Matthew Leverknight ('17) is an economics major at Grove City College. His interests include public policy and entrepreneurship,. He is a resident assistant in Ketler Hall and treasurer of the Swing Dance Club. In his free time he enjoys reading (especially historical biographies and books on culture) and is an enthusiastic ballroom dancer.
The Outing Club on a weekend trip in West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness
What did you do last weekend? Ask that question at Grove City and you may get any number of answers, from “Homework, all the homework” to “Research paper, Greek formal, church and a game night.” But, one of the longest running traditions for weekend fun on campus is actually off campus. Say what?
Introducing the Grove City Outing Club, or OC. For these brave folks, the perfect way to recover from the rigor of academics is walking around in the woods carrying everything they need on their backs. Every semester, they schedule several weekend and break trips to different parts of the country to go backpacking. Recent destinations have included the Adirondack Mountains, Kentucky’s Red River Gorge and West Virginia’s Dolly Sods Wilderness. For Outing Club members, a weekend out in nature is the perfect way to recharge from classes.
They must be doing something right, as the OC has been part of the Grove City experience since the Great Depression. It was founded by Esther Post (Dean of Women) and college chaplain Doc Kase as a way to allow students to enjoy the outdoors and get off campus back when very few students owned cars. Ironically, when you consider its staying power over the past 80 years, the college President, Weir Ketler, was not enthusiastic about the club, but Dr. Kase was able to convince the trustees to finance the purchase of a parcel of land and construct a cabin, which is still cared for by OC alumni today. OC is considered one of the closest knit clubs on campus, for as senior Joscelyn Seaton put it: “When you have hiked alongside each other for three days without showering, you learn that your friends like you for who are and not for how you look.” This close knit community lasts beyond college, with many alumni returning for two annual events: the Fall Pig Roast and Spring Beast Feast, and the club produces a newsletter each semester with articles by active members about events.
And the events are legion and legendary. When Joscelyn was asked to provide a list of events the Outing Club takes part in, she recounted the following events that take place each year:
Rock Climbing near Ohiopyle, PA
Weekly meetings
Six backpacking trips
Eight local hikes
Four holiday meals
Two trail running events
Two canoe trips
Two or more rock climbing trips (depending on year to year interest)
They also compete in the IM volleyball league, hold a club football game each semester, decorate a Christmas tree, go swimming in January and take trips to local square dances as a club.
It’s this eventful schedule that makes the club both a major commitment, but also, as members stress, extremely rewarding. Junior Natalie Jordan appreciates the ease of conversation among fellow club members, while they also respect quiet contemplation. She adds that, “I think nature’s time schedule is refreshing to the spirit because it allocates its resources perfectly, while at school, we often don’t do that.”
The club allows students with no prior experience in backpacking to explore the hobby. Joscelyn recalls, “Coming to Grove City, I had always wanted to be more outdoorsy, but I never had the resources, the gear or the opportunities to do so. My brothers had always gone backpacking with their Boy Scout troops, yet I had never gone. Upon discovering the Outing Club, I was overjoyed. I finally had a group of people who loved to be outside and who were willing to teach me outdoor skills. During my freshman and sophomore years, the upperclassmen taught me how to backpack, canoe, hike, navigate with a map and plan trips. Through the Outing Club, I have gained so many more skills…
“In sum, your GCC experience will be so much richer through your involvement with the Outing Club.”
Presenters and hosts gather for a group photo at lunch on Saturday
On Saturday, February 27th, 20 undergraduate, graduate and professor level economics scholars gathered at Grove City College to present their latest research. The Austrian Student Scholars Conference was inaugurated at GCC in 2004 by Economics Department Chair Jeffery Herbener, formerly the director of the Austrian Scholars Conference at the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. The ASSC serves a similar role to the Mises Institute’s ASC (now AERC), providing a forum for students of the “Austrian School” of economics, associated with Mises, F.A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard, Israel Kirzner and Joe Salerno. However, what makes the ASSC unique is that, as the name suggests, it is intended for undergrads and graduate students to get their first experience in presenting papers and engaging in discourse with fellow students.
This presents a very special opportunity for the serious undergraduate scholar, especially Grove City students. As part of the ECON 420 ‘Economics Colloquium’ capstone class, every economics major is required to present a paper their senior year, but some students write and present papers even sooner in their careers. At this year’s conference, of the 10 Grove City students who presented two were juniors and one a freshman. Other presenters included undergraduates from Ferris State University, Ph.D. students from Auburn University, George Mason University and the University d’Angers along with a few faculty members from various institutions.
