October 2, 2015, 9:00 AM to October 3, 2015, 3:00 PM EDT
Van Metre Hall (formerly Founders Hall)
A conference on Gordon Tullock’s economic, political, and legal research is being held in Founders Hall of George Mason’s Arlington Campus on Friday October 2 and Saturday October 3, 2015.
Gordon Tullock was one of the founders of the field of research that came to be called Public Choice. He was coauthor of one of the most important books in the field, the Calculus of Consent (with Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan) and the first to point out the losses associated with rent seeking. He was also among the first researchers to use economic tools to analyze the law, trial procedures, and judicial systems. His research includes theories of the origin of the state and constitutional governance, the impossibility of revolution, legal systems, government failure, and the economics of science itself. Beyond his own research he was an institution builder. He was the founding editor of the journal Public Choice, a premiere outlet for research on public choice. He helped to launch the Public Choice Society and the European Public Choice Society. He is among the most influential economists never to win the Nobel Prize.
The conference provides an overview of his innovative research program and assesses its impact on the fields of economics, law, and political science. Twenty-two scholars from around the world have been invited to survey, analyze and critique his research. Among the most well-known are Dennis Mueller (University of Austria), Arye Hillman (Bar Ilan University), Toke Aidt (Cambridge University), Michael Munger (Duke University), William Shughart II (Utah State University), Francesco Parisi (University of Minnesota) and Stefan Voigt (University of Hamburg). A dinner talk on Friday evening will be provided by James Miller, the former director of Office of Management and Budget.
A series of panels takes place on Friday, October 2 beginning at 9:00 am, including a catered lunch and supper. On Saturday, October 3, beginning at 9:30 am, three plenary speakers will deliver overviews of Gordon Tullock’s research on rent seeking, economic growth, and public choice research. The morning talks are followed by lunch and short personal reflections on Gordon Tullock, the Man, the Polymath Tormentor, and Mentor.
To view the full conference schedule
Please RSVP to tullockconf@gmail.com
Hosted by George Mason University.
