Who Will Build The Roads? And Other Questions About Free Societies
June 14 – 17, 2013
Prescott, Arizona
STUDENT RESOURCE BINDER
Table of Contents
Student Welcome Letter...... 2
Seminar Schedule...... 3
Participant Guidelines...... 4
FEE Staff Biographies...... 5-6
FEE Faculty Biographies...... 7-9
Lecture Outlines & Readings...... 10-22
Glossary of Terms...... 23-33
Dear Seminar Participant,
On behalf of the entire FEE staff, welcome to Who Will Build the Roads? We have an exciting three days ahead of us and are confident that you will have an experience that is fun, educational, and memorable!
Throughout the seminar, we will have a host of lectures, activities, and multimedia presentations designed to teach you more about the foundations of free markets and a free society. After the seminar, you will:
- Understand the basic principles of free markets and the freedom philosophy.
- Be able to apply these principles to today’s world and current events.
- Have the tools and resources to become future leaders and educators of liberty.
Our staff and faculty will be at the seminar to make sure that you get the most out of your experience at FEE. We love it when you ask us questions! Your fellow attendees are also great resources, so make sure to branch out, meet new people, and develop a liberty-loving network while you are here. Meals, activities, and breaks are specifically designed to give you the freedom to make the most of your experience.
To kick off the summer, we have provided this online student binder filled with all the things you need for the seminar. Inside, you will find a ton of awesomeness, including a schedule, lecture outlines, and a glossary of economic terms for you to reference.
We won’t have hard copies of the binder available at the seminar, but it will always be available in the Seminar Facebook group, so you should join if you haven’t yet! You can also pull up the binder on your iPad, Kindle, computer, or other techy device at the seminar.
And don’t forget – at the end of the seminar, you will be an official FEE Alumnus. This means that you will have access to the FEE Alumni Network, a Facebook group chock full of resources, events, and opportunities to help you develop both personally and professionally in the liberty movement.
We are really looking forward to spending the week with you! Can’t wait to see you in June!
Best,
Todd Hollenbeck
College Programs Coordinator
Who Will Build The Roads? And Other Questions About Free Societies
June 14-17, 2013 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University | Prescott, AZ
Friday, June 14
3:30 pm – 4:00pm: Welcome and Introductions
4:00 pm – 5:15 pm: How can I be a Good Economist? (Jeff Proctor)
5:30 pm – 6:45 pm: Dinner
7:00 pm – 8:15 pm: What is a Free Society? (Sandy Ikeda)
Saturday, June 15
7:00 am – 8:30 am: Breakfast
8:30 am – 9:45 am: Isn’t the Economy Too Complex for the Free Market? (Jeff Proctor)
10:00 am – 11:15 am: Activity
11:30 am – 12:45 pm: But What About the Children? (Paul Cwik)
12:45 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm: Don’t Immigrants and Off-shoring Hurt the Economy? (Ben Powell)
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm: Don’t Consumers Need Protection from Greedy Corporations? (Jeff Proctor)
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Dinner
6:30 pm – 7:45 pm: Who Will Build the Roads? (Sandy Ikeda)
Sunday, June 16
7:00 am – 8:30 am: Breakfast
8:30 am – 9:45 am: Wouldn’t Legalizing Drugs Lead to More Drug Abuse and Crime? (Ben Powell)
10:00 am – 11:15 am: Activity
11:30 am – 12:45 pm: Who Will Take Care of the Poor? (Paul Cwik)
12:45 pm – 2:00 pm: Lunch
2:00 pm – 3:15 pm: Wouldn’t a Free Market Destroy the Environment? (Paul Cwik)
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm: Doesn’t The Free Market Exploit Workers? (Ben Powell)
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Dinner
6:30 pm – 7:45 pm: How Do we Get to a Free Society? (Sandy Ikeda)
8:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Social
Monday, June 17
7:00 am – 8:30 am: Breakfast
7:00 am – 11:30 am: Students Depart
PARTICIPANT GUIDELINES
We at FEE believe that every individual should be free to live his life in any way that’s peaceful; however, we also believe in the rule of law! Please take a moment to review FEE’s “Rule of Law” below to ensure that we have a smooth-running seminar. Thank you in advance!
GUIDELINES / REASON- The dress code for the week is business casual, so please dress accordingly.
- Please be on time for all lectures and activities. In fact, try to arrive 5-10 minutes early.
- When asking questions, please wait to get a microphone from a staff member.
- Ask questions and engage the speakers, staff, and fellow seminar participants. Make the seminar your own!
- After each session and meal, please take a moment to pick up your trash as well as trash around your seat.
- Remember that you are guests of Embry-RiddleAeronauticalUniversity. Please help us maintain our good relationship by respecting their policies and being considerate of other patrons.
- Keep noise to a minimum while in the dorms, especially after 10pm.
- The university reserves the right to ask unruly guests to leave. If this should happen to you, it means that you must also leave the FEE seminar.
