Free Market Speaker Series
Each semester we invite speakers from the business and academic world who address the underlying principles of a market economy. Students, faculty, alumni, and the Charleston business community are invited to attend our events.
Spring 2024
Dr. Gary Wagner: “Can Taxes Buy Growth? Economic Development Incentives”
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | 6:00 PM | Wells Fargo Auditorium
Dr. Gary A. Wagner currently holds the Acadiana Business Economist/BORSF Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Gary previously served on the Governor's Council of Economic Advisors in Arkansas from 2008-2011, and he is a quarterly participant in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters projecting national economic conditions. Prior to joining the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he was Vice-President & Senior Regional Officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
Pervious Speakers
The Free Market Speaker Series has featured a wide variety of speakers since 2008, from professors and economist to news anchors.
-
2020-2023
- Spring 2023
- Robert Chatfield, President & Chief Executive Officer of Free to Choose Network
- John C. Mozena, President of the Center for Economic Accountibility
- Fall 2022
- Lauren Heller, Berry College, Professor of Economics in the Campbell School of Business and the Assistant Provost for Teaching and Research
- Sam Staley, DeVoe Moore Center, Director
- Spring 2022
- Alicia Plemmons, Assistant Professor in the Department of General Business at West Virginia University
- Fall 2021
- Patrick Reasonover, They Say It Can’t be Done, Lead Producer
- Benjamin Powell, Texas Tech University, Executive Director of the Free Market Institute and a Professor of Economics
- Fall 2020
- Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor Emerita of Economics and of History, and Professor Emerita of English and of Communication
- Matt Ridley, scientist, journalist, national newspaper columnist and columnist and chairman of the International Centre for Life, in Newcastle, England,
- Spring 2020
- Robby Soave, Senior Editor at Reason
- Spring 2023
-
2014-2019
- Fall 2018
- Thomas Leonard, Princeton University, Research Scholar in the Humanities Council, and Lecturer in the Department of Economics
- Siri Terjesen, American University’s Kogod School of Business, Professor and Dean’s Research Fellow in Entrepreneurship
- Spring 2018
- Sun Zhe, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, adjunct senior research scholar and co-director of the China Initiative
- Fall 2017
- Gary Libecap, Bren School, research focused on the legal, economic, and policy aspects of water allocation in the western United States
- Marion Smith, National Civic Art Society, Chairman
- Paul Gregory, University of Houston and Hoover Institution/Stanford, Professor of Economics at the University of Houston and research Fellow
- Spring 2017
- Dwight Lee, affiliated with the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom, Senior Fellow
- Fall 2015
- Randy Simmons, Utah State University, professor in the Department of Economics and Finance
- Fall 2014
- Timur Kuran, Duke University, Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies
- John Cerasuolo, the Beacon Center of Tennessee, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ADS Security
- Sarah Skwire, Liberty Fund, Fellow and author of Writing with a Thesis
- Spring 2014
- Joe Scarlet, retired chairman and CEO of Tractor Supply Company and founder of the Scarlett Leadership Institute Bruce Benson, Florida State University, research professor, courtesy professor of Law and Economics department chair
- Virginia Postrel, Author of The Power of Glamour: Longing and the Art of Visual Persuasion
- Fall 2018
-
2008-2013
- Fall 2013
- Surse Pierpoint, Colon Import & Export, General Manager
- Nigel Ashford, Institute for Humane Studies, senior program officer
- Spring 2013
- Jerry Jordan, Pittsburg National Bank and First Interstate Bancorp, Commercial banking
- Fall 2012
- Wayne Leighton, Universidad Francisco Marroquín Guatemala (UFM), professor and Executive Director of The Antigua Forum
- David Nott, the Reason Foundation, President
- Yaron Brook, Ayn Rand Institute, President
- Spring 2012
- John Allison, BB&T, former CEO and President
- Deirdre McCloskey, University of Illinois at Chicago, Professor of Economics, History, English and Communications
- Peter G. Klein, University of Missouri, Associate Professor of Applied Social Science and Director of the McQuinn Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership
- Fall 2011
- Larry White, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics and Economics of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
- Spring 2011
- Tara Smith, University of Texas, Professor of Philosophy
- Russell Roberts, George Mason University, Professor of Economics
- Fall 2010
- Virginia Postrel, The Role of Glamour in Political Economy
- Bruce Yandle, "Whose Garden Was this? Property Rights and the Environment"
- Spring 2010
- Mallory Factor, FACTOR INC, President
- Peter J. Boettke, George Mason University, Professor of Economics and Philosophy
- John Stossel, Currently host of Fox Business News
- Fall 2009
- Thomas DiLorenzo, Loyola College in Maryland, Professor of Economics
- Benjamin Powell, Suffolk University, Assistant Professor of Economics
- Spring 2009
- Michael C. Munger, Professor Chair, Duke University, Political Science and Professor of Economics
- Robert Lawson, Auburn University, Associate Professor of Finance
- John A. Allison, IV, BB&T Corporation, Chairman and CEO
- Fall 2008
- Gerald Dwyer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Vice President
- Russel Sobel, West Virginia University, James Clark Coffman Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies
- Fall 2013