Daniel J. Smith
Distinguished Economics Alumnus
Dan Smith graduated from George Mason University early in 2011 with a PhD in Economics, and he is currently working as an assistant professor of economics at the Manual H. Johnson Center for Political Economy at Troy University. Smith’s research interests are in Political Economy and Development Economics. One of his main goals as a researcher and teacher is emphasizing the vital role of market institutions in promoting economic growth and prosperity.
Smith’s passion for free-markets mirrors the goals of his new surroundings. The Johnson Center is committed to placing free-market principles and market-based management strategies at the core of Troy University’s economics programs. The center aims to contribute to the frontiers of political economy through a distinctive research agenda and a unique emphasis on student engagement, and is beginning to emerge “as the premier source of free-market education in Alabama.” At Troy, Smith is teaching two courses: graduate level Development Economics and Principles of Microeconomics. Most of the content of these classes is based on of writings, teaching methods, and materials Smith learned at Mason.
During his time at Mason, Smith worked closely with long-time GMU faculty member and Mercatus Center Senior Research Fellow Peter Boettke to coauthor a chapter in Kern’s The Economics of Natural and Unnatural Disasters called “Private Solutions to Public Disasters: Self-Reliance and Social Resilience,” published in 2010.He also authoreda chapter in Kates’s upcoming book The Global Financial Crisis and an article to be published in the Journal of Sport Management.
Smith hopes to continue partnering with his associates at GMU and is working on a paper entitled “The Influence of Nobel Prize Winners: Mainline vs. Mainstream” with Professor Boettke and fellow GMU graduate Alexander Fink. Smith is staying busy conducting interviews in Joplin, MO and Tuscaloosa, AL for a project, sponsored by GMU and the Mercatus Center that studies the public and private responses to the tornadoes that devastated those communities.
Smith’s accomplishments while at George Mason have not gone unnoticed. Smith has lectured for several organizations including the Atlas Network’s Liberty Café, the Foundation for Economic Education and the Institute for Humane Studies. In 2010, he was the Oloffson Weasver Fellow of Political Economy at George Mason University, received the Don Lavoie Memorial Essay Prize, and was awarded an Institute for Human Studies’ Hayek Fund for Scholars grant. Boettke describes Smith as “exemplary” in the classroom as both a student and teacher. Boettke goes on to say that he expects “very big things from Dan.”