CATO Institute Chairman to Address the Economic Costs of Government Growth at NC State Pope Lecture

William A. Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute, will present the John W. Pope Lecture at North Carolina State University on Tuesday, March 11. His topic is titled “The Economic Costs of Government Growth.”

The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in 232-A Withers Hall, on the NC State main campus. The event is free and open to the public. Withers Hall is located at 101 Lampe Drive on NC State’s north campus, between Ricks and Daniels Halls. Parking is available in the North Hall Parking Lot on Hillsborough Street, along Hillsborough Street, or in the Cates Avenue Parking Deck beside Reynolds Coliseum.

Niskanen was a member and acting chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has also served as director of economics at the Ford Motor Company, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles, assistant director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, a defense analyst at the Rand Corporation, the director of special studies in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the director of the Program Analysis division at the Institute of Defense Analysis.

He has written on such public policy issues as corporate governance, defense, federal budget policy, regulation, Social Security, taxes, and trade. His book, Bureaucracy and Representative Government, is considered a classic. His most recent book is After Enron: the Lessons for Public Policy.

Niskanen holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Harvard. The University of Chicago recently honored him with a lifetime professional service award.

The Cato Institute is a nonprofit public policy research institute that focuses primarily on public policy debate around limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and peace.

The John W. Pope Lecture at NC State is part of a series of annual programs hosted jointly by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Department of Political Science and the College of Management’s Department of Economics.

The lecture series is part of a program funded by a grant from the John W. Pope Foundation to support education and research in public policy and economics in the two colleges at NC State.

“Quality interaction with undergraduate students is a key component of the Pope Lecture Series,” says Dr. Andy Taylor, head of the Department of Political Science. “Dr. Niskanen will offer a public lecture, but will also teach classes for our students.”

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Note to editors: Reporters are welcome to attend William Niskanen’s public presentation on March 11. He also will be available for interviews at various times on March 12. Telephone interviews may also be arranged. To schedule an interview, please contact Lauren Kirkpatrick, director of communications in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at 919-513-1829 or lauren_kirkpatrick@ncsu.edu.