How Economists Helped End the Military Draft
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Grand Auditorium (CR 105)
Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Public Lecture — 5:30-6:30 PM
On January 27, 1973, conscription of men into the United States military ended, and on June 30, 1973, the law authorizing conscription expired. In the mid to late 1960s, several economists did extensive work documenting the tremendous human cost of the draft and laying out a systematic and strong case against the draft and for an all-volunteer force. Economists from across the political spectrum, but especially from the classical-liberal, pro-market end, were very active in this work (excerpted from 'The Role of Economists in Ending the Draft', Econ Journal Watch, Vol. 2, No. 2). David R. Henderson will visit Texas Tech University to deliver remarks about his research on this issue.
David R. Henderson is a professor of economics at the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California and a Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. From 1982 to 1984, he was the senior economist for health policy and, from 1983 to 1984, the senior economist for energy policy, with President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. Henderson's specialty is in making economics understandable to non-economists. To that end, he maintains a regular blog at Econlog.
He is the editor of The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics and the author of The Joy of Freedom: An Economist's Odyssey. He has also authored several articles for scholarly publications and hundreds of articles for popular publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Barron's, and Fortune, among other outlets.
This event is free and open to all members of the Texas Tech community and the general public. More information about the program, including information about parking, can be found at www.events.fmi.ttu.edu.