Nobel laureate economist Vernon Smith to speak Nov. 9

Nobel laureate Vernon Smith will discuss “On Learning From Proving Yourself Wrong: Two Cases From Experimental Economics, With Implications and Insights for the Economy” in a Nov. 9 lecture presented by the Rice Initiative for the Study of Economics and the Office of the President. The lecture will be at 5 p.m. in the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies’ Hudspeth Auditorium and will be followed by a 6:30 p.m. reception in the courtyard.

Nobel laureate Vernon Smith (Submitted photo)

The 2002 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics, Smith is the George L. Argyros Chair in Finance and Economics and a research scholar in the Economic Science Institute at Chapman University. He is the founder of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics and has served as president since 1997.

Smith has authored or co-authored more than 290 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics. He serves or has served on the board of editors of the American Economic Review, the Cato Journal, the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Science, Economic Theory, Economic Design, Games and Economic Behavior, the Independent Review and the Journal of Economic Methodology.

He is a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association and received the 1995 Adam Smith Award from the Association for Private Enterprise Education. Smith was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1995 and received CalTech’s distinguished alumni award in 1996. He has served as a consultant on the design of electric power systems in Australia and New Zealand and participated in numerous private and public discussions of regulatory reform in the United States. In 1997 he served as a Blue Ribbon Panel Member of the National Electric Reliability Council.

Smith completed his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, his master’s in economics at the University of Kansas and his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard.

This highly anticipated event features the fifth Nobel laureate in economic sciences to visit Rice since 2015 and is made possible by a gift from Doyle Arnold ’70, said Antonio Merlo, dean of the School of Social Sciences.

Admission to the lecture and reception is free of charge; however, space is limited so RSVPs are requested. RSVP by visiting http://bit.ly/2gUsdHY. Paid parking will be available in the West Lots and the Central Campus Garage. For more information about parking, visit parking.rice.edu.