Public invited to hear Russ Roberts at unveiling of Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise at OSU

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Stanford research fellow and economic talk show host Russ Roberts will present “Economic Harmony: The Real Invisible Hand” at the official unveiling of the Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union Theater at Oklahoma State University.

OSU President Burns Hargis and Provost Gary Sandefur invite the public to attend the event and learn more about the institute, which was established in February to focus on teaching and research in subjects such as principled entrepreneurship, regulation, markets, public policy and the role of business in a free society.

Well known for communicating economics to non-economists, Roberts is a research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and a regular commentator for National Public Radio’s Morning Edition. He is the host of EconTalk, an award-winning weekly podcast that often includes interviews with professional economists. Roberts has written for the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including his latest “How Adam Smith can Change Your Life.” Roberts has two rap videos, based on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek, which have more than seven million views on YouTube. They’ve also been subtitled in eleven languages for use in high school and college classrooms around the world.

An announcement about the institute and the Records-Johnson Professorship will follow Robert’s keynote address. The university-wide, multi-disciplinary institute is housed in the provost’s office, where its goals include OSU community engagement in addition to the university’s land grant mission for instruction, outreach and research:

OSU community engagement. The institute sponsors the Free Enterprise Society, a student-run academic society, which will provide the OSU community with speakers, faculty-student dinner/discussion groups, networking events, and other educational activities. The society is non-partisan, and does not engage in any form of political advocacy. The institute provides scholarships for all levels of students who are interested in learning about free enterprise. It also offers them free enterprise-related courses, membership in the Free Enterprise Society, off-campus events, and travel study opportunities.
Instruction. The institute coordinates and sponsors OSU courses related to free enterprise. Courses are offered at all levels: undergraduate general education, undergraduate upper division, masters and doctoral. Courses are offered in a variety of formats, including traditional face-to-face, online, and blended.
Outreach. The institute uses the latest in digital technology and teaching methods to deliver MOOCs (massive, open, online classes) on topics related to free enterprise. These non-credit classes are free and available over the internet to anyone, anywhere.
Research. The institute supports the research efforts of OSU faculty through research colloquia, visiting fellowships, faculty fellowships, and professorships. Faculty fellowships and professorships are open to faculty from any department at OSU.

Areas of research activity include all forms of regulation, the psychological and moral fallacy of income equality and “social justice,” cronyism in the U.S. and abroad, political corruption as a barrier to free enterprise, ethics of the early-stage entrepreneur, and free enterprise and Austrian thought. Research also includes the analysis and design of public policies to foster human flourishing, economic growth, free market healthcare, free market energy, free market agriculture, and educational entrepreneurship.

For more information about the unveiling or the Institute, visit the institute’s website at fe.okstate.edu.

Story by Samantha Mori