Freedom Seminar

“Hayek in the 21st Century” will be presented by Daniel J. Smith, the Director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics at the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University.

Is Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom, which warns of the dangers of socialism to democratic freedoms, still relevant today? Has the Nordic model refuted Hayek’s hypothesis? Through meticulous research contextualizing, interpreting, and rigorously testing The Road to Serfdom, Dr. Daniel J. Smith, a preeminent scholar on the work, rigorously demonstrates its validity and timeless relevance. He presents compelling modern evidence illustrating socialism’s historical and modern ties to authoritarianism. Smith concludes that Hayek was correct: Not only does capitalism yield superior living standards, but it also serves as a vital bulwark for democratic institutions and individual liberties. 

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Griswold Lecture Hall on Northwood University’s campus with a reception to follow.

More About Daniel J. Smith

Daniel J. Smith is the Director of the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor of Economics at the Jones College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University. Dan is the North American Co-Editor of The Review of Austrian Economics and the Senior Fellow for Fiscal and Regulatory Policy at the Beacon Center of Tennessee. He also serves on the Board of Scholars for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Dan is a past president of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics and previously was the BB&T Professor of Economic Freedom in the Manuel H. Johnson Center at Troy University and taught at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, through a partnership with Troy University. 

Dan specializes in public choice, political economy, and the history of economic thought. He primarily researches democracy, monetary institutions, public pensions, term limits, and regulation. Dan co-authored Money and the Rule of Law: Generality and Predictability in Monetary Institutions (Cambridge University Press), written with Peter J. Boettke and Alexander W. Salter, and The Political Economy of Public Pensions (Cambridge University Press – Elements Series in Austrian Economics), written with Eileen Norcross. Smith has published over one hundred popular publications in national and regional outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, and the Detroit News, and has been interviewed on radio and television stations across the nation.  

He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University and a B.B.A. in economics and finance from Northwood University. 

“Globalization at the Crossroads” will be presented by Ryan Yonk, the Director of Education at American Institute for Economic Research (AIER).

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Ryan Yonk

Ryan M. Yonk is the Director of Education and Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.  He holds a PhD from Georgia State University and a MS and BS from Utah State University. Prior to joining AIER he held academic positions at North Dakota State University, Utah State University, and Southern Utah University, and was one of the founders of the Strata Policy.

He is the (co) author or editor of numerous books including Green V. Green, Nature Unbound: Bureaucracy vs. the Environment, The Reality of American Energy,  and Politics and Quality of Life: The Role of Well-Being in Political Outcomes. He has also (co) authored numerous articles in academic journals including Public Choice, The Independent Review, Applied Research in Quality of Life, and the Journal of Private Enterprise. His research explores how policy can be better crafted to achieve greater individual autonomy and prosperity.

“Free Trade or Protectionism” will be presented by John Grether, professor of practice at Kettering University School of Management.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About John Grether

John Grether is professor of practice at Kettering University School of Management. Prior to that he was the academic dean at Northwood University and an adjunct professor at the Richard M. DeVos Graduate School of Management in Midland, Michigan. Prior to his academic appointments, John served Northwood as an assistant professor of economics, academic counselor and adjunct professor. Prior to joining Northwood University, he was involved in the management and/or ownership of several small businesses in Phoenix, Arizona and Midland. John has also conducted corporate training seminars in marketing and marketing research.

Grether holds a BBA degree in Economics and Management from Northwood University and a MA degree Economics from Central Michigan University. As a graduate student, John held one of thirteen prestigious Graduate Research Fellowships awarded annually. In addition, his master’s thesis on the economics of public consensus was presented at the 1995 Winter Proceedings of the Economic Science Association. Since then his academic interests have focused on the mechanisms and outcomes of human liberty, which led to his decision to pursue a law degree from Michigan State University – Detroit College of Law.

“How to Regulate AI (and other technologies that pose unknowable risks)” will be presented by John Chisholm, head of John Chisholm Ventures, a San Francisco-based entrepreneurship advisory and investment firm.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Griswold Lecture Hall on Northwood University’s campus with a reception to follow.

More About John Chisholm

John Dana Chisholm has four decades of experience as an entrepreneur, CEO, and investor. He founded and for five years served as Chairman/CEO of Decisive Technology (now part of Google), publisher of the first desktop and client-server software for online surveys. Later, he founded and for eleven years served as Chairman/CEO of CustomerSat (now part of FocusVision), a leading provider of enterprise feedback management systems. Earlier he served in engineering, marketing, and management positions at GE, HP, Grid Systems, and Xerox. Today he heads John Chisholm Ventures, a San Francisco-based entrepreneurship advisory and investment firm.

