Harvard professor to discuss free market in UM President’s Lecture

Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes will challenge the notion that “the free market is efficient but government is not” during the next installment of the President’s Lecture Series at the University of Montana.

Her lecture and forthcoming book are titled “The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loath Government and Love the Free Market.” The free online lecture is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17. Attendees are invited to register in advance at the UM Office of the President website (www.umt.edu/president/).

Oreskes’ talk is the UM Brennan Guth Memorial Lecture in Environmental Philosophy.

Oreskes is Harvard’s Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science. She is the author of nearly 200 scholarly papers and articles, and her opinion pieces have appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Times (London) and many other media outlets. Her TED talk, “Why We Should Trust Scientists,” has been viewed 1.5 million times.

During her lecture, Oreskes will discuss her belief that Americans have come to have an irrational and unfounded faith in the free market. She and her “The Big Myth” co-author, Erik Conway, argue that a misplaced faith in the free market is linked to many of the ills society faces today – from the opioid epidemic and widespread obesity to homelessness and climate change.

The UM President’s Lecture Series is presented as an opportunity to learn about and discuss ideas and issues that animate public discourse. Learn more about the President’s Lecture Series online.