San Jose State University
Department of Economics
David S. Saurman Provocative Lecture Series
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“Money Mischief and the March to Centralization”
Lawrence W. Reed
President of the Foundation for Economic Education
STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ARE ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND.
With regulation over air, energy, health, banks, wages, cars, credit cards,
and the price of carry-on luggage running rampant, it is time to consider
Hayek’s warning that mankind really knows very little about what we imagine
we can design. What are the limits to design? Can order generated without
design, “far outstrip the plans men consciously contrive”? To examine these
questions, Lawrence Reed provides an historical overview of the process and
outcomes of attempts to design Monetary Policy. Monetary policy from the
inception of the federal government has been politicized and erratic.
Starting with an ill-conceived effort at bimetallism, Washington moved on to
experiment with fiat paper, monometallism and a hybrid of the two. There can
be little doubt about where the sequence of designs and redesigns has
ended—centralization of monetary power, enormous discretion for monetary
authorities and a currency worth a fraction of what it once could purchase.
Before designing new policies, it is advisable to reflect on the historical
record. This lecture is ideal for Finance, Political Science, History and
Economics majors.
Lawrence W. (Larry) Reed has reported on hyperinflation in South America,
black markets behind the Iron Curtain, and the recent stunning developments
in Eastern Europe. Among many foreign adventures, Reed visited the ravaged
nation of Cambodia in 1989 with his late friend, Academy Award winner Dr.
Haing S. Ngor; recorded an authentic native voodoo ceremony in a remote
region of Haiti in 1987; traveled with the Polish anti-communist underground
for which he was arrested and detained by border police in 1986; interviewed
presidents and cabinet officials in half a dozen nations; spent time with
the contra rebels during the Nicaraguan civil war; and lived for two weeks
with the rebels of Mozambique at their bush headquarters in 1991, at the
height of that country’s devastating civil war. In the past twenty-five
years, he has authored over 1,000 newspaper, magazine, and journal articles,
as well as five books. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street
Journal, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Detroit News
and Detroit Free Press, among many others. Reed’s most recent book is
Striking the Root: Essays on Liberty.
In 2008, Reed assumed the presidency of the Foundation for Economic
Education in Irvington, New York. He served as President of the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy in Michigan for its first two decades, and remains
President Emeritus. Reed holds a B.A. degree in Economics from Grove City
College (1975) and an M.A. degree in History from Slippery Rock State
University (1978), both in Pennsylvania. Reed has been awarded two honorary
doctorates and Grove City College’s “Distinguished Alumni Award.”
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
5:15–6:45 P.M.
Morris Dailey Auditorium
ABOUT THE DAVID S. SAURMAN PROVOCATIVE LECTURE SERIES: The Department of
Economics invites students, faculty, and the general public to consider
intellectual arguments on controversial topics. Presenters in the
Provocative Lecture Series are noted for their outstanding scholarship and
public speaking ability. This lecture series fosters the tradition of higher
education to challenge ideas and develop critical thinking in an environment
of respect for intellectual discourse. Our goal is for you to develop the
critical thinking skills necessary to reach your own informed position on
controversial issues. We invite you to attend, to relax, to ponder, and to
enjoy the thought process.