Uploaded March 2020 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
From our archive: Nobel prize-winning economist Vernon Smith delivers the talk, “‘America the Beautiful’ in Dissent: First and Fourteenth Amendment Expansions of Freedom: An Oral History.” In this wide-ranging and informal talk, Dr. Smith shares insights from his research and stories from his personal experiences (over 90 years worth!), and connects those experiences to events in U.S. history and the Civil Rights movement. He also explores the broader lessons we can all learn from these events. Smith argues that we may live in dangerous times today, but we have always lived in dangerous times- that’s part of the story of America.
This talk was delivered in September 2018 at the Arlington campus of George Mason University, and hosted by the Institute for Humane Studies.
Dr. Vernon L. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics. Dr. Smith is Professor of Economics and Law at Chapman University and Professor Emeritus at George Mason University.
Dr. Smith has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics. Previous faculty appointments include the University of Arizona, Purdue University, Brown University, the University of Massachusetts, and George Mason University, where he was a Professor of Economics and Law prior to joining the faculty at Chapman University. Dr. Smith has been a Ford Foundation Fellow, Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Smith completed his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, his master's degree in economics at the University of Kansas, and his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University.
From our archive: Nobel prize-winning economist Vernon Smith delivers the talk, “‘America the Beautiful’ in Dissent: First and Fourteenth Amendment Expansions of Freedom: An Oral History.” In this wide-ranging and informal talk, Dr. Smith shares insights from his research and stories from his personal experiences (over 90 years worth!), and connects those experiences to events in U.S. history and the Civil Rights movement. He also explores the broader lessons we can all learn from these events. Smith argues that we may live in dangerous times today, but we have always lived in dangerous times- that’s part of the story of America.
This talk was delivered in September 2018 at the Arlington campus of George Mason University, and hosted by the Institute for Humane Studies.
Dr. Vernon L. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics. Dr. Smith is Professor of Economics and Law at Chapman University and Professor Emeritus at George Mason University.
Dr. Smith has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics. Previous faculty appointments include the University of Arizona, Purdue University, Brown University, the University of Massachusetts, and George Mason University, where he was a Professor of Economics and Law prior to joining the faculty at Chapman University. Dr. Smith has been a Ford Foundation Fellow, Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Smith completed his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, his master's degree in economics at the University of Kansas, and his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University.
