Nobel Prize Winning Economist to Present First J.W. Pope Lecture

February 22, 2005 - Vernon Smith, recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, will present the first annual J.W. Pope Lecture at NC State on Wednesday, March 2, 2005. He will speak on the topic: “Some Economics and Politics of Globalization.”

The lecture will be held 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in room 2722 Bostian Hall, on the NC State main campus in Raleigh. The lecture is open to the public at no charge. Parking is available at the Dan Allen Parking Deck off Dan Allen Drive on the NC State campus [online directions].

This first of five annual programs is being hosted jointly by the College of Management’s Department of Economics and the College of Humanities and Social Science’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration.

Smith, currently professor of economics and law at George Mason University, received the Nobel Prize along with Daniel Kahneman, Eugene Higgins Professor of Psychology and Professor of Public Affairs at Princeton University. The award recognizes their contributions to the field of economics, particularly for establishing laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis.

Smith’s development of experimental methods set the standard for what constitutes a reliable laboratory experiment in economics. In his own experimental work, he has demonstrated the importance of alternative market institutions and spearheaded ‘wind-tunnel tests’ in which trials of new alternative market designs are carried out in the lab before being implemented in practice.

The J.W. Pope Lecture series is part of a program funded by a grant from the Pope Foundation to support education and research in economics and public policy in the two colleges at NC State. The program includes support for the Society for Political Science, Economics and Law, which provides an intellectual forum for students interested in pursuing careers in the practice of law.

Born in 1927 in Wichita, KS, Smith received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1955. He has been professor of economics and law at George Mason University since 2001.

Smith also will present the following lectures:

Faculty Colloquium
Thursday, March 3, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m, 4210 Nelson Hall
Topic: “Constructivist and Ecological Rationality: Principles and Examples,” for economics and political science professors at NC State and surrounding colleges.

Student presentation
Thursday, March 3, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., in 3222 Nelson Hall.
Topic: Experimental Economics, a general discussion with members of the Society for Political Science, Economics and Law, an undergraduate student organization at NC State for those interested in going to law school.