The Mercatus Institute, “a university-based research center [that] works to advance knowledge about how markets work to improve our lives,” has a web page devoted to research on Hurricane Katrina. Questions explored by the Mercatus researchers include: How did New Orleans communities that have recovered since Katrina do so? What effect did social entrepreneurship have on their recovery? What kinds of government policies could facilitate a quicker recovery from future disasters? Among the experts featured are two CEE Guest Speakers, Emily Chamlee-Wright and Steven Horwitz.
Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talks with Dr. Jerry Kirkpatrick, a Fall 2009 CEE guest speaker, about his book, In Defense of Advertising. Dr. Kirkpatrick addresses several typical criticisms of advertising and explains why advertising is important to a healthy, productive capitalist society.
Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talks with Fall 2009 guest speaker Dr. Jerry Kirkpatrick about his recent book, “Montessori, Dewey, and Capitalism”. Dr. Kirkpatrick compares and contrasts the educational philosophies and methods of John Dewey and Maria Montessori, and discusses the potential benefits of such methods in a capitalist society.
Dr. Stephen Hicks, CEE’s Executive Director, talked recently with Fall 2009 guest speaker Dr. Jerry Kirkpatrick about why having a philosophical background helps businesspeople attain greater clarity and confidence in making important, ethically-charged decisions. Below are parts I and II of the interview.
“Entrepreneurship is increasingly studied as a fundamental and foundational economic phenomenon. It has, however, received less attention as an ethical phenomenon. Much contemporary business ethics assumes its core application purposes to be (1) to stop predatory business practices and (2) to encourage philanthropy and charity by business. Certainly predation is immoral and charity has a place in ethics, but neither should be the first concerns of ethics. Instead, business ethics should make fundamental the values and virtues of entrepreneurs — i.e., those self-responsible and productive individuals who create value and trade with others to win-win advantage.”
During the spring 2009 semester CEE sponsored a contest for the best essays in the Business and Economic Ethics course on the following topic: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”—True or False? The essays were judged on the basis of their thoroughness, cohesiveness, and originality.
The two first-prize winners were Naomi Byars and Jennifer LaSarre, who received $300 each.
Here are the essays of the two first-prize winners (both essays are in PDF format):
In addition three Honorable Mentions were awarded to Kathreen Atkerson, Seth Kryder, and Brittney Leach, who received $100 each. Congratulations to our five winners for their excellent work!
The Ethisphere Institute, a business ethics think tank, published a list of the 100 most influential people in business ethics in 2008. The honorees include notables in business such as actor and entrepreneur Paul Newman, Costco CEO Jim Senegal, Coca-Cola Chairman Neville Isdell, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott.
On the recent political and economic scandals: At Ideoblog Larry Ribstein discusses why the SEC did not catch onto Bernie Madoff’s investment fraud scheme. And Tom Kirkendall at Houston’s Clear Thinkersponders the responsibility of the investors who were defrauded. Finally, Risky Business’s Matt Bandyk explains why neither Madoff nor Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of attempting to sell the senate seat left vacant after Senator Obama’s presidential election victory, are “entrepreneurs.”
At Small Business Trends, John Jantsch has an insightful post about how negative perceptions about money can affect a business negatively. Feeling uneasy about wanting to make money can “wreak havoc on the ability for a business to grow and prosper…. [Y]our pricing and the way you communicate how you expect to conduct professional relationships speaks volumes about value.”
The Mercatus Institute, “a university-based research center [that] works to advance knowledge about how markets work to improve our lives,” has a web page devoted to research on Hurricane Katrina. Questions explored by the Mercatus researchers include: How did New Orleans communities that have recovered since Katrina do so? What effect did social entrepreneurship have on their recovery? What kinds of government policies could facilitate a quicker recovery from future disasters? Among the experts featured are two CEE Guest Speakers, Emily Chamlee-Wright and Steven Horwitz.
CEE’s Stephen Hicks’s essay on 
