Exploring the Foundations of Economic Growth
Long-run economic change is the cumulative consequence of innumerable short-run decisions by political and economic entrepreneurs. - Douglas North (1990)
I am an Assistant Professor in Economics at Sweet Briar College. At Sweet Briar, I have developed ten courses over the last five semesters. I love creating a curriculum and developing it with student feedback and participation. Senior Seminar, Intermediate Macro, Survey of Economic History, Managerial Economics, and Economics of War and Peace were extremely rewarding and fun to create. Two of my senior seminar students commented the following on their course evaluations:
"Fantastic - best economics (or any subject) course I've taken."
"I actually had a really good time! It was sort of like a book club, if book clubs read seminal works in economics. Even the papers that were dull/hard to understand were good choices, because I was able to better understand them through collaborating with my classmates. When I was first looking for colleges, I was hoping for a supportive, collaborative environment and I'm so glad I've found one in the SBC econ department."
My research focuses on entrepreneurship, international trade, and the political economy of war and peace. I study the entrepreneur as the market system's driving force and the interaction between the entrepreneur, government, and economic growth. My dissertation is titled "The Market Process: Entrepreneurship, Intervention, and the Role of the State.” My committee chair was Christopher Coyne.
My article "Alert-Judgment: Ford's Entrepreneurial Five-Dollar Day" is published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics (December 2021). "A Robust Analysis of Trade Policy: The Chicken & Lumber Wars" is now available in the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy (October 2022). I have a chapter forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Private Enterprise with Christopher J. Coyne and Abby R. Hall, "International Trade as a Peace Project." I am currently developing projects exploring the relationship between government and market institutions, and the influence of trade on conflict.
"I actually had a really good time! It was sort of like a book club, if book clubs read seminal works in economics. Even the papers that were dull/hard to understand were good choices, because I was able to better understand them through collaborating with my classmates. When I was first looking for colleges, I was hoping for a supportive, collaborative environment and I'm so glad I've found one in the SBC econ department."
My research focuses on entrepreneurship, international trade, and the political economy of war and peace. I study the entrepreneur as the market system's driving force and the interaction between the entrepreneur, government, and economic growth. My dissertation is titled "The Market Process: Entrepreneurship, Intervention, and the Role of the State.” My committee chair was Christopher Coyne.
My article "Alert-Judgment: Ford's Entrepreneurial Five-Dollar Day" is published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics (December 2021). "A Robust Analysis of Trade Policy: The Chicken & Lumber Wars" is now available in the Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy (October 2022). I have a chapter forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Private Enterprise with Christopher J. Coyne and Abby R. Hall, "International Trade as a Peace Project." I am currently developing projects exploring the relationship between government and market institutions, and the influence of trade on conflict.
I received a B.A. in history from Michigan State University (1999), an M.A. in economics & entrepreneurship education from the University of Delaware (2017), and an M.A. (2020) and Ph.D. (2022) in economics from George Mason University. Before pursuing a Ph.D., I was a high school teacher at Chesaning Union High School (2010–18), where I taught economics, entrepreneurship, and math, and founded an Entrepreneurship Club.
Courses
A perfect score on my evaluations, with 100% participation.
We study the canonical macroeconomic models to explain the wealth of nations and business cycles.
Managerial Economics (Sweet Briar)
Created to support the business majors
An application of economic theories, logic, and tools to business decision-making. Business dilemmas are analyzed and economic theory (with emphasis on game theory) is applied to make efficient decisions.
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