Dr. McCaffrey speaks Friday night
The fun kicked off with great conversation between the different groups represented at the conference over a delicious meal of salmon and pilaf on Friday night. The evening’s keynote lecture, named in honor of former economics department chair Hans Sennholz, was delivered by Dr. Matthew McCaffrey from England’s University of Manchester who spoke about the economics of social entrepreneurship. He presented a convincing argument that social enterprises, which provide social good in the context of business (such as TOMS shoes), can deliver aid more efficiently than conventional non-profits or the government. This is due, he said, to business firms being subject to economic calculation which forces them to weigh profit and loss. By weighing these, the social enterprise can be more effective than a traditional charity that just has money given to it.
Showtime for Presenters
Dr. Jeff Herbener introduces GCC’s Susannah Estoker before her presentation
Saturday morning marked the beginning of a full day of paper reading and discussion. The sessions were organized into 1.5 hour blocks, with three papers presented in each. Sessions sorted papers into common themes which this year included Domestic Policies; Technology, Modeling and Economics; Ethics and Economics; International Policies; Labor and Wages; and Money Production. After the papers were presented, with each presenter allocated 20 minutes, there followed 30 minutes of discussion about the papers where listeners could ask questions to clarify points, or make suggestions on issues raised in the papers that could be further investigated.
After two series of sessions it was time for lunch and then on to more papers. By the end of the day, topics including Social Security, labor policy, the Gold Standard and international development had all been discussed. This diversity of topics made the day a quick introduction to serious academic thought on a variety of issues.
Judging
Before the papers were presented, they were read and judged by a panel of Grove City College faculty for the Richard E. Fox Prize. First place (with a $1,000 cash prize) went to Ph.D. student Karl-Friedrich Israel from the University d’Angers, while 2nd and 3rd prizes went to two GCC seniors, David Werner and Jon Nelson. Israel’s paper: “Modern Monetary Policy Evaluation and the Lucas Critique” addressed Robert Lucas’s argument that the results of changes in economic policy can not be adequately predicted using economic modeling. David Werner presented an overview of the effects the California Gold Rush of 1849 had on the monetary supply in his paper: “Gold: Rushing and Minting”, and Jon Nelson’s “The Economics of Science, Technology and Government Intervention” assessed some effects that governmental subsidization of applied research can have on the economy.
L-R: David Werner, Karl-Friedrich Israel, Jon NelsonDr. Brandly makes a point
After the presentation of the prizes, Dr. Mark Brandly of Ferris State University delivered the Ludwig von Mises Memorial Lecture on “Mises, Calculation and Government Land Ownership”. His recounting of how he came to economics after majoring in math in college and working in the petroleum industry had the crowd laughing. He also managed to make the main topic of his talk: explaining how the government’s ownership of land affects investment decisions in harvesting natural resources, accessible to audience members less familiar with economic theory.
It was a busy weekend, but a fun one, and a great opportunity to meet students from other institutions. The Austrian Student Scholars Conference is just one of many ways Grove City provides unique experiences to its students.
Swing Club members dance at the retro themed Sock Hop
Wednesday night, 7:30 p.m. For many Grove City students, Wednesday evenings mean two things:
It’s the middle of the week.
Chef Rudy will be serving her delicious fruit-filled crepes in MAP cafeteria for breakfast tomorrow.
But, for a diverse group of students in all class years and majors, from senior biochemistry to freshman English, Wednesday means something even better, something that brings as many as 50 people to the Crawford Auditorium stage from 7:30-10 p.m. And that is swing dancing.
East Coast style swing, to be precise. Your grandmother might remember it as the Jitterbug, and it’s not too far in style from the Charleston that Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed famously did into a swimming pool in It’s A Wonderful Life. It’s an uncomplicated form of partner dance, with the basic step only requiring three movements: a weight shift to the left foot, weight shift to the right foot and ‘rock step’ back onto the left (this is for leaders, the pattern is right-left-right for followers). The real fun begins when the club’s beloved leaders, Bradley Smith, a junior accounting major from Tyler, TX and Maria Dunsworth, a junior communications and biblical and religious studies major from Erie, PA, begin teaching moves to embellish the basic dance. From simple spins to exhilarating moves like the “Pretzel,” “Washing Machine,” “Tabletop,” “Tornado” and a few scarier sounding but perfectly harmless ones like the “Breakup,” “Shin Splints” and the frighteningly named (but wholly harmless) “Armbreaker Dip,” a semester of Swing Club can transform anyone into the life of every party and wedding reception for the rest of their lives.
2014-2015 club president Victoria Allen (center) with current president Bradley Smith and VP Maria Dunsworth
For many, swing becomes more than a chance to learn how to social dance. It becomes one of their favorite groups of people on campus. Partner dancing becomes both a close knit fraternity of shared experiences and inside jokes about certain moves and songs and a welcoming group that never forgets where they came from. Most members begin with no prior partner dance experience, including the majority of the club’s officers. The first weeks of the new academic year are a time of excitement for upperclassmen, as they meet the new freshmen attendees and actively encourage them to continue. Experienced members often stop in the middle of dances to explain how to do a certain move or simply to offer a high five.
