The Economists You Probably Don’t Know — But Should

April 8, 2026

Virtual Event

Video
Audio
The Economists You Probably Don’t Know — But Should
By Graham H. Walker, Robert M. Whaples, Christopher J. Coyne, Diana W. Thomas

March 4, 2026

When xxxxx

April 8, 2026

Wednesday, April 8
2:00 PM Pacific, 5:00 PM Eastern

Location

Virtual Event

When

Wednesday, April 8
2:00 PM Pacific, 5:00 PM Eastern

Where

Virtual Event

Tickets

Free Admission

You know Adam Smith and Milton Friedman—but what about the economists whose ideas quietly kept the free market running? These overlooked thinkers shaped modern economic life, yet rarely receive the recognition they deserve.

Unsung Heroes of the Market: The 24 Underrated Economists You Need to Know, edited by Robert M. Whaples, shines a spotlight on these remarkable minds—from Julian Simon, who overturned doomsday thinking about natural resources by seeing human ingenuity as the ultimate resource to Thomas Sowell, whose cultural insights often fly under the radar. Written by leading scholars of liberty and economic policy, this collection invites readers to discover or rediscover the economists whose ideas laid the groundwork for today’s free society.

Join Graham Walker, Robert Whaples, Diana Thomas and Christopher Coyne as they explore the lives, ideas, and enduring impact of these thinkers. Whether you’re an economics enthusiast or simply curious about the forces behind the market, this conversation will introduce you to the economists who truly deserve the spotlight.

Featured Speakers

Graham H. Walker

Graham H. Walker is President of the Independent Institute, where he hosts the online broadcasts Independent Outlook and Independent Conversations, and where he also serves as Assistant Editor for The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy. He earned the Ph.D. in law and political theory from the University of Notre Dame (where he studied with Gerhart Niemeyer), the Diplôme in international security studies from the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales (Geneva, Switzerland; where he studied with Philippe Braillard), and the B.A. in history from Houghton College (NY). He was an executive education Fellow of the Presidio Institute in San Francisco.

Robert M. Whaples

Robert M. Whaples is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Co-Editor and Managing Editor of The Independent Review, Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University, Director and Book Review Editor for EH.NET, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center on Culture and Civil Society at the Independent Institute. He is the co-editor of the Independent Institute books Is Social Justice Just?, In All Fairness, and Pope Francis and the Caring Society. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as Assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Associate Editor of the Business Library Review, Chair of the Cliometric Society, and editor of EH.Net’s Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History.

Diana W. Thomas

Diana W. Thomas is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economic Inquiry in the Heider College of Business at Creighton University, and Co-Editor of The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy. She received her Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University, and she previously served as Assistant Professor of Economics in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Christopher J. Coyne

Christopher J. Coyne is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Co-Editor of The Independent Review, Professor of Economics and Director of Graduate Programs for the Department of Economics at George Mason University, Co-Editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, and Book Review Editor at Public Choice. He received his Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University. He has taught at the University of West Virginia and Hampden-Sydney College, and he has been the Hayek Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University.

Featured Book

Unsung Heroes of the Market

The 24 Underrated Economists You Need to Know

You’ve heard of Adam Smith and Milton Friedman. But the economists whose quiet brilliance has kept the free market running? You don’t see them on book covers—until now.

Edited by Robert M. Whaples, Co-Editor and Managing Editor of the acclaimed academic journal The Independent Review, Unsung Heroes of the Market: The 24 Underrated Economists You Need to Know reveals a cast of overlooked thinkers who shaped the economic foundations of the modern world—yet remain largely absent from mainstream conversations. From Friedrich A. Lutz, forgotten architect of monetary thought and trenchant social critic, to the underexamined cultural insights of Thomas Sowell (whose most provocative work often flies under the radar), these essays illuminate the minds behind the market.

Written by leading scholars of liberty and economic policy, this collection invites readers to rediscover the forgotten economists whose ideas continue to power the engine of today’s free society. It’s a must-read for anyone ready to elevate their economic understanding … and challenge what they think they know.