Since 2006, the BB&T Colloquium Series on Capitalism has brought leading scholars in economics, political science, and public policy to CNU to speak to students and the general public on current topics.

These lectures and related events, which take place once a semester, often overlap with course material and provide students with rich opportunities to raise questions and engage experts face to face.  Students relish the personal interaction, and BB&T lecturers - noting the high caliber of questions and comments as well as the beauty of the CNU campus - enjoy it, too.

Collage of Students with Speakers

Click here for information and resources from past BB&T Colloquium Series on Capitalism speakers.  For further details on the BB&T Colloquium Series, contact the Leadership & American Studies Department at (757) 594-8907 or krista.rogers@cnu.edu, or scroll down to read about our next speaker.

Upcoming Speakers

Dr. Mark Thornton
Rhett Butler and the Demise of the Confederacy

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
in the Freeman Center’s Gaines Theater
Free and open to the public. Reception to follow.

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The outcome of the Civil War is often seen as a matter of military strategy, but economist Mark Thornton offers a different view: economic policy decisions played a big – even decisive – role in the South’s loss and the North’s victory. In Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War, Thornton and co-author Robert Ekelund explore such intriguing economic causes and effects as the protectionist tariffs advocated by Lincoln, tariff uncertainty and the South’s secession, the ruinous inflation resulting from efforts to pay for the war, the North’s blockade of the South, and the subsequent flood of luxury goods amidst a lack of basic necessities – the so-called “Rhett Butler Effect.” On February 22, 2012, Mark Thornton will discuss these and other lessons in economics from this critical period in American history. Please join us!

For further details about this event, contact the Leadership & American Studies Department at (757) 594-8907 or krista.rogers@cnu.edu.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Mark Thornton
Senior Fellow, Ludwig von Mises Institute

Mark Thornton is Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He serves as the Book Review Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. He served as the editor of the Austrian Economics Newsletter and as a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Libertarian Studies. He has served as a member of the graduate faculties of Auburn University and Columbus State University. He has also taught economics at Auburn University at Montgomery and Trinity University in Texas. Mark served as Assistant Superintendent of Banking and economic adviser to Governor Fob James of Alabama (1997-1999) and he was awarded the University Research Award at Columbus State University in 2002. His publications include The Economics of Prohibition (1991), Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War (2004),  The Quotable Mises (2005), The Bastiat Collection (2007), and An Essay on Economic Theory (2010). He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and received his PhD in economics from Auburn University.