From Reagan to Adam Smith
Four times a year, under the aegis of its Center for Constructive Alternatives (CCA), Hillsdale College holds conferences designed for its students, which are open to the general public. In early October, for example, the college held a conference commemorating the centenary of Ronald Reagan’s birth, and Craig Shirley, Peter Robinson, Ronald Radosh, Phil Gramm, Steven Hayward, and Elliot Abrams journeyed to south central Michigan to speak.
Some of these gatherings I find elementary and uninteresting. Others, especially those which address areas in which I have a lot to learn, I find fascinating. The Reagan CCA I found highly instructive – especially, the talks by Peter Robinson, Ron Radosh, and Steve Hayward, which cast a great deal of light on Reagan’s intellectual development and self-education. As far as I can tell, Peter’s talk has not been posted online, but you can find those by Ron, Steve, and most of the others here. My guess is that you will find them as instructive as I did. The self-education of Ronald Reagan is as intriguing a subject as is the miseducation of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and most of those now seeking the Republican Presidential nomination.
There is another CCA coming up at the end of January and beginning of February, and I am looking forward to attending some of the talks. The subject – Adam Smith – is one on which I have touched in my scholarly work, and it has on occasion been a focus for my teaching. But the figures coming to speak are exceptional, and I expect to learn a fair amount. Here is the schedule:
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29
4:00 p.m. “Adam Smith: Life and Times”
Nicholas Phillipson
Author, Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life
8:00 p.m. “A Book that Changed the World”
P.J. O’Rourke
Author, On the Wealth of Nations: Books That Changed the WorldMONDAY, JANUARY 30
4:00 p.m. “Smith’s Other Book: The Theory of Moral Sentiments”
James R. Otteson
Author, Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life8:00 p.m. “Adam Smith and the Creation of the American Economy”
Roy C. Smith
Author, Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise:
How the Founding Fathers Turned to a Great Economist’s Writings
and Created the American EconomyTUESDAY, JANUARY 31
4:00 p.m. “The Centrality of the Invisible Hand”
Mark Skousen
Author, The Big 3 in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx
and John Maynard Keynes8:00 p.m. “Wealth of a Nation: Free Enterprise in American History”
John Steele Gordon
Author, Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic PowerWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
4:00 p.m. Faculty Roundtable
Paul Moreno, Chairman
John W. Grant
Terrence O. Moore
Gary Wolfram
Should you have any desire to come, you should email those in charge of the conference at CCA@hillsdale.edu. Be patient if no one responds right away. Christmas break is upon us.
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: From Reagan to Adam Smith
Will these be posted on line, as with the Reagan talks??
Sep '11
Re: From Reagan to Adam Smith
Amazingly interesting, but there's no way this Londoner can face Michigan in January :-) So I hope the contributions will appear on line in due course.
Re: From Reagan to Adam Smith
Alas, I do not know. The posting of the Reagan talks may be an experiment.
Re: From Reagan to Adam Smith
We are having an exceptionally warm winter. This morning it was in the 40s here. But when the snow comes (there is none now), the snow does come. So I can understand.
Sep '10
Re: From Reagan to Adam Smith
It looks quite interesting. If I'm done grading my January term course by then, I may be able to come. Hillsdale is just a couple of hours down the road from me.