Despite heavy snowfall and flight delays, ten V&C faculty network professors traveled to Middleburg, VA on February 14-16 for a weekend seminar with Dr. P.J. Hill, Wheaton College professor emeritus of economics and senior fellow at The Property and Environment Research Center. The seminar featured a variety of readings on the nature, limitations and prospects of market economics from authors such as F.A. Hayek, Hernando De Soto, Wendell Berry, Deirdre McCloskey, Michael Sandel, Charles Murray, James Q. Wilson and Michael Novak.
The discussion was split into five sessions:
- Why markets?
- What is the role that property rights play in market systems?
- Are there methods of social coordination that do not rely on markets and property rights?
- What are the moral understandings implicit in a market order?
- Do markets corrupt?
Highlights included lively dialogue on: the types of virtues produced by the market; how capitalism can sometimes erode a sense of community; and what kinds of institutions are essential for sustaining a free society. Conversation continued late into each evening, over barbeque and classic American fare.
If you are a faculty member, and would like to be part of one of our future weekend seminars, consider joining our faculty network. For more information contact, please contact our program manager, Josh Good, at [email protected].