He has served as trustee of the Santa Fe Institute since 2010, on the MIT Corporation (board of trustees) from 2015-2021, and as president and chair of the worldwide MIT Alumni Association from 2015-2016. He is an advisory board member for the Harvard Kennedy School Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, for the Atlas Network, and for the Gruter Institute for Law and Human Behavior. Previously, he served as chair of the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society; as advisory board member for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) and the Institute for New Economic Thinking; as mentor and judge for the Hult Prize for entrepreneurship, the European Innovation Academy, and the Thiel Fellowship; and as member of MIT visiting committees for the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and for departments of mathematics, social sciences, linguistics and philosophy. He gave the 2019 Siwei Distinguished Lecture at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and has twice served on the Recommendations Committee of the World Internet Summit in Wuzhen, China. He is the author or co-author of two US patents and has contributed to Forbes. He is the author of Unleash Your Inner Company: 10 Steps to Discover, Launch, and Scale Your Ideal Business and of Integral: A Mathematical Odyssey.

John holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He writes and speaks frequently on entrepreneurship, innovation, the future of education, holistic approaches to diversity and inclusion, and on what forms of regulation foster vs. stifle entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic growth. An avid mountain climber, he has summited Mounts Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Shasta, Whitney, St. Helens, and made the roundtrip trek to Everest Base Camp.

“Stewards of Liberty: The Northwood Idea through the Lens of Hayek’s Road to Serfdom and Rockefeller’s Faith in the Individual” will be presented by Dr. Kent MacDonald, President of Northwood University.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus with a reception to follow.

More About Dr. Kent MacDonald

Dr. Kent MacDonald is a highly regarded leader in the higher education sector. Since 2019, Dr. MacDonald has successfully led the University through incredible challenges, including keeping the University open throughout the coronavirus pandemic, increasing the institution’s financial strength and rebuilding much of the campus after devastating flooding that took place because of the local dam failures.  

Dr. MacDonald came to Northwood University from St. Francis Xavier University, one of Canada’s oldest and most respected universities.  

Dr. MacDonald earned his MBA from the University of Ottawa and his Master of Education from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia. He is also a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where his doctoral research focused on high-performing colleges and presidential leadership.  

Dr. MacDonald’s research interest relates to the high performing colleges and effective leadership. In this regard, he has addressed audiences worldwide, including Europe, Southeast and Central Asia, Latin America, Middle East and throughout North America.  

Dr. MacDonald is married to Dr. Mary-Ellen MacPhee, a lifelong educator and they have four children. They consider Midland, Michigan home and are honored to serve the Northwood Community.  

“The Fall of Rome and Modern Parallels” will be presented by Lawrence Reed, President Emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), on how lessons learned from the decline of Ancient Rome can be applied to the challenges facing America today.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Griswold Lecture Hall on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Lawrence Reed

Economist and historian Lawrence W. (“Larry”) Reed is President Emeritus of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE.org) in Atlanta, Georgia. Before retiring to the emeritus role in 2019, he served as President of FEE for 11 years. Prior to that, he was founding president of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, Michigan, for 21 years and an economics professor at Northwood University for 7 years.

He is author of seven books, the most recent of which are Was Jesus a Socialist? and Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courage, Character and Conviction. He has also authored more than 2,000 articles and newspaper columns around the world and lectured in all 50 states and most of the 94 countries he has visited. He holds two honorary doctorates (in Public Administration and in Laws) from Central Michigan University and Northwood University.

In 2023, the President of Poland bestowed upon Reed the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the highest honor that Poland gives to a foreigner. President Ronald Reagan was a past recipient. 

He blogs at www.lawrencewreed.com.

“The Entrepreneurs Who Made America” will be presented by Dr. Dale Moler, Assistant Professor of History at Northwood University.

“The Entrepreneurs Who Made America Great” will explore the late 1800s and early 1900s in the United States, a time when new technologies reshaped the landscape and lifeways of everyone. We will look at several examples of inventors who created and marketed their technologies to the masses during the period, a time known as the “Age of Invention.” More importantly, we will consider the historical context that fostered such dramatic innovation. An examination of the unique combination of people and environment that characterized the turn of the twentieth century gives us new appreciation for this transformative period as well as new perspective on our own innovative age.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Dr. Dale Moler

Dale Moler joined Northwood University in 2015 and serves as Assistant Professor of History and Honors Program Lead. He received a PhD in History from Central Michigan University and an MSc in Historical Studies from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. 

