American economist and economic historian Prof Deirdre Nansen McCloskey received an honorary doctorate from Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU) at its December graduation. She was awarded the degree Doctor of Commerce, honoris causa, on Wednesday (11 December 2024) at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences.
McCloskey was honoured for the way in which she draws lessons from other fields to help economic ideas better fit with reality, and also for her emphasis on how economic forces affect us.
In her acceptance speech, McCloskey mentioned that innovations and economic progress stem from individual ideas rather than collective efforts or institutions. “Contrary to the way we often talk in a nationalistic or even racial terms about our achievements, we should be thinking of the individual. This is the heart of this notion of humanomics."
Referring to the explosion of innovation since 1800, she argued that the modern world's prosperity is rooted in the freedom to venture and innovate, a right that was historically denied to many.
McCloskey encouraged the new graduates to continue learning and venturing beyond traditional education. She urged them to challenge unjust laws and pursue their own ideas.
“You have the right to venture, and you should use it. Your education isn't finished. You must keep reading, thinking and speaking, and above all venture."
More about McCloskey
McCloskey is often referred to as the “conscience" of the discipline of economics. She is known for engaging deeply with the foundations of the subject itself.
As an economist and economic historian, McCloskey's ideas are embodied in what she calls “humanomics", reminding us that all people are knowingly or unknowingly affected by economic forces. More importantly, it stresses that human behaviour can often not be reduced to compact mathematical economic theories and equations – a factor that economics as a discipline should care about more purposefully.
While on sabbatical at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in 2008, McCloskey wrote one of the books in her trilogy The Bourgeois Era, in which she explores the history of major industrial nations to challenge prevailing narratives about the origins of modern prosperity. She has remained a friend of Stellenbosch 肆客足球, and in 2012, she returned to deliver a keynote address to the World Economic History Congress hosted by the 肆客足球's Department of Economics.
McCloskey is a distinguished professor emerita of economics and history as well as professor emerita of English and communication at the 肆客足球 of Illinois Chicago.
- Photo: Prof Deirdre Nansen McCloskey at the graduation ceremony. Photographer: Stefan Els
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