Wednesday, April 10, 2019, 6:30pm,
Harry C. Moore Library Lecture Hall, University of The Bahamas
The Nassau Institute & Templeton Religion Trust in collaboration with the Banking Economics & Finance Department & The Economics Society of The University of The Bahamas presents Professor Ben Powell on the topic Free Trade in Labor: An Economic Case for Unrestricted Migration.
Lecture Summary
There is a huge disjoint between popular beliefs about the impact of immigration on the economy and what social scientists find when they study immigration. Powell will argue that greater immigration has the potential to drive a massive reduction in global poverty while simultaneously enriching destination countries. Contrary to popular fears immigrants don’t “steal our jobs” or have created a general depression in wages. Most of the problems associated with immigration aren’t problems of immigration per se, but rather of how public policy interacts with migration. Powell will explore these issues and how policy might better handle increased immigration.
About Professor Powell
Benjamin Powell is the director of the Free Market Institute and a professor of economics in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration at Texas Tech University.
Prof. Powell is the North American Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, past president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education, and a senior fellow with the Independent Institute. He earned his B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. Prior to joining Texas Tech University, he taught economics at Suffolk University and San Jose State University.
Prof. Powell is the author of Out of Poverty: Sweatshops in the Global Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2014), editor of Making Poor Nations Rich: Entrepreneurship and the Process of Development (Stanford University Press, 2008) and co-editor (with Randall G. Holcombe) of Housing America: Building Out of a Crisis (Transaction Publishers, 2009). He is the author of more than 50 scholarly articles and policy studies. His primary fields of research are economic development, Austrian economics, and public choice.
Prof. Powell’s research findings have been reported in more than 100 popular press outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He also writes frequently for the popular press, including a regular op-ed column for The Huffington Post. His popular writing has appeared in Investor’s Business Daily, The Financial Times (London), the Christian Science Monitor, and many regional outlets. He has appeared on numerous radio and television outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, Showtime, CNBC, and he was a regular guest commentator on FOX Business Network’s Freedom Watch. For more information about Prof. Powell, please visit www.benjaminwpowell.com.
