Econ Professor hosts lunch talks

Home News Econ Professor hosts lunch talks

Drug legalization, immigration, and organ markets have been some of the topics of Lecturer of Economics Lewis Butler’s Thursday lunch discussions with students.

Since last semester, Butler has been meeting with groups of students to discuss economics topics that don’t quite fit with the regular class material. Each week, Butler emails the group a selection of articles to let everyone educate themselves about the week’s topic. In order to be admitted to the talk, students must have a discussion question written on a slip of paper.

“The whole point of it is to be student-led. The students pick the topic and find a couple of articles to send out so we can have a discussion around it,” Butler said.

Butler began the economics lunch tradition last semester, during his Introduction to Microeconomics course. Students in the 48-person class had complained that they were not getting enough face time with their professor, and Butler conceived of the lunches as a voluntary solution.

On Oct. 3, the topic was Bitcoin, the virtual currency. The articles surveyed topic ranging from how currency works to the workings of Silk Road, the encrypted, untraceable internet marketplace that uses bitcoins to allow the purchase of illegal goods.

The lunch opened with a short lecture from Butler about the nature of currency, where he explained the basic economic principles in order to bring everyone up to speed about the larger topic.

After the lecture and a short video on how Bitcoin works, the floor was opened to discussion. Admission questions were all addressed, and some brief arguments were had.

“I like the public choice side of stuff, which lets me play devil’s advocate,” Butler said. “We’ve talked about the market for organs or immigration, the arguments are better when we pick things people have strong feelings about.”

Fifteen to 20 people normally come to lunch, including students from the Graduate School of Statesmanship, and anyone is welcome.

Professor of Economics Ivan Pongracic has recommended the group to his students.

“It seems like a lovely opportunity to discuss these ideas in more depth than you would in class,” Pongracic said. “I know Professor Butler is dedicated to educating students and teaching them to think in an economic manner.”

Freshman Alex Reuss is in Butler’s Principles of Microeconomics class, and attends  the lunch regularly.

“It‘s really interesting, it adds on to the class topics,” Reuss said. “It’s not just basic econ, it’s applying the econ we learn in the class to what’s going on in the real world. It definitely adds an academic element to having a good time with Professor Butler.”

Anyone wishing to attend the lunch can do so on Thursdays at 12:15 p.m. in Lane 337.