His research interests focus on the role of technology in shaping the way people live and interact with one another, as well as the ways in which societies organize and regulate those technologies. Before joining Northwood, Dr. Moler also served on the faculty at Central Michigan University, Lansing Community College, and Saginaw Valley State University.

“Germany’s Postwar Miracle” will be presented by Dr. Dale Matcheck, Professor and Department Chair of Economics at Northwood University.

In this lecture we offer a tale of two countries. After the devastation of World War II, how did West Germany rise to become one of the leading economies of the post war world, while E. Germany stagnated? The development of the West led to a flood immigrants from the East, a trend that only was partially halted by the construction of the Berlin Wall. What caused the “Wirtschaftswunder” – the economic miracle in West Germany, and did U.S. policy help or hinder its development?

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Dr. Dale Matcheck

Dr. Dale Matcheck has a degree in economics from the University of Michigan (1984) and a PhD. in Economics from Cornell University (1993). His research interests are in the fields of public policy and the economics of the environment.   

Dr. Matcheck has been a professor of economics at Northwood University since 1996, and department chair since 2010.  Prior to that, he assistant professor at the University of Michigan-Flint. In 2019 and 2020, he was the recipient of the Sam Marotta Faculty ethics award at Northwood University. He is the co-editor of When We Are Free, an anthology of essays on Limited Government and the Free Enterprise System, and served as the academic director of the Northwood University Freedom Seminar from 1999-2022.

“Chainsaw Economics: Javier Milei’s Argentina in Margaret Thatcher’s Mirror” will be presented by Ivan Carlos Carrino, an Independent Consultant and Associate Researcher at FARO UDD, the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Ivan Carlos Carrino

Iván Carrino is a writer, lecturer, and professor. He is currently an Independent Consultant and Associate Researcher at FARO UDD, the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile. 

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Buenos Aires, a Master’s degree in Austrian Economics from Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, and a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from UCEMA in Argentina. 

He delivers talks and lectures at specialized conferences, business meetings, and non-governmental events. He also advises companies on topics related to his field of expertise and study. 

He teaches History of Economic Thought at the School of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and at the Universidad del Desarrollo, where he also teaches the graduate course “Market Processes” and the undergraduate course “Economy, Politics, and Institutions.” From 2018 to 2022, he served as Deputy Director of the Master’s program in Economics and Political Science at the university institute ESEADE. 

“How China Got Rich” will be presented by Li Schoolland, an independent educator, writer, translator, and event organizer dedicated to advancing freedom and liberty worldwide.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Li Schoolland

For more than 30 years Li Schoolland has promoted free market, libertarian ideas to youth around the world. For more than 10 years she organized the Austrian Economics Seminars for a dozen scholars in week-long summer programs for more than 120 international students annually at Northeastern University in Shenyang, China. Before the COVID shutdown, she organized presentations for scholars across China and conferences through Liberty International: Bali, Bratislava, Morocco, Bucharest, and twice in Shanghai.

Li gave talks in panels and presentations at the Mont Pelerin Society in India, Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, at Language of Liberty Institute camps in Eastern Europe and Nepal, for 4 years at the Free Market Academy in Mongolia, and at the Association of Private Enterprise Education (APEE) conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As Director of Far Eastern Relations for the ACTON Institute she arranged the Chinese translation of free market books and video materials of people such as Jesus Huerta de Soto, Ludwig von Mises, Johan Norberg, Ken Schoolland, etc. She also presented at more than a dozen conferences and webinars in: Afghanistan, Peru, Kenya, Italy, Japan, India, Colombia, Uganda, Georgia, Ukraine, etc.

“America: Land of Hope” will be presented by Wilfred M. McClay, Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College and award-winning author, on America’s 250 year old experiment in individual liberty and self-government.

Dr. McClay’s appearance is made possible by the generous assistance of the Institute for Humane Studies.  Since 1961, the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) has supported the students and scholars advancing the frontiers of political, economic, cultural, and intellectual freedom.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Griswold Lecture Hall on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Wilfred M. McClay

Professor McClay holds the Victor Davis Hanson Chair in Classical History and Western Civilization at Hillsdale College. He is the author of Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story. His book, The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America, won the 1995 Merle Curti Award of the Organization of American Historians. Professor McClay received his BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis and his doctoral degree in history from Johns Hopkins University.

