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.
Fall 2026
Robert Lawson
Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom and director of the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University
"Economic Freedom and the Wealth and Health of Nations"
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026 | 6:00 PM | Maybank 101
The index published in the Economic Freedom of the World 2026 Annual Report (EFW index) measures economic freedom in up to 165 jurisdictions as far back as 1970. The EFW index might be thought of as an effort to identify how closely the institutions and policies of a country correspond with the classical liberal ideal of a limited government, where the government protects people and property rights from aggressors but otherwise allows them to make their own economic choices. The results indicate that countries that have more economic freedom enjoy better socio-economic conditions.
Dr. Rovert Lawson is the Jerome M. Fullinwider Centennial Chair in Economic Freedom and director of the Bridwell Institute for Economic Freedom in the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He is a founding co-author of the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World annual report, which presents an economic freedom index for over 160 countries.
Dr. Lawson has authored or co-authored over 100 academic publications and has over 15,000 Google Scholar citations. He is the co-author of the Amazon Bestseller, Socialism Sucks: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World (with Ben Powell) & Neoliberal Abstracts (with Phil Magness). He is a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute, a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE). He was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award and Adam Smith Award by APEE.
Lawson earned his PhD and MS in Economics from Florida State University and his BS in Economics from the Honors Tutorial College at Ohio University. He taught previously at Auburn University, Capital University, and Shawnee State University.
Samuel Gregg
President of the American Institute for Economic Research
Co-hosted with the Spaulding Speaker Series
"Industrial Policy and the future of the US Economy"
Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 | 6:00 PM | Tate Center 202
Since 2016, political forces on the left and right have been pushing for a bigger economic role for government in the US economy. This lecture looks at one part of that agenda – advocacy for the extensive use of industrial policy – and argues that, far from producing greater prosperity, industrial policy produces poor economic outcomes and facilitates political dysfunctionality.
Samuel Gregg is President of the American Institute for Economic Research. He has a D.Phil. in moral philosophy and political economy from Oxford University. The author of eighteen books, two of his books have been short-listed for Conservative Book of the Year, and one of his books was short-listed for the 2023 Hayek Prize. His new book in 2026 is "The Civilization of Commerce: Invisible Hands and the Pursuit of Happiness." He has written over 800 articles and opinion pieces for publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs. In 2001, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. In 2024, he was awarded the Bradley Prize by The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, and was profiled that same year in The Wall Street Journal.
Previous Speakers
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2026
- Spring 2026
- Alexander Salter - Professor of Economics, Texas Tech University
- Spring 2026
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2020-2025
- Fall 2025
- Magatte Wade - Entrepreneur, African prosperity activist, and author of The Heart of a Cheetah
- Vincent Geloso - Assistant Professor of Economics at George Mason University
- Spring 2025
- Dr. Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy, McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University - event cancelled
- Fall 2024
- Dr. Anthony Gill, Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington
- Ben Klutsey, Executive Director of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
- Dr. Justin Callais, Chief Economist at the Archbridge Institute
- John Chisholm, Author and CEO of John Chisholm Ventures
- Spring 2024
- Dr. Gary A. Wagner, Acadiana Business Economist/BORSF Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- 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
- Fall 2025
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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
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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