Annual Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference

This November 9th and 10th, the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada hosted its inaugural Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference. The engaging and dynamic event was the first of its kind in Toronto, and was an overwhelming success. We’d like to thank all of our presenters and guests for their invaluable contributions, and the attendees for their enthusiastic participation. We’re very much looking forward to next year’s conference, but in the meantime we thought we’d share some of this year’s speaker’s presentations. On our YouTube channel, you’ll find links to six, including keynote speaker Joe Salerno. We’ll be adding more soon.

Preparations are well underway for our 2013 conference, and we’ll being updating this page in the near future. In the meantime, below you’ll find the 2012 program information.

Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference 2012

November 9-10

University of Toronto, St. George Campus

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Faculty, Students, Independent Scholars and Observers Register Here

In order to help fulfill its mission, the Mises Institute of Canada is launching the Toronto Austrian Scholars Conference. The conference is designed to combine the opportunities of a professional meeting, with the added attraction of hearing and presenting new and innovative research, engaging in vigorous debate, and interacting with likeminded scholars who share research interests. Among the diverse and dynamic group of speakers to join us will be Lloyd Gerson, George Bragues, Predrag Rajsic, and Glenn Fox.

We are tremendously excited to have just recently added Joe Salerno, academic VP of Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama to the TASC schedule of speakers. The subject of conference will be Ludwig von Mises ‘s Theory of Money and Credit and Man Economy and State by Murray Rothbard.

The Mises Institute of Canada is especially proud of our continued efforts to bring students into the discourse. The Toronto conference offers special reduced fees for students, and this year our communications outreach includes an ambitious program of establishing relationships with every university Economics department in Canada and the United States.

Papers and panels cover a wide range of fields that impact on the Austrian paradigm, including: monetary theory; international trade; money and banking; methodology; history of thought; economic history; business cycles; geography; interventionism; literature; political philosophy; philosophy of science; society, culture, and religion; business regulation; environmental political economy; and history and theory of war.

FEES

We have four levels of registration

For Faculty, the registration fee is $225, Independent Scholars is $125, Observers $75 and Students $25.

Faculty, Students, Independent Scholars and Observers Register Here

Registration covers all sessions, the opening reception, and coffee breaks

SCHEDULE

Friday November 9th

19:00 to 21:00 — Opening Reception (all are welcome!)

Pauper’s Pub Lounge
2nd floor at the back,
539 Bloor St. West (Map)

Saturday November 10th

Room BA 1210 (Map)
Bahen Centre for Information Technology
University of Toronto, St. George Campus

08:30 to 09:00 — Coffee/social time

09:00 to 10:15 — 1. Austrian Philosophical Insights 

  • (a) “Private Property Rights, Free Markets, and Equal Distribution of Wealth” by Xiaolin Zhong
  • (b) “Hegel, Marx, and Mises: The Hegelian Basis of Dialectical Materialism” by J. Huston McCulloch
  • (c) “The Problem of Criminal Justice in a Stateless Society” by Lloyd P. Gerson
  • Questions

10:15 to 10:30 — Break

10:30 to 11:45 — 2. Austrian Perspectives on Markets and Finance 

  • (a) “Does Microcredit Reduce Household Vulnerability to Poverty?” by Islam & Mei
  • (b) “Sovereign Defaults and Interest Rate Spread in the Presence of Self Control Problem” by Li Li
  • (c) “Squandered Profit Opportunities? Some Historical Perspective on Industrial Waste and the Porter Hypothesis” by Pierre Desrochers and Colleen E. Haight
  • Questions

11:45 to 13:00 — Lunch

13:00 to 14:15 — 3. Practical Economic Thought in the Austrian School 

  • (a) “Prohibition by Taxation” by Dusan Petrovski
  • (b) “Comparative Advantage and the Subjective Theory of Value: A Market Process Perspective” by Predrag Rajsic
  • (c) “Money in Liberal Democracy: A Story of Moral Decline” by George Bragues
  • (d) “Turning the Tanker” by John Tomlinson
  • Questions

14:15 to 14:30 — Break

14:30 to 15:45 — 4. Historical Viewpoints from the Austrian School   

  • (a) “Did Hayek Win the ‘Fight of the Century’?” by Calvin Hayes
  • (b) “The Mengerian Milkstool” by Glenn Fox
  • (c) “Lysander Spooner’s Practical Place Today for Libertarians and Anarchocapitalists” by Moin A. Yahya
  • (d) “Genghis Khan” by Andrius Valevicius

15:45 to 16:00 — Break

16:00 to 17:00 — Financial Markets Session

  • (a) “Insights Gained from Research on Money, Credit and Financial Markets” by Kel Kelly
  • (b) Martin Sibileau
  • (c) Panel Discussions and Questions

17:00 to 17:30 — Introduction, comments, and keynote speaker: Joe Salerno          

17:30 to 18:00 — Break 

18:00 to 20:00 — Informal Dinner and Continued Discussion (Location TBA)


A — Pauper’s Pub     B — Holiday Inn Bloor-Yorkville     C — Bahen Centre for Information Technology

The director of the conference is Redmond Weissenberger, Founding Director of the Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada.

ACCOMMODATIONS

The University of Toronto is in the heart of downtown Toronto, and there are many options available for accommodation. We have a promotional offer in partnership with the Holiday Inn Bloor-Yorkville as a reasonably priced option within walking distance of the University of Toronto Campus. A document with the promotional code can be found here. There are many other hotels within walking distance of the University of Toronto. You can follow this link to find other hotels in the vicinity. Please contact us at redmond@mises.ca if you require any assistance with accommodations.