Upcoming Events
Public Programs:
All events are free and open to the SMU community and the general public.
Fall 2022
Flourishing and a Free Society
Topic: U.S. Pandemic Policy: Failures, Successes, and Lessons
Featuring: Alex Tabarrok, Director, Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University and Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center
Description: Professor Tabarrok will discuss the U.S. policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic including how our testing and vaccine policies were too slow to react to the threat. He will also discuss lessons that we should have learned to accelerate FDA approvals for all drugs and to incentivize R&D in the future.
When: Wednesday, September 21, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm, reception following
(Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center)
Texas Economic Forum
Topic: Can the Texas Model Survive?
Featuring:
W. Michael Cox, Bridwell Institute at SMU Cox
Cullum Clark, Director, Bush Institute - SMU Economic Growth Institute
Vance Ginn, Former Chief Economist, Texas Public Policy Foundation
Description: Lauded by political and business leaders, the Texas Model of low taxes, limited government and economic freedom fueled the state’s growth and job creation over the past 30 years. Our panel of economic experts will focus on state, national and global forces threatening the model’s future.
When: Wednesday, October 12, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm, reception following
(Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center)
Flourishing and a Free Society
Topic: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics
Featuring: Steven E. Landsburg, Professor of economics at the University of Rochester
Description: Landsburg shows how the rational behavior of each one of us—when combined together—produces the often bizarre, seemingly irrational behavior of crowds. We all stand up at the ballpark, so none of us can see. Things really get interesting when Landsburg suggests ways to change the rules, and game the system. Why not charge juries if a convicted felon is exonerated? Why not have each member of Congress represent a national subset of voters, chosen alphabetically? Why not solve the “overpopulation” problem by having more children, who will help think of ways to improve our use of resources?
When: Tuesday, November 1, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm, reception following
(Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center)
Other Events (by invitation only):
Metro Economic Freedom Index Faculty Colloquium
August 3-5, 2022
Economic Freedom of North America Network Annual Meeting
September 14-15, 2022
Reading Group Summit
September 17, 2022
March 25, 2023
Undergraduate Student Colloquium
Each semester the Bridwell Institute hosts a select group of undergraduate students from various schools to participate in a discussion colloquium. Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies, this day-long colloquium will center on informal, yet serious, discussion with just 15 participants. For more information, please reach out to Meg Tuszynski at mtuszynski@smu.edu.
Spring 2023
Flourishing and a Free Society
(Co-sponsored with Maguire Energy Institute and George W. Bush Institute)
Topic: TBD
Featuring: Daniel Yergin
When: February 15-16
Flourishing and a Free Society
Topic: The Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Dilemma: The Wrong Reasons or the Wrong Kind?
Featuring: Jason Brennan, Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Term Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy & Director, Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics, Georgetown University
Description: Corporate policies to support Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) have become more popular. What are the arguments for these policies and what is the evidence of their effectiveness?
When: Thursday, March 23, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm, reception following
(Crum Auditorium, Collins Executive Education Center)
Texas Economic Forum
TBD
Other events (by invitation only):
Graduate Economic Freedom Research Colloquium
TBD
Women & Economic Freedom Colloquium
TBD
Reading Group Summit
TBD
Undergraduate Student Colloquium
Each semester the Bridwell Institute hosts a select group of undergraduate students from various schools to participate in a discussion colloquium. Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies, this day-long colloquium will center on informal, yet serious, discussion with just 15 participants. For more information, please reach out to Meg Tuszynski at mtuszynski@smu.edu.