FEE STAFF BIOGRAPHIES
Todd Hollenbeck
College Programs Coordinator
Todd is currently working on his Masters of Business Administration at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS), where he also received his bachelor’s degree in political science. In addition to his work at FEE, he is the Executive Director of the Free Minds Film Festival, a Colorado Springs-based pro-liberty film festival. In 2011, he was the Colorado Campus Coordinator for Students For Liberty and co-founder of the UCCS chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. He has interned at the Independence Institute in Denver, Americans for Tax Reform, and the Leadership Institute.
Richard Lorenc
Director of Programs & Alumni Relations
Richard Lorenc is the Director of Programs & Alumni Relations at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). In this role, Lorenc oversees FEE's educational programs for high school and college students, including the summer seminar series.
Lorenc serves on the board of directors of the Coalition to Reduce Spending, an advocacy group dedicated to limiting federal spending through programs such as the "Reject the Debt" anti-spending pledge. He is also a member of the Leadership Committee of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.
Lorenc is an alumnus of the Charles Koch Institute's Liberty@Work program, a professional development program focused on the practice of Market-Based Management®. Additionally, he is the former Director of Outreach of the Illinois Policy Institute, and has served as Senior Advisor to America’s Future Foundation, where he expanded leadership development programs for young professional conservatives and libertarians to 12 cities. Recently, he led website development for Truth in Accounting’s State Data Lab, a tool that empowers citizens, journalists, and legislators with information on the true financial conditions of the 50 states.
Lorenc's writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Huffington Post, Daily Caller and others. He is a graduate of Emory University and lives in Atlanta.
Steve Patterson
Content and Editorial Coordinator
Steve Patterson started producing videos for FEE in 2011 as an intern and has continued ever since. He is the creator ofThe Truth about…educational animation series. Steve holds a degree in Political Science from Alfred University, where he met his wife, Julia. In addition to economics, he enjoys studying chess, Go, and the martial arts. He is also an unpaid freelance philosopher.
Sara Walcott
High School Programs Coordinator
Sara is an economics graduate from Berry College where she worked as the executive editor of the Undergraduate Business and Economics Research Journal for two years. In addition to her studies, she ran on the cross country and track team at Berry for four years and spent her summers at Strong Rock Camp as a counselor and Program Director. She is currently planning her wedding and is getting used to life in the city.
FEE FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES
Paul Cwik
Professor of Economics at Mount Olive College
Dr. Cwik is currently a Professor of Economics and Finance in the Division of Management Systems at Mount Olive College. He earned a B.A. from Hillsdale College in Michigan, an M.A. from Tulane University in Louisiana, and a Ph.D. from Auburn University in Alabama.
He has taught classes at several colleges and universities such as Auburn University, Campbell University and Walsh College. He has presented academic papers to the Southern Economic Association, the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, the Prague Conference on Political Economy and at the Austrian Scholars Conferences. He has been published in academic journals that include: Economic Affairs, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, New Perspectives on Political Economy: A Bilingual Interdisciplinary Journal, andBusiness Ethics: A European Review. He is also a reviewer of Essays in Economic and Business History and The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He has also published in The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty. Additionally his dissertation has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, in February 2006.
Most importantly, he was married to Heidi in November, 2003 and with her has their first child—Stephen in November 2005, their second—Sarah in May 2007, and the third—Sophie in October 2011.
Sandy Ikeda
Associate Professor and Coordinator of Economics at Purchase College
Sandy Ikeda is an associate professor and coordinator of economics at Purchase
College of the State University of New York, a visiting scholar and research associate at
New York University, and a past-president of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics. He has lectured in North America and Europe, and has been for many years on the summer faculty of the Foundation for Economic Education.
He has written for Forbes, National Review Online, and The Freeman, while his scholarly publications have appeared in The Southern Economic Journal, The Review of Austrian Economics, Environmental Politics, Advances in Austrian Economics, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, The Independent Review, and Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines. In addition, he has published a book, Dynamics of the Mixed Economy (Routledge), and has contributed entries for The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (on Robert Moses) and for The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (on Jane Jacobs, rent seeking, and interventionism).
Dr. Ikeda’s research interests have included antitrust economics, the market process, and the dynamics of interventionism. More recently he has focused on the nature of trust and the political economy of cities. He currently writes a biweekly column for The Freemancalled Wabi-sabi.
Ben Powell
Director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University
Benjamin Powell is the Director of the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University and a Visiting Professor in the Rawls College of Business. He is the North American Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, past President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, and a senior fellow with the Independent Institute. He earned his B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.
Professor Powell is the editor of Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Development (Stanford University Press: 2008) and co-editor of Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (Transaction: 2009). He is author of more than 50 scholarly articles and policy studies. His primary fields of research are economic development, Austrian economics, and public choice. Dr. Powell's research findings have been reported in more than 100 popular press outlets including the Wall Street Journal
and the New York Times. He also writes frequently for the popular press. His popular writing has appeared in the Investor's Business Daily, the Financial Times (London), the Christian Science Monitor, and many regional outlets. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows including, CNN, MSNBC, Showtime, CNBC, and he was a regular guest commentator on Fox Business's Freedom Watch.
