The Center for Free Market Studies

01/14/2018

Leading up to the election in 2016, Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical, showcasing his flair for the sappy-hip-hop-dramatic, was selling for over $1300 a seat. The people climbing over each other to get their hands on these hot tickets were almost unanimously wealthy people from coastal urban centers, o...

09/27/2017

A few years ago, something changed in class. I customarily taught classes where my students read multiple books, wrote thoughtful reflective essays, and came to class prepared to engage in rich discussions. I’d often come to class with a few notes and the goal of being extemporaneous for the duratio...

08/30/2017

We at FEE have thought about this quite a lot for our articles, courses, seminars, and videos. We have distilled “economic thinking” into 12 key concepts. The following list has guided us internally for a few years, and I figure it’s now time to share it with the world.

01/29/2017

This past Wednesday, The Center for Free Market Studies had our powerhouse panel come in and continue the discussion over the local food economy. Our panel believes Charlotte is catching up in the local food scene, but still has a lot of work to do in terms of sustainable growth and distribution networks. A big thank you to our panel members, Chris Coleman, Executive Chef of Stoke Restaurant, Kris Reid ’10, executive director, Piedmont Culinary Guild, and Thomas Moore, Carolina Farm Stewardship Assoc.

01/24/2017

Tomorrow, January 25th, at 4-5pm in the UEC at Johnson & Wales University we will be hosting a part 2 Powerhouse Panel Event, a continuing discussion on the local food economy with guest speakers Chris Coleman, Executive Chef of Stoke Restaurant, Kris Reid, Executive Director Piedmont Culinary Guild, and Thomas Moore, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. We will serve local food after the event.

01/08/2017

In case you missed it, the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy has changed their name to the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. If you want to read more about James G. Martin and his accomplishments, as well as the Center's mission and goal statement and their history, click on the link below.

http://www.jamesgmartin.center/2017/01/new-era-james-g-martin-center-academic-renewal/ #.WGvagAjByNQ.facebook

Last year, the Pope Center’s Board of Directors decided that there was too much confusion between the Center and the John W. Pope Foundation, a private grant-making foundation in Raleigh, North Carolina. It concluded that a name change was in order. The name chosen was the James G. Martin Center for...

12/15/2016

The Center for Free Market Studies is proud to announce we will be launching a book series on campus. Students are encouraged to read books pertaining to economics and entrepreneurship, and come together as a group to discuss their thoughts and ideas on the book. Our first read will be 'Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives' written by Economist Tim Harford who believes we should embrace the chaos of our lives instead of trying to disguise it.

12/07/2016

Our Food Truck Frenzy Event that happened this past Monday was a total hit! A huge thank you to Cuzzo's Cuisine and Bleu Barn Bistro for coming on campus to talk about their personal experiences on starting their food truck, regulations and protocol they face, and great advice they could give the Johnson & Wales students who wish to follow down a similar career path.

12/02/2016

Featured on the JWU Culinary Now blog was our most recent local food event.
We are planning another huge event for December 5th. Food Truck Frenzy is going to be another great event just like this local food one was.
Keep checking back for more details.

A powerhouse panel at JWU Charlotte to discuss the strengths and challenges posed by the growth of the local food economy.

11/29/2016

Hard to Swallow is a recently published article by the John Locke Foundation that goes into depth about the alcoholic beverage distribution in North Carolina, the ABC monopoly, and wholesale distribution oligopoly regulations in the state. Want to check out more about production, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages? Click on the link below.

http://www.johnlocke.org/research/alcoholic-beverage-regulation-hard-to-swallow/

11/23/2016

CFMS Director Adam C. Smith's article 'For Consumers, Who Watches the Watchman?' was published in Investor's Business Daily. Dr Smith discusses how the single-leader agency CFPB has been criticized for imposing far-reaching rules that generated more costs than benefits. As a consequence of recent ruling, the CFPB is now accountable to the president who will appoint the next administrator. Will this benefit the financial industry and all members of the consumer market? Find out more facts by clicking on the link below.

http://www.investors.com/politics/commentary/for-consumers-who-watches-the-watchmen/

On Oct. 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was unconstitutionally structured as an "independent agency headed by a single Director." Prior to the ruling, the agency — which has a $600-million annual budget — oper

10/31/2016

Our Powerhouse Panel Event this past Wednesday was a big hit! The panel went over many topics relating to the the local food economy, including where the trend of local food emerged and what the limits are to expanding this market. For the reception afterwards we had an array of local food to offer our guests from places like Scott Farms in Lucama, NC and Grateful Growers Farm in Goldsboro, NC. A big thank you to everyone who attended, especially to the panel members who offered such a diverse and fascinating discussion on the local food movement.