By the end of the semester, when the annual Christmas Ball rolls around, the freshmen can hold their own on the floor as well as the seasoned dancers. As dancers gain more skill, they may begin doing choreographed dance performances or might just spend time listening to swing music and trying to imagine the perfect way to blend moves together into a seamless performance for an audience of two. Swing is one of those hobbies that can be enjoyed for life, and many alumni make finding a new dance community a priority after graduation. One popular feature of swing are the weekly ‘birthday dances’ where any member who celebrated a birthday that week becomes the only one on the floor for a song while partners cut in and out.
I’ve been dancing for 2.5 years, and I can say that it has been one of the most rewarding parts of my GCC experience. I’ve made many friends I never would have even met otherwise, been able to develop a skill I never knew I had and been able to share the joy of dance with other students. It can be challenging at first, but, as you gain experience, the challenge is what makes it interesting. Of course, it’s also a great stress reliever, and excellent aerobic exercise, but in the end, it’s the incredible people that make the Swing Club my favorite place to be on Wednesday night, just like it’s the people that make all of GCC my favorite place to be from August through May.
I asked some fellow members to offer their own thoughts on dancing. Junior Amanda Clagett said that besides making friends, she loves that “Swing is a chance to express each song. It lets you take on the emotions and stories of different people in their songs and express them through dance!” She also advises beginning dancers to remember that everyone was once a beginner, and instead of being overwhelmed by people you consider to be really good and feel afraid you’ll never be good enough to dance with them, understand that a truly good dancer will dance (and wants to dance) with anyone and everyone, no matter their level.
Vice President Maria Dunsworth echoes the importance of the close knit community and recommends that beginning dancers try to dance as much as possible and should not be shy. Sophomore Olivia Ebert offered a musical assessment of the club, saying (singing?) that: “girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, getting to relax after a long day of classes, time with great people, to dance and to sing, these are just a few of the great things about swing.”
One piece of advice I’d give to any beginner dancer came from a friend who graduated at the end of my freshman year: “Cherish every dance.” In other words, every time you step out on the floor, even if it’s to a song that’s played every week and you’re with a partner that you dance with frequently, the dance you’re about to do is unique and special. If you make it a competition about how many wild moves you can do, you lose the joy of enjoying the moment. So relax, have fun and I hope to see you on the Crawford stage.
Dr. Hülsmann addresses students at Freedom Readers
In what has become an annual tradition at Grove City, we recently had the honor of welcoming Dr. Guido Hülsmann, professor of economics at the Université d’Angers in France and a Senior Fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute for a two-week visit. During his stay, he guest-lectured in Dr. Jeff Herbener’s ECON 456 Financial Markets and Institutions class, and on the evening of February 10 spoke at The Center for Vision and Values‘ Freedom Readers lecture series. In his talk, entitled, “Refugees: Social Bane or Economic Boon?” Hülsmann addressed the issues facing Europe due to the recent mass migrations of Middle Easterners to the European Union.
In introducing Dr. Hülsmann, Lee Wishing (Administrative Director of the Center for Vision and Values) said, “This is one of my favorite times of year, because this is when Guido comes back.” This remark received nods of agreement from many in the audience who had heard Dr. Hülsmann speak in previous years, and that evening he did not disappoint. His unique perspective as a German native and French resident certainly intrigued the students and faculty gathered ’round, who showed hearty approval with thunderous applause.
Dr. Hülsmann’s English language writings include The Ethics of Money Production and Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. I had the privilege of listening to Dr. Hülsmann’s lectures in Econ 456 and at Freedom Readers, and he graciously agreed to sit down with me and share a few details about his career, his research interests and his opinion of our economics department, which I am happy to now share with you.
[The following is a transcript of the interview conducted on February 10, shortened and edited for clarity]
Matthew Leverknight: To begin, can you tell me a little about your background and how you came to economics?
Guido Hülsmann: I started studying in Germany at the Technical University of Berlin, a program double-majoring in mechanical engineering and economic science. Then I discovered pretty quickly that economics was the field that interested me the most, so I began specializing as far as possible in economics, still graduating with degrees in mechanical engineering, business studies and economics. Then I studied more and more economics and did a Ph.D. in economics. At the beginning of my Ph.D. studies I discovered the Austrian school of economic thought and decided to do my dissertation based on Ludwig von Mises’ monetary work. That proved to be very stimulating intellectually and helped me a lot to advance my knowledge of all things related to money and finance, but, it was a big bane on my professional development in Germany because nobody at the time was interested in Austrian economics. Today things have changed, fortunately – a little bit. So then I decided to go abroad and fortunately I got post-doc scholarships which permitted me to go first to France and then the US. In the US I was first at the University of Buffalo (SUNY), went to work for five years with the Mises Institute in Alabama, and eventually returned to Europe. It was then that the demand for the services of Austrian economists began to increase.
