We often think of leaders in the political dimension. Sometimes we think about leaders in the space of ideas. Too rarely we appreciate that economists have been leaders in both dimensions. This session considers 4 such episodes:
1) resistance to Hitler in WWII. "One brave student" helped Walter Eucken survive the concentration camps. This paper explores his leadership role in the creation of the post war German economic order which has turned sixty this year. Author: Ekkehard Kohler (Walter Eucken Institute).
2) Chile and Pinochet. This paper introduces the relationship between economist and society as a species of the Socratic problem. It looks at the teachers' reputation and standing while focusing on the role of Chicago economists as advisors to General Pinochet. Author: Eric Schliesser (Leiden)
3) Hayek and the founding of the Mont Pelerin Society. Before the MPS is established, social Darwinists who favoured eugenics had great influence in the American individualist movement; afterwards they have little. We argue that this is largely due to Hayek's leadership. Authors: David M. Levy (GMU) and Sandra J. Peart (Jepson School of Leadership Studies)
4) Czechoslovaia after the fall of Communism. This paper investigates how economic experts shaped economic, political and social outcomes in Czechoslovakia. Authors: Dalibor Rohak (Oxford), Pavol Hardos (Central European University).