Scranton Hosts Annual Henry George Lecture

Marc Melitz, Ph.D., the David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University, delivered The University of Scranton’s fall 2024 Henry George Lecture titled “Global Production and Innovation Networks: Consequences for Trade and Industrial Policy.” The lecture took place Oct. 24 in the McIlhenny Ballroom of the DeNaples Center on campus.

Dr. Melitz’s primary research interests are in international trade and investment. Theories which he introduced in 2003, now called the “Melitz model,” have been widely adapted by economists. Melitz’s theory holds that only the largest and strongest companies in an industry engage in international trade because of the significant resources required to conduct business in foreign markets.

A fellow of the Econometric Society, Dr. Melitz is affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research, the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science in 2017. In 2008, the Economist magazine named him among the best of a new generation of economists.

Considered the preeminent public lecture series on economics in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Henry George Lecture Series is presented by the University’s Department of Economics, Finance and International Business and the campus chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society for economics. Twelve winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics are among the distinguished list of speakers who have spoken at previous lectures. The lecture series is named in honor of the 19th century American economist and social reformer and is supported financially by a grant from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation.