About Me
I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Integrated Sciences at James Madison University, where I teach in the Intelligence Analysis Program. I most recently moved from JMU’s Economics Department where I taught introductory courses in both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, as well as upper-level electives in History of Economic Thought, Political Economy, and Economics and Ethics. I received my Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University in 2016, with fields in Political Economy and History of Economic Thought. I wrote my dissertation under Daniel Klein on Adam Smith's theory of property. I live in Harrisonburg with my wife, Emily, our 5 children, and our dog, Oliver.
Before coming to JMU, I worked as an Economic Analyst and later Data Scientist at the Central Intelligence Agency.
My research has been published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Journal of Private Enterprise, Journal of Scottish Philosophy, Econ Journal Watch, and The Independent Review. I have listed a few areas of interest and research below.
Areas of Interest
The History of Economic Thought
I have written on Adam Smith, Gershom Carmichael, Francis Hutcheson, and other Scottish Enlightenment figures, as well as early 20th century responses to totalitarianism from F.A. Hayek and M. Polanyi. Most recently I have begun to look at Smith’s strange endorsement of the Labor Theory of Value.
Literature and Economics
Connected to my work on property theory, I have written on views of ownership in folk and fairy tales. I have a paper in The Independent Review on how stories can illuminate facets of the institution that might otherwise go unnoticed by specialists.
Political Economy
My research touches on subjects which inevitably involve asking questions about how the market, the government, and society interact with and influence one another. Specifically, I am interested in how property rights are different from contracts in how they facilitate cooperation in society.
TAcIT Knowledge & InTelligence Analysis
I have an interest the role that our theories of knowledge play in the practical affairs of our economic and social life. This interest carries over into the intelligence analysis domain, where I study the underappreciated role of tacit knowledge in the production of intelligence analysis.
Property Theory
In my dissertation, I focused on Adam Smith's theory of property and the challenge to the contemporary "bundle of rights" framework for describing ownership. I draw on the work of legal scholars, notably that of Eric Claeys, to examine an alternative approach to property.
Literature, Philosophy, Theology
When I'm not reading Economics, I'm usually trying to figure out what folks are doing in these other areas! I'm proud of my fiction collection, and constantly go back to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis for refreshment.