Vernon L. Smith

Vernon L. Smith was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his groundbreaking work in experimental economics. His recent contributions to this field include the discovery of specialization and exchange in a virtual village environment. In particular, how groups might discover self enforcing property rights and achieve trade to support wealth creation. Mr. Smith is currently Professor of Business Economics and Law at Chapman University in Orange (CA). He was formerly a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, and a board member of the Mercatus Center. He received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Cal Tech, and his PhD in Economics from Harvard. He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics. Mr. Smith has served as a consultant on the privatization of electric power in Australia and New Zealand and participated in numerous private and public discussions of energy deregulation in the United States.