An economist from Dartmouth College will deliver the 2021 Clemens Lecture.

Douglas A. Irwin, John French Professor of Economics at Dartmouth, will present “The Past, Present and Future of Globalization” at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27, in the Stephen B. Humphrey Theater, Saint John’s University.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Clemens Lecture Series was founded to further conversation on the ways that economics can speak to the larger problems of society and culture.

It brings to Saint John's outstanding economists – like Irwin - noted for their abilities to address the economic dimensions of social issues and to sustain dialogue with the other fields of the liberal arts. It also provides a valuable opportunity for students to meet both informally and in classes with the visiting lecturer.

“Douglas Irwin is an economics All-Star when it comes to international trade and globalization. It will be great to have him with us,” said Daniel Finn, Clemens Professor of Economics and professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

Irwin has taught at Dartmouth since 1997. In addition to serving as the John French Professor of Economics since 2017, he has been the John Sloan Dickey Third Century Professor in the Sciences (2012-17) and the Robert E. Maxwell Professor of the Arts and Sciences (2005-12).

Prior to coming to Dartmouth, Irwin taught at the University of Chicago from 1991-97.

“The past few decades have seen a rapid increase in global economic integration,” Irwin said of his presentation. “Has that period come to an end? Are we facing just slowbalization, or actual de-globalization? My lecture will put recent developments in historical perspective by reviewing the ebbs and flows of globalization in the past with the hope of seeing what might be implied for the future.”

In addition to his teaching roles, Irwin has worked as an economist for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1988-91, and a junior staff economist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1986-87.

Irwin has written several influential and award-winning books.

“Clashing over Commerce: A History of U.S. Trade Policy” (2017, University of Chicago Press) won several awards for excellence and has been rated among the “Best Books of the Year” by both The Economist (2017) and Foreign Affairs (2018). The book was also awarded the Hayek Book Prize by the Manhattan Institute (2019), and co-awarded the Alice Hanson Jones Biennial Prize for the Outstanding Book in North American Economic History by the Economic History Association (2018).

His books “Free Trade Under Fire” (2002, Princeton University Press) and “Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade” (1996, Princeton University Press) were both selected as one of Choice’s Outstanding Academic Books.

The Clemens Lecture Series is designed to be practically useful in understanding daily life and is intended for a wide audience, including students, faculty, the business and professional community and members of the general public interested in the impact of economic issues in their lives.

Recent presenters in the series, which started in 1987, include CSB/SJU economics professor Louis Johnston (2018), David Card (2017), David Autor (2016), Carol Graham (2015) and Javier Iguiñiz (2014).

Past Clemens Lectures can be viewed here.