Economist Speaks on Impact of Economic Freedom
Economist Joshua C. Hall, co-creator of the Economic Freedom of the World annual report, visits Alma College to discuss how economic freedom is measured and how it impacts other social and political issues.
Hall speaks at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10th in the Dow Science Center Room L-1. Admission is free and open to the public.
Hall, an assistant professor in the economics department at Beloit College, visits Alma College courtesy of a Koch Foundation Grant and funding from the Alma College economics department. Feler Bose, assistant professor of economics at Alma College, organized Hall’s visit.
“He will be giving an overview of economic freedom as a concept, the link between economic freedom and economic growth, and how entrepreneurship leads to growth,” says Bose. “The speech will include both international aspects and also what is happening in the United States.”
Along with co-authors James Gwartney and Robert Lawson, Hall helps create the widely cited Economic Freedom of the World annual report. The index measures economic freedom and how it relates to factors such as life expectancy, life satisfaction, corruption perception and other measures.
“I'm looking forward to the opportunity to talk and interact one-on-one with Alma College students,” says Hall. “While the lectures are the most cost-effective way to get the ideas across, it is the small group discussions with students that are most memorable for me.”
Hall adds, “The most important thing that people should take away from my presentation is that economic freedom, broadly construed, is positively related to lots of ‘good things.’ Whether this is because economic freedom directly creates more of the thing in question, or because economic freedom leads to greater income and that income is spent to get more happiness, health care, etc., the bottom line is that economic freedom is something everyone should care about.”
Hall earned his bachelor and master degrees in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University. Formerly an economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, he has published more than 100 professional journal articles, policy studies, book chapters, encyclopedia entries and book reviews.
Posted: Wed, March 2nd, 2011 at 7:49AM
