Registration and a continental breakfast began at 8:00am for all our participants. The general program began promptly at 8:30am with an introduction to disasters by Kathy Ratte.


Kathy provided an excellent overview of lesson one in the five lesson curriculum sequence that makes up the FTE Economics of Disasters. During the course of the workshop, participants had the opportunity to engage with the following activities:


Are Disasters Good for the Economy?
Price Gouging Activity
Nobody Knows Everything - Game Slides (Adobe PDF/Powerpoint)


Her presentation was followed by an in depth application of economic reasoning to the topic of disasters by Dr. Daniel Benjamin.



Dan presented the economic impact of disasters and extended the discussion through an analysis of the role of the government in the mitigation of the results of disaster.

The Arizona Council on Economic Education’s goals are to assist teachers in improving their students’ economic and financial literacy and decision making skills, by providing them with content, methodologies and practical tools.

Ethics, Economics and Freedom: The Morality of Markets

Saturday Feb. 9, 2008 - 7th annual ASET conference - Ethics, Economics and Freedom: The Morality of Markets

The conference as an amazing experience. This 7th annual conference of the Arizona Society for Economics Teachers was attended by over 100 Arizona educators and 50 students of economics. Co sponsored by the Arizona Council on Economic Education the morning was packed with three powerful presentations.

Up first was Dwight Lee who kicked off the day's discussion with an historical overview of freedom, markets and Milton Friedman. Lee's eloquent (and humorous) description of the struggle between Keynes and Friedman was reminiscent of Yergin and Stanislaw's The Commanding Heights as Lee showcased Friedman's intellectual journey.

Lee described the seminal work of Friedman, his work analyzing the role of money, the Phillips curve and the controversy over the role of the government. He concluded his well thought overview of economics and freedom, by outlining Milton Friedman's legacy as a Freedom Fighter:

Advocate for individual liberty

Freedom as an ultimate value

Freedom as an instrumental value

Lee ended with a quote from Adam Smith:

" The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted, not only to no single person, but to no council or senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it." (WN: B.IV, Ch.2, Of Restraints upon the Importation from Foreign Countries in paragraph IV.2.10)

Our next speaker, John Morton, provided an overview of the latest NCEE publication
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics.

Co written with Jonathan Wight this book contains 10 lessons that reintroduce an ethical dimension to economics in the tradition of Adam Smith, who believed ethical considerations were central to life. Utilizing these innovative instructional materials your students will learn about the important role ethics and character play in a market economy and how, in turn, markets influence ethical behavior. Click here to read Jonathan's introduction.

Our closing speaker David Schmidtz integrated philosophy with the previous discussion of freedom and teaching economics.
Professor of Philosophy and Joint Professor of Economics David Schmidtz conducts the Program in the Philosophy of Freedom. The aims of the program in the philosophy of freedom are

To provide undergraduate students with a two-course sequence in Philosophy of Freedom, PHIL 320a and PHIL 320b.

To have visiting professors give lectures topics related to Philosophy of Freedom.

To provide workshops for alumni of the University of Arizona Philosophy graduate program.

To give current graduate students fellowship opportunities that advance their teaching and research.


David began with a reminder that, as educators, our role is to empower our students to participate in the complex real world and that role will demand that we provide authentic opportunities to develop critical thinking skills and demonstrate the results of their thinking. He ended his introduction by sharing a transferable teaching tidbit, one that I will certainly incorporate.

David uses the following incentive in his large (300 student) undergraduate class. At random, he selects a student and asks if they are in attendence. If not, the student will have one point deducted from their final grade. If they are present, the student is asked to summarize the key point from the previous class. The student is free to pass. If this is the case, no points are deducted. However, if the student provides an acceptable summary, the student is awarded 1 point and the process proceeds to the "bonus" round. Here another student is selected at random and asked to summarize the current class. Essentially this checks preparation, asking the student the key points from the required reading. If the student successfully answers, 5 bonus or extra credit points are awarded to the student. An incorrect answer or silence is not penalized.

Schmidtz went on to organize his presentation around the familiar economic concept of the gains from trade.

After contrasting a zero sum view of interaction with a positive sum view, Schmidtz presented the underpinning or preconditions needed to realize the gains from trade - voluntarism and property rights. With these in place, specialization leads to collaboration which widens the sphere of benefit to the agents in society. Following Adam Smith, the increasing size of the market allowed for increases in specialization and increases in benefit.

At this point, Schmidtz shared a second transferable teaching tidbit. This in the form of a story about Thomas Edison. Schmidtz asked if Edison had endowed a charitable foundation. (I was unable to determine if Edison did). Schmidtz then asked, would the world have been a better place, had he donated his wealth to charity. Then Schmidtz asked if Edison had paid taxes and repeated his previous question, would the world be better off if he had paid taxes.

The conclusion - Edison's contribution to improving society, raising standards of living and stimulating growth was the light bulb. This invention has far more lasting and important positive consequences that would a charitable contribution or a payment of up to 100 per cent in taxes.

As you can tell, we have a wonderful day and many thanks are due to ASET president Dr. Alice Temnick and Arizona Council on Economic Education Program Director Ashlay Hall.

The program ended with the recognition of Brett Haglin as Arizona Economics Teacher of the Year and Elizabeth Volard as recipient of the John C. Morton service award.

Please feel free to leave comments, share your reaction to the conference, or leave questions for ASET, ACEE or the 2008 participants at this blog.