The Department of Economics and Social Sciences, BRAC University organized an online public lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Vernon Smith on March 24, 2022. The title of the lecture was "Property and the Dynamics of Market Price Discovery in Classical Economics". Professor Vernon’s discussion was heavily focused on the concepts of beneficence and justice via the lens of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS) and Wealth of Nation. Also, he argued in favour of Adam Smith’s theory as it predicts the patterns observed in the first market experiment 180 years later.
In addition, Professor Vernon explained rationales of how Adam Smith’s theories model the decentralised roots of action in people and inquires the consequences of the actions. Finally, he concluded his lecture with the remark that “Markets with Private information, in which people try only to do best for themselves, collectively do best for ALL”. The public lecture was broadcasted live on BRAC University's Facebook page.
The lecture was also attended by Professor Vincent Chang, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sazzad Hossain, Member, University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, Professor Farzana Munshi, Chairperson, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, and Professor Charalabos Doumanidis, Vice-President of Research, BRAC University. Dr A.S.M Shakil Haider, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics and Social Sciences, BRAC University moderated the lecture.
Professor Vernon was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002 for his ground-breaking work in experimental economics. He has authored or co-authored more than 350 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics.