James D. Gwartney served as Professor of Economics at Florida State University, and holder of the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair of Economic Education. His writings have been widely published in both the popular media and scholarly journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Education, Southern Economic Journal and Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. He is co-author (with Jane Shaw Stroup, Dwight Lee, Tawni Hunt Ferrarini and Joseph Calhoun) of "Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity," a primer on economics and personal finance. Dr. Gwartney’s research focused on the measurement and determination of factors that influence cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates. Using this research, he developed and co-authors (with Robert Lawson, Joshua Hall and Ryan Murphy) the annual report, "Economic Freedom of the World," which provides information on the institutions and policies of 165 countries. This data set, published by a worldwide network of institutes, is widely used by scholars investigating topics ranging from economic growth to peaceful relations among nations. Dr. Gwartney served as chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress during 1999–2000. In 2004, he received the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contributions to the advancement of free market ideals. He is a past president of both the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington. Richard L. Stroup served as professor emeritus of economics at Montana State University and North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Stroup served as director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He published and lectured on topics such as global warming, land use regulation, archaeology and environmental policy improvements. His research helped to develop the approach known as free market environmentalism. Dr. Stroup co-authored the first edition of "Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity" with Dr. Gwartney. In addition, he has published "Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Economics and The Environment," which was sponsored by the Property and Environment Research Center, of which he is a co-founder. Russell S. Sobel is BB&T Distinguished Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel in Dr. Sobel's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. He is co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and editorial board member for the Journal of Entrepreneurship & Public Policy and Public Choice. He has received numerous awards for both his teaching and research, including the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association, the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for Best Article of the Year in the Southern Economic Journal, the Association of Private Enterprise Education Distinguished Scholar Award and the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award. He is the author or co-author of over 250 academic journal articles and books, including "Growth and Variability in State Tax Revenue: An Anatomy of State Fiscal Crises"; "The Rule of Law"; "Unleashing Capitalism" and "The Essential Joseph Schumpeter." His scholarly publications have appeared in journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Journal of Business Venturing, Small Business Economics and Economic Inquiry. His current recent research focuses on the intersection of entrepreneurship and economic policy. His Ph.D. in economics is from Florida State University. David A. Macpherson is the E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics and Economics Department Chair at Trinity University. Previously, he was Director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and the Rod and Hope Brim Eminent Scholar of Economics at Florida State University, where he received two university-wide awards for teaching excellence. His teaching areas include principles of microeconomics, money and banking, econometrics and labor economics. Dr. Macpherson is an applied economist whose research focuses on real estate, pensions, discrimination, industry deregulation, labor unions and the minimum wage. He has published more than 60 articles in leading economics and real estate journals, including Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Industrial and Labor Relations Review and Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance. His research has been funded by a variety of entities, including the National Science Foundation, the Florida Legislature and the National Association of Realtors. He is co-author of the undergraduate labor economics text, "Contemporary Labor Economics." He is included in "Who’s Who In Economics" 4th Edition, which includes the 1,200 most frequently cited economists. Dr. Macpherson received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.
