Political scientist to speak on justice in BB&T Distinguished Lecture
Duke University political science professor Michael C. Munger will discuss "The Justice of Exchange" on Thursday, April 10, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., as the featured speaker in the BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism, hosted by Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business.
The talk, to be held at the Inn at Virginia Tech, Alumni Assembly Hall, is free and open to the public.
Munger chairs Duke’s political science department. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 articles and papers and four books: Ideology and the Theory of Political Choice (University of Michigan Press, 1994), Analytical Politics (Cambridge University Press, 1997), Empirical Studies in Comparative Politics (Kluwer Academic Press, 1998), and Analyzing Policy: Choices, Conflicts, and Practices (W.W. Norton, 2000). His current research interests include the effects of trade and globalization on national identity and policy.
Munger received his doctorate in political economy from Washington University in St. Louis in 1984. He has worked as a staff economist at the Federal Trade Commission and taught at Dartmouth College, N.H., the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has served as president of the Public Choice Society.
The BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism is part of a teaching program exploring the foundations of capitalism and freedom that was established last year in the Pamplin College’s finance department with a $1 million gift from BB&T Charitable Foundation. Featuring two speakers each year, the lecture series will discuss current issues in business management and government policy, in addition to topics related to capitalism.
The undergraduate and graduate courses in the program “aim to present a balanced view of the strengths and weaknesses of free-market economies, with particular reference to current events and issues,” said Finance Department Head Vijay Singal. “Free markets have implications for personal freedom, the efficient allocation of scarce resources, decentralized economic decision making, globalization, and social welfare,” said finance professor and program director Doug Patterson. The courses examine alternative economic systems, including socialism and communism, and compare them with the economic solutions offered by free markets.
Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, business diversity, electronic commerce, organizational performance, and services innovation. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of alumnus Robert B. Pamplin, the former chief executive officer of Georgia-Pacific, and businessman, philanthropist, and alumnus Robert B. Pamplin Jr.
