PhD in Economics

Karras Lambert, 2022

Karras Lambert

What have you most enjoyed about studying economics at Mason?

I came to George Mason specifically because of the professors in the economics department here. I knew since applying that I wanted to study under and work most closely with professors associated with the F.A. Hayek program like Peter Boettke, Christopher Coyne, Peter Leeson, and Lawrence White, so having the chance to do so has been what I’ve found most enjoyable so far. Learning microeconomics from Walter Williams is also an opportunity that I will never take for granted. I should add that the economics professors at Mason working in different research traditions are also excellent scholars and communicators of economic ideas and help make studying at Mason so rewarding. For example, going to Public Choice seminars and seeing professors like Bryan Caplan, Alex Tabarrok, John Nye and Robin Hanson sitting around and interacting openly with students is exciting and I imagine not the kind of experience available at many universities. The intellectual atmosphere across the board is always welcoming to new ideas yet demanding of argumentative rigor, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

What kinds of opportunities have been available to you as a student at Mason?

The most valuable opportunity for Ph.D. economics students is such close interaction with professors. Very quickly after starting my first year, I was made to feel like I was a valuable member of the program and soon began to collaborate with professors whose work I had respected greatly for years before coming to Mason. I also appreciate the opportunity to attend regularly occurring seminars like the F.A. Hayek Program’s Workshop in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), Wednesday Public Choice seminars, and the Adam Smith Program’s Invisible Hand Seminar, which is run by Dan Klein. Getting exposure to the work of professors outside of GMU and having the chance to interact with them goes a long way towards the “professional development” aspect so important to a Ph.D. program. My experience at Mason has definitely exceeded my expectations in that regard.

Is there a favorite experience or program highlight you would like to share from your time at Mason?  

I’m always most excited when visiting scholars come to the department, specifically when they spend time in the F.A. Hayek program office. It gives the program a very dynamic feeling, with different kinds of scholars coming in and out. Graduate student interaction with visiting scholars is strongly encouraged and supported. If I can only pick one highlight so far, it has to be the opportunity to meet Richard Ebeling in the Fall of 2019. I mostly asked him about his experiences with some historical figures in the Austrian School and relished every chance I had to interact with him over the course of the few days he was visiting the program. It was then that I finally felt like I had entered the world of those economists working in the Austrian tradition, which I had previously only read about and imagined from the outside.

What advice would you give new students as they start the program at Mason?  

Attend as many different seminars and reading groups as your schedule and coursework permit to get a feeling for where your research interests fit best. You can’t really go wrong with any of the different concentrations within the economics program at Mason, but new students are in a particularly good position to sample as many as they can before narrowing their focus as they get closer to choosing fields by the second year and a dissertation advisor by the third.