Intellectual Portrait Series

Manuel Ayau was the founder and former rector and teacher of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In addition to being a successful businessman, Ayau was Chairman of the Guatemala Stock Exchange, a member of the Guatemala… more

Manuel Ayau is the founder and former rector and teacher of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In addition to being a successful businessman, Ayau is a former Chairman of the Guatemala Stock Exchange, was a member of the… more

One of our most distinguished contemporary cultural historians, Jacques Barzun reflects on his long academic career and the movement of ideas he helped to shape through his seminal writings on liberal education in America.

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One of the twentieth century’s leading thinkers on the relationship between free trade and the economics of developing countries, Lord Peter Thomas Bauer discusses his clear ideas on the effectiveness of government aid and… more

Gary S. Becker discusses his economic ideas with Edward Glaeser, Judge Richard A. Posner, and Edward Lazear. Gary Becker is one of the most original and pathbreaking economists in recent times. When he was named the 1992 Nobel… more

Raoul Berger, an expert in constitutional law, talks about his earliest days as a young Russian émigré in Chicago, his first career in music, and his later fascination with the legal underpinnings of a free society.

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The Nobel Prize winning economist, James M. Buchanan, discusses in part 1 of a two part conversation, the theory of public choice, his exchange theory of economics, and constitutional thought.

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The Nobel Prize winning economist, James M. Buchanan, discusses in part 2 of a two part conversation, the work ethic, the logic of free markets, subjectivism, anarchy, federalism, the influence of philosophy, and the significance of… more

Ronald Coase talks about his life work, his contributions to economics, and the law and economics movement which he helped create as editor of the Journal of law of Economics from 1964 to 1982.

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Cornuelle talks about the vital role voluntary institutions have played in American society and how they might be further encouraged to solve social problems without resorting to the state.

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The journalist M. Stanton Evans talks about his work as a leading journalist and columnist, his founding of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C., and the role of the press and journalists in a free society.

Milton Friedman discusses his economic ideas with Gary S. Becker. Recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, Milton Friedman was a leader of the Chicago school of monetary economics. He was also the Paul Snowden Russell… more

As leaders of the Institute of Economic Affairs, or IEA, in London for many years, Ralph Harris and Arthur Seldon pioneered the thoughtful application of free-market principles and greatly influenced public policy and economic… more

One of the foremost historians of the Industrial Revolution discusses what really happened to the quality of life and standard of living for those who lived through the industrialization of the West.

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F. A. Hayek was one of the most important economists of the 20th century, winning the Nobel Prize for Economic Science in 1974. A member of the Austrian school of economics, he taught at the London School of Economics and the… more

John Hospers talks about his interests in moral philosophy, aesthetics, the nature of liberty, and his activity as the first Libertarian Party candidate for President in 1972.

Jaffa talks about his work on American constitutional theory and history including the nature of the American Republic and the impact of Abraham Lincoln on constitutional matters.

Israel Kirzner discusses the differences between Austrian Economics and neo-classical economics, his experiences as a student of Ludwig von Mises, and his careeer as a professor of economics at New York University.

McCracken, the Edmund Ezra Day Distinguished University Professor of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, discusses his activities as a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under several presidents… more

Ralph McInerny talks about his work on Thomas Aquinas, catholic political and religious thought, and his best-selling Father Dowling mystery novels.

Sirc draws upon his experiences of fighting in the Resistance and the Yugoslav Army, his political opposition and arrest under communism to discuss the economics of socialism and life under communism.

Dutch-born criminologist Ernest van den Haag talks about his work on criminology, criminal justice, punishment, and the foundations of a free society.

Alan Walters discusses his role in the transformation of the British economy during the 1980s as economic advisor to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

An early leader of the classical liberalism revival movement, Leonard Liggio was one of the most ardent defenders of the tenets of personal liberty in the world. Liggio was the Executive Vice-President of the Atlas Economic Research… more

Fred McChesney, the James B. Haddad Professor at Northwestern University School of Law, interviews Henry Manne who founded the Center for Law and Economics, now at George Mason University, and has directed scores of law and economics… more