The lectureship series was established in 1985 to honor the memory of the two most illustrious economists ever to be associated with Carleton College.

Thorstein Veblen, born in 1857, spent much of his youth on a farm in Nerstrand, Minnesota, just 10 miles south of Northfield. Veblen graduated from Carleton with a bachelor of arts degree in 1880. He went on to earn a Ph.D. at Yale University.

John Bates Clark, a young economist, joined Carleton’s faculty at the time of Veblen’s matriculation. Clark had been educated at Amherst College and at the University of Heidelberg. He was hired as both Professor of Political Economy and History and College Librarian. He remained at the college until 1881.

While Veblen and Clark had a mutual respect for each other’s intellect, they held dramatically divergent views regarding human behavior, social science, and economics. Each would leave Carleton to establish trails in economic theory which would be heavily followed but leading in markedly different directions.

After leaving Carleton, Clark went on to teaching positions at Smith College, Amherst College, Johns Hopkins University, and Columbia University. He was one of the pioneers of the use of marginal analysis to understand issues of resource allocation and income distribution. Among his most important contributions are The Philosophy of Wealth (1886) and The Distribution of Wealth (1899). He is considered to be one of the true founders of modern mainstream economics. The John Bates Clark medal is the highest honor awarded by the American Economics Association.

Veblen, on the other hand, forcefully challenged the foundations of mainstream economic theory. After experiencing some difficulty in landing a teaching position, Veblen’s brilliance finally overcame a variety of quirky personality traits. He obtained teaching positions at the University of Chicago, Stanford, and the University of Missouri. His most influential work is The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), in which fundamental economic paradigms are called into question.

The Veblen-Clark Lectureship brings an outstanding scholar in economics to Carleton each year for a public lecture and meetings with students and faculty. The lectureship presumes no ideological bias, but celebrates the variety of viewpoints and paradigms demonstrated by Veblen and Clark that have historically enriched the study of economics at Carleton.

The lectureship is made possible, in part, by the Ada Harrison Fund. The fund was established to honor Professor Ada Harrison, who taught in the economics department for many years and exemplified the department’s continuing commitment to teaching excellence.

Thurs, May 2, 2013, 7:30pm - Weitz 236

Veblen-Clark lecturer, Dr. Gary D. Libecap, will present

“Addressing Global Environmental Externalities:  Transaction Costs Considerations”

Gary D. Libecap is Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Corporate Environmental Management and Professor of Economics at UC-Santa Barbara.  A former president of the Economic History Association, he has published path-breaking research in numerous books and articles on the topic of institutions and property rights relating to the development and use of natural resources.  His most recent research has focused on two crucial environmental issues: water scarcity in arid regions of the world, and the institutional challenges of addressing global climate change.

Previous Veblen-Clark Lecturers

2011 Gavin Wright, Stanford University

2010 Margaret Simms, '67, Institute fellow at the Urban Institute

2008 Thomas Schelling, Harvard University;s John F. Kennedy School of Government

2007 Benjamin M. Friedman, Harvard University
2005 Jagdish Bhagwati, leading advocate of globalization and free trade
2004 Charles R. Plott, California Institute of Technology
2003 Robert E. Lucas Jr., University of Chicago
2002 Robert Fogel, University of Chicago
2001 Joseph E. Stiglitz, Stanford University (now at Columbia Univ.)
2000 Anne O. Krueger, Stanford University
1999 Lester Thurow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1998 Gavin Wright, Stanford University
1997 Douglass C. North, Washington University
1996 Harry Markowitz, University of California San Diego
1996 Pu Shan, Chinese Society of World Economy
1994 Robert E. Will, Carleton College
1993 Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University
1992 James Tobin, Yale University
1991 Robert Solow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1990 Gary Becker, University of Chicago
1989 George Stigler, University of Chicago
1988 Michael Piore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1986 Roger Nol, Stanford University
1985 Robert Clower, University of California Los Angeles