******* F R E E E X C H A N G E *******
A San Francisco Supper Club
Dedicated to Rationality, Objectivity, Free Minds,
and Free Markets.
On Saturday evening, FEBRUARY 19, 2005
DANIEL KLEIN
Will speak on
"THE PEOPLES' ROMANCE:
Why People Love Government (As Much As They Do)"
TALK DESCRIPTION:
Dr. Daniel Klein interprets Adam Smith's theory of "sympathy" as
a theory of sentiment coordination. He explains that when such
sentiments encompass an entire social group (and look to
government for the focal points) we have the "People's Romance."
It is evident in the writings of the communists, social democrats,
and others who champion the achieving of a "common under-
standing," "common endeavor," or "shared experience."
The "People's Romance" helps to explain a wide variety of
political and cultural puzzles. Dr. Klein explores whether the
"People's Romance" can be compatible with classical liberal
goals and values.
* * *
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
Daniel Klein is an associate professor of economics at Santa
Clara University. He has published works on urban transit,
highways, and the FDA. He has also written on the political
culture -- including articles on the ideological orientation of
academic institutions. His empirical work on academia involves
a large survey of six national associations, a voter registration
study of Berkeley and Stanford, and an analysis of the Social
Science Citation Index.
Dr. Klein earned his Ph.D. at New York University, winning
the best economics dissertation prize. At Santa Clara
University Dan is also the Director of the Civil Society Institute,
a classical liberal program that has won the Excellence in
Private Enterprise Education award from the Freedoms
Foundation at Valley Forge. He has also received awards from
the Atlas Foundation for Economic Research, The Fund
for the Study of Spontaneous Order, and the Mont Pelerin
Society.
Klein is the chief editor of the online scholarly journal Econ
Journal Watch, a journal that is developing an far-reaching
criticism of academic economics. The journal's Advisory
Council includes many leading classical liberal economists,
including 5 Nobel laureates. EJW has quickly become one of
the most-read scholarly journals in economics.
Dr. Klein is also coauthor of "Curb Rights: A Foundation for
Free Enterprise in Urban Transit "(Brookings, 1997), editor of
"Reputation: Studies in the Voluntary Elicitation of Good
Conduct" (University of Michigan Press, 1997), editor of
"What Do Economists Contribute?" (Palgrave, 2001), and co-
editor of "The Half-Life of Policy Rationales: How New
Technology Affects Old Policy Issues" (NYU Press, 2003).
Dan runs the Saturday Night Anarchy Club (SNAC) at the
clubhouse in Santa Clara where he lives. He is married to
a Swedish social scientist, spends some part of every year
in Sweden, and is the father of a darling toddling daughter.
APRIL 16th - Sharon Presley on her new book, "EXQUISITE
REBEL: Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre, American Anarchist,
Feminist, Genius."