Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Presents "Bob Lawson and Ben Powell: Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World" May 6

The Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise (ISFE) will host economists and authors Robert Lawson and Benjamin Powell for a talk entitled, "Two Economists Drink Their Way Through the Unfree World." The talk will be based on the pair's similarly-titled book, which explores the notion that "socialism fails to deliver on any of the utopian promises it makes and instead is very bad for your economic (and other) health."

The Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise is dedicated to understanding the role that markets play in the economy and in society. The institute’s mission is to generate intellectually rigorous research and open dialogue to discover and understand how free enterprise affects peoples’ lives and the well-being of society.

According to ISFE Director Charles Courtemanche, “The debate between socialism and free-market capitalism may be more than a century old, but rarely has it been engaged in as entertaining a way as Professors Lawson and Powell do in their best-selling book. Their talk will be a perfect way for ISFE to re-launch in-person programming after more than a year online.”

Robert Lawson, Ph.D. holds the Fullinwider Chair in Economic Freedom and directs the O’Neil Center at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. Dr. Lawson is a founding co-author of the widely-cited Economic Freedom of the World index and has written more than one hundred academic articles, book chapters, policy reports, and book reviews.

Benjamin Powell, Ph.D. is the executive director of the Free Market Institute and a professor of economics in the Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University. He’s the author or editor of six other books and has appeared regularly on television and in the popular press.

The event is free and open to the public. It will be a hybrid event with both in-person and online attendance options. Interested individuals can register here.