Madmen, Intellectuals and Academic
Scribblers

(Stanford University Press, 2013) 

Featuring the authors

Wayne Leighton

Professor of Economics

Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala

 and Edward Lopez

BB&T Distinguished Professor of Capitalism at

Western Carolina University

with comments by

Fred Smith

Founder and Chairman

Competitive Enterprise Institute 

moderated by

Ian Vásquez

Director, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute

Cato Institute 

What causes policy reform? And why do policies that impose net costs on society persist in democracies for long periods of time even though better alternatives are available and well known? Authors Wayne Leighton and Edward Lopez will explain what scholarship and the real world tell us about making change happen. Using examples from the United States, they will describe how ideas, rules, and incentives interact and how intellectual and policy entrepreneurs find ways of changing society’s institutions — for better and for worse. Fred Smith will comment on the authors’ prescriptions for setting up good rules and their upbeat outlook for advancing reform.