The eminent economic historian and classical liberal, Deirdre McCloskey, joins us this month at Cato as the Institute’s first Adam Smith Fellow. She is professor emerita of economics, English, history, and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago and has been a professor of economics at the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa. She has written twenty-four books and some 400 academic and popular articles on economic theory, economic history, philosophy, rhetoric, statistical theory, feminism, ethics, and law.

Professor McCloskey is a leading proponent of liberal democracy whose recent books include Why Liberalism Works: How True Liberal Values Produce a Freer, More Equal, Prosperous World for All (2019); Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World (2016); Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World (2010); and The Bourgeois Virtues: Ethics for an Age of Commerce (2006).

While at Cato, Professor McCloskey will contribute to our work exploring the central role that freedom plays in human progress, interact with Cato and other scholars, speak at an upcoming Cato forum, and continue her prolific writing. She is available for meetings with outside scholars, speaking engagements, and media appearances on the importance of defending liberal democracy and the values of the open society, including freedom of speech, tolerance, academic freedom, and transgender issues. On behalf of all my colleagues, we welcome Professor McCloskey to Cato.