“The Reagan Revolution” will be presented by Dr. Kristin Stehouwer, Academic Vice President and Provost at Northwood University.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus with a reception to follow.

More About Kristin Stehouwer

In her role as Academic Vice President & Provost for Northwood University, Kristin Stehouwer is responsible for student success, strategy development and deployment, and the university’s quality systems and analytics.

She joined Northwood University in 2009 from Macomb Community College where she served concurrently as Executive Director of Research and Planning and Vice Provost for Arts and Sciences. Prior to joining Macomb Community College, she served as Director of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center and Special Advisor to the President at Northwestern Michigan College. She also worked on special assignment to the U.S. Department of Commerce at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and worked in the area of global manufacturing competitiveness, which included a national speaking tour.

Stehouwer earned her doctorate from Northwestern University in Political Science and International Relations. Her graduate studies include International Law at the University of Strasbourg as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar. Her scholarly work has focused on political and economic cooperation. She also earned her bachelor and master’s degrees from Northwestern University. Stehouwer completed postgraduate work at Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management.

Stehouwer has extensive experience in facilitating and deploying strategy in many types of organizations, including in the financial services, manufacturing, healthcare, education and service sectors. She has entrepreneurial experience and business management experience with large and small organizations, including family businesses. Having worked with organizations in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa, Stehouwer speaks six languages. She has specialized in the areas of strategic management, performance excellence, process improvement and organization/leadership development.

She serves as peer reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission. Stehouwer has served as an examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and in 2017, she was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve a three-year term on the Judges Panel for the award.

Community service is important to Stehouwer and she is an active Rotarian. She serves on the board of the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce. Her prior board service includes the Midland Center for the Arts and the Michigan ACE Women’s Leadership Network.

“The Constitutions of Liberty? Hayek and The Latin American Experience” will be presented by Dr. Gabriel Benzecry, Assistant Professor and Bretzlaff Scholar at Northwood University.

This talk examines the constitutional experience of Latin American countries in light of Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty. It explores why and how some countries, when developing their constitutions, were able to create an environment that promotes freedom, while others failed to do so. Such questions help us understand the nature of legal frameworks and their role in protecting freedom.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Dr. Gabriel Benzecry

Gabriel Benzecry is the David E. Fry Professor of Free Market Economics at Northwood University. His research focuses on Austrian economics and the history of economic thought, exploring the intellectual legacies of economists and political philosophers such as F. A. Hayek, Walter Lippmann, Ludwig von Mises, and John Locke.

“Trail Blazers: The NZ Story” will be presented by Johan Norberg, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a writer who focuses on globalization, human progress, and intellectual history.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Plaster Building in Room 120/121 on Northwood University’s campus.

More About Johan Norberg

He is the intellectual superstar from Sweden. Johan Norberg has lectured all over the globe about the positive effects of our open, innovative, global world. He has published more than twenty books and is an acclaimed documentary filmmaker and honorary member of several prestigious institutes.

With their unwavering focus on spreading the virtues of an open world, his lectures are described as elegant, sharp and powerful. Using numbers, history and economics, Johan addresses common objections to capitalism, liberalism and globalization. He explains how these forces have made the world a better place – and he has the numbers to prove it.

“Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich” will be presented by Art Carden, a Margaret Gage Bush Distinguished Professor of Business and Medical Properties Trust Fellow at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

Art Carden will explore the themes he and Co-author Deirdre McCloskey wrote about in their book, “Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich: How the Bourgeois Deal Enriched the World,” which is the fall Omniquest selection to be read by the entire Northwood University community. He explains how the rise of the West, and later the rest of the world, comes from embracing the idea of the dignity and freedom of the individual. This change in thinking led to increasing economic liberty and enterprise that caused a surge in innovation after 1800. These changes not only led to improvements in material living standards, but to broader human flourishing.

The event begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Griswold Lecture Hall on Northwood University’s campus with a reception to follow.

More About Art Carden

Art Carden is Margaret Gage Bush Distinguished Professor of Economics at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. He is a co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and a Fellow with numerous research, education, and outreach institutions. He is also the author of Leave Me Alone and I’ll Make You Rich: How the Bourgeois Deal Enriched the World (with Deirdre Nansen McCloskey, University of Chicago Press, 2020), Strangers With Candy: Observations From the Ordinary Business of Life (Libertarian Christian Institute, 2023), and Mere Economics: Lessons For and From the Ordinary Business of Life (with Caleb S. Fuller, B&H Academic).