TTU HomeTechAnnounce

TechAnnounce

Printer friendly format
Well-known Scholar Deirdre McCloskey to Speak at Texas Tech Tomorrow

FMI Public Lecture: 'How We Got Rich — Not What You Think'

There's little doubt that most humans today are better off than their forebears. Stunningly so, according to economist and historian, Deirdre McCloskey. Even the poorest of humanity will soon be joining the comparative riches of Japan and Sweden and Botswana.

Why? Most economists—from Adam Smith and Karl Marx to Thomas Piketty—say the Great Enrichment since 1800 came from accumulated capital. McCloskey disagrees, fiercely. "Our riches," she argues, "were made not by piling brick on brick, bank balance on bank balance, but by piling idea on idea." Capital was necessary, but so was the presence of oxygen. It was ideas, not matter, that drove "trade-tested betterment." Nor were institutions the drivers. The World Bank orthodoxy of "add institutions and stir" doesn't work, and didn't work. McCloskey builds a powerful case for the initiating role of ideas—ideas for electric motors and free elections, of course, but more deeply the bizarre and liberal ideas of equal liberty and dignity for ordinary folk. Liberalism arose from theological and political revolutions in northwest Europe, yielding a unique respect for betterment and its practitioners, and upending ancient hierarchies. Commoners were encouraged to have a go, and the bourgeoisie took up the Bourgeois Deal, and we were all enriched.

Dr. McCloskey will deliver her remarks on Thursday, March 1, 2018 in the Grand Auditorium (CR 105) of the Rawls College of Business Administration from 5:30-6:30 PM. Please visit the FMI Upcoming Events page for more information about the program.

This event is free and open to all members of the Texas Tech University community and the general public. Visitors to the university may park in Reserved Lot R-23 outside of the Rawls College starting at 5:00 PM.

Please contact the Free Market Institute with any questions about this program by email at free.market@ttu.edu or phone at (806) 742-7138.

Posted:
2/28/2018

Originator:
Amanda Smith

Email:
amanda.p.smith@ttu.edu

Department:
Free Market Institute

Event Information
Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Event Date: 3/1/2018

Location:
Rawls College of Business Administration - CR 105


Categories