SPEL Students Dig Into Economics, Politics
Mar. 17, 2005 - Ever been to a farmers’ market? Then chances are that you’ve seen some bartering taking place.
That’s one example of economics in action, according to one of the students who attended the first J.W. Pope Lecture, presented Mar. 3 by Vernon Smith, Nobel Prize winning economist.
The overflow crowd attending the Pope Lecture included members of The Society for Politics, Economics and Law (SPEL), a new student organization formed at NC State last fall as part of a new multidisciplinary program led jointly by faculty in the College of Management and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS).
The following day, SPEL members hosted another overflow crowd, this one designed for students and held in the board room at NC State's College of Management, with Smith continuing his discussion on economics..
The new program that launched the Pope Lecture Series and SPEL is funded by a grant from the John W. Pope Foundation to support the interdisciplinary study of economics, politics and law. It is managed by Dr. Andrew Taylor, associate professor of political science, and Dr. Steve Margolis, professor of economics.
“SPEL provides a new set of intellectual opportunities for students who are interested in the interdisciplinary study of economics, politics and law,” says Travis Fisher, one of its members.
“Our organization strives to broaden the awareness of our members and encourage reasoned discussion of economic, polical and legal issues. We began meeting in September 2004 and officially organized as a student organization at NC State in October.”
The student group is advised by Dr. Roy Cordato, vice president of research at the John Locke Foundation and economics professor at NC State. “Dr. Cordato has been a great resource for the organization,” Fisher says.
Cordato has had quite a bit of experience engaging students in such intellectual discussion. He previously was Lundy Professor of Business Philosohy at Campbell University and faculty advisor for the Adam Smith Club there. He currently teaches “Political Economics of the Market Process” at NC State's College of Management.
SPEL is open to any student, faculty or staff member of NC State, as well as the general public. Most members currently are from the College of Management’s economics department and the political and social science departments in CHASS, Fisher says, but there also is one member from the Wake Technical Community College.
“We provide speakers on topics related to economics, politics and law,” he says.
Among presenters this year were Mike Munger, chairman of the political science department at Duke University, who spoke about public choice, the economics of politics; and Bruce Caldwell, professor of economics at UNC-Greensboro, who talked about the ideas of Friedrich Hayek.
Other SPEL activities this year included an internship/summer program fair in February, at which Traci Leonardo, director of the Institute on Political Journalism, talked with students about the programs offered by the Fund for American Studies for students interested in politics, economics and law.
“We also have a reading group,” Fisher says. "We are currently reading Hernando de Soto's Mystery of Capital."
Current officers of the club are President Nancy Zadbayou, political science major, and Treasurer Julie Bryce, economics major.