Jeff Proctor
Program Manager and Senior Instructor at the Charles Koch Institute
Jeff Proctor is a Program Manager and Senior Instructor at the Charles Koch Institute. He completed a Master of Arts in Economics from George Mason University and bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Interactive Media from Harding University. Jeff is also an Economics Fellow at the Grassroots Education Institute.
LECTURE OUTLINES
RECOMMENDED READINGS
How can I be a Good Economist?
Jeff Proctor
The only thing worse than not having an economist is having a bad economist (says an economist). Economics provides a powerful set of tools that help us understand human behavior. But, when those tools are forsaken or misused, the result can be unfortunate. So, how what can a (good) economist really do?
I.Who can be a good economist?
II.What is a good economist?
- Means-Ends Frameworks
- Value Neutrality
- Methodological Individualism
III.Where can I be a good economist?
- Academia
- Business
- Non-profits
IV.When can I be a good economist?
V.Why should I be a good economist?
VI.How can I be a good economist?
- Knowledge
- Skills
- Activities
Readings
Boettke, Peter. Living Economics: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Oakland, CA: The Independent Institute and Universidad Francisco Marroquin, 2012.2.
Buchanan, James. What Should Economists Do? Liberty Press. 1979.
Gwartney, James D., Stroup, Richard L., Lee, Dwight R., and Ferrarini, Tawni Hunt. Common Sense Economics. St. Martin’s Press. 2010.
Hazlitt, Henry. Economics in One Lesson. 1946. (Available at FEE.org)
Watch: Learn Liberty Economics
WHAT IS A FREE SOCIETY?
Sandy Ikeda
Readings
"New problems need new solutions" Wabi-sabi
"What would a free society look like?" Wabi-sabi
"You didn't build that!" Wabi-sabi
Isn’t the Economy Too Complex for the Free Market?
Jeff Proctor
Markets are complex. It is impossible to imagine the number of interactions and transactions that take place—even in your own city—during a typical day. Many people believe the only path to achieving complexity is through control (perhaps by a government). But is that true? Must complex things be controlled?
I.What is “the economy?”
II.What is “the free market?”
III.Complex? (Compared to what?)
IV.Spontaneous Order vs. Planned Order
Readings
Hayek, F.A. The Use of Knowledge in Society (Available at OLL)
Read, Leonard R. iPencil. (Available at FEE.org)
Online Library of Liberty - Topic: Spontaneous Order
Russ Roberts, The Reality of Markets
Russ Roberts, A Marvel of Cooperation
But What About the Children?
Paul Cwik
Public vs. Private Education; Failures of the Current System; Charter Schools, Vouchers, and a Truly Private Alternative
Lecture Teaser
Everyone is entitled to a quality education. We all had good educations. Right?
Actually, when we think about it, how much of it was a waste of time and energy? How many have fallen through the cracks? At what cost?!? We spend more per student than any nation. At the state level, we are literally bankrupting ourselves on education and health-care.
In other facets of life if I don’t like something, I don’t pay for it. If I prefer hockey over basketball, I spend my money accordingly and the market responds.
Education is different. We are told that education is too important to allow a choice in style or content. The result is a Soviet-style system that assigns children to schools. It tells them when it will start and end. It dictates what will be taught and how. Do the “experts” really know better?
Is there no escape? If you’re rich or if you can move, you might have a choice, but with Common Core going national, even that is being eroded.
Isn’t it time for a change? A radical change that places the student as the discriminating consumer whom the producers must please? Isn’t it time for a market solution?
Readings
FEE (2013). “Perspective—Disrupting Education,” in The Freeman, February.
Leef, George. (2009). “A is for Average, B is for Being There, And C is for….comatose? A new look at grade inflation and the entitlement mentality.” Pope Center:
Schalin, Jay (2012). Three part-series: “A Solution for a Bygone Era,” “The Myth of STEM Labor Shortages,” and “A Failure of Vision.” Pope Center. The first article is here with internal links to the other two:
Tooley, James (2006). “Backing the Wrong Horse: How Private Schools Are goods for the Poor,” in The Freeman, May.
Don’t Immigrants and Offshoring Hurt the Economy?
Ben Powell
- The Case for Free Trade
- Gains from trade
- International
- Comparative Advantage
- Is off shoring of services any different?
- Jobs
- Immigration
- Similarities with above
- Economy
- Jobs
- Wages
- What’s the optimal quantity?
- How Immigration is different
- The general case for trade in goods, services, labor, and capital
Readings
Don’t Consumers Need Protection from Greedy Corporations?
Jeff Proctor
I once had a friend say, “if you are going to have big business, you need big government too.” But is that true? Is it realistic that a) big business poses a threat and, b) big government is the solution to that threat? Or, is something else going on?