Economic Historian to Lecture on ‘Warfare State’ in UA Series

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Robert Higgs, an economic historian and a senior fellow at the Independent Institute, will present the lecture “The Rise of the Warfare State” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5, in room 205 of Gorgas Library on The University of Alabama campus.

The event is the second in the Liberty and Power Lecture Series at UA. It is free and open to the public.

Higgs is the editor of the Independent Institute’s quarterly journal, The Independent Review. He received his doctorate in economics from Johns Hopkins University, and he has taught at the University of Washington, Lafayette College, Seattle University and the University of Economics, Prague.

He has been a visiting scholar at Oxford University and Stanford University, and a fellow for the Hoover Institution and the National Science Foundation.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Gary Schlarbaum Award for Lifetime Defense of Liberty, the Thomas Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties, the Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty, the Friedrich von Wieser Memorial Prize for Excellence in Economic Education and the Templeton Honor Rolls Award on Education in a Free Society.

His publications include “Depression, War, and Cold War” and “Resurgence of the Warfare State.”

The Liberty and Power Lecture Series, founded by Dr. David Beito, professor of history, offers speakers who look at the conflict between government power and individual liberty in recent history, particularly in the areas of art, media, technology, the knowledge economy and social history.

Upcoming lectures are “A Culture of Liberty vs. A Culture of Authority” by Dr. David Hart, Tuesday, Nov. 9; and “Rights and Race in American History” by Dr. Jonathan Bean, Thursday, Feb. 10.

UA’s College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.