ML: Your resume says you like researching the conceptual and philosophical problems of economics. Can you elaborate a little on what that means for you?
Dr. Hulsmann explains the effects of mass migration to GCC students
GH: I was always interested in this, and in my economic research this is reflected in the fact that I’m interested in questions related in methodology and epistemology, how do we know what we know in economics, what is the basis of this knowledge? What are the objects and things we have knowledge about, and then as far as the economic analysis is concerned, I was always interested in the question of what philosophers would call the ‘primitives’ of economic analysis, the basic elements beyond which you cannot go. One example would be the analysis of profit and loss which is related to the concept of equilibrium. I think that you have a dichotomous category at the basis of this whole analysis: the difference between success and failure. So these are basic categories of economic analysis which then show up in the equilibrium, show up in profits and losses and so on. Beyond which you cannot go. There is a tendency some economists have to explain why you have success and failure, but I think that it is not possible to do this, precisely because this dichotomy is a primitive, you cannot go beyond it.
ML: So you’re saying economics can only answer so much, and then we have to cut it off there? That because economics is designed to function a certain way, to answer questions beyond just who won and lost can’t really be done?
GH: Yes, such questions cannot be answered with the tools of economics.
ML: One thing I noticed during your lectures to the ECON 456 class, was your mentioning the “moral and political elements of economics”. What role does your own moral belief play in how you look at economics – or what prescriptions you would prescribe?
GH: Of course your own moral beliefs always bias you in your life in favor of certain activities, and in favor of certain things that you’re interested in. Also they bias you in favor of certain political solutions that you think appropriate and so on. There’s not a difference I think in my case compared to anybody else. Of course for a scholar that’s a tension, because as scholars we are supposed to go beyond these biases and to fact-check them. But I guess that’s of course what I do, like all serious scholars are supposed to do. But I also like to stress that scientific inquiry leads you to understand mechanisms though which our spontaneous moral dispositions are reinforced or undermined. I’m interested in these kinds of questions: How do policy changes, or policy stances that we take, through mechanisms that we deal with in economics modify the moral disposition of the population.
ML: So would you say that the study of economics can clarify individuals’ own moral sense?
Dr. Hulsmann chats with a student post-lecture
GH: Right. On the one hand, it clarifies the importance of certain moral attitudes that we have, and it helps you to understand the potential threats that come to the moral foundations of the free market economy, coming from different sources, but in particular from government intervention.
ML: To talk a little bit about your relationship with Grove City, how many years have you been coming here to visit on a regular basis?
GH: The first time was – on a regular basis, I would say since 2006. Dr. Herbener has invited me exactly in the same way, to give a couple of lectures and to teach segments of a class. At the time I think it was ‘International Economics’ or something of the sort, and he’s found funding for this undertaking every single year since. So this must be the tenth or eleventh year now in a row that I’ve come to Grove City College.
ML: You’ve worked in several different countries in Europe, you’ve worked here in the United States, and so based on your travels and your interactions, how would you say that Grove City’s economics department stacks up against other undergraduate economics programs you’ve interacted with?
From left: GCC econ department chair Dr. Jeff Herbener, GCC professor of economics Dr. Shawn Ritenour and Dr. Guido Hulsmann
GH: I think it’s excellent. I mean, both as far as the level of students is concerned, but also the professors. All people teaching in professorships, in particular Dr. Herbener and Dr. Ritenour are excellent pedagogues [dedicated to teaching, not just research]. And this not just my personal impression, but can be measured in terms of student output, papers that they’ve been writing and have been presented at conferences. In Grove City you have the annual Austrian Student Scholars Conference, some people have become professors themselves, in economics and also in other fields, so I think the quality is demonstrated.
And plus, here you have the opportunity, which is unique as far as I can see, that you have a whole department that teaches economics around Austrian economics. The core of your curriculum is Austrian economics. You learn the Neoclassical approach as well, of course you have to learn this, but the core is Austrian. There’s no other school in the world where you can do this. I know of no other school, maybe except for the Universidad Francisco Marroquin in Guatemala, of which I have heard but which I have not yet visited. Maybe there’s also one in China, Russia, some language that’s not accessible to me, but I doubt it.
ML: Thank you very much for your time, you’ve provided us with some very interesting and valuable perspectives.
If you are interested in learning more about the GCC Economics Department, please visit their page on the GCC website. To watch streaming video of Dr. Hülsmann’s 2015 Freedom Readers lecture about the Charlie Hebdo massacre in France, you can visit the Center for Vision and Values’ page here.
