First and foremost, I am an aspiring follower of Jesus Christ with a delightful family.  After that, I am an economics professor at the University of South Dakota, where you can see my profile page.  The success of my students and the relevance of my research are the measure of my own success as an academic. 

The fundamentals of economic prosperity underpin much of my research, which spans both micro and macro topics. I enjoy “connecting the dots” between various concepts.  Recently, the effects of inflationary monetary policy on individuals (micro) and long run growth (macro) have featured in my research.  Earlier work looked at the role of productive and nonproductive assets in firm-level profitability and growth in the real sector.  In addition to statistically intensive research articles, I am currently writing a book, The Anglo-American Economic Tradition: A Foundation for Prosperity, Freedom, and Stability to answer the question of why rulers slowly developed productive institutions a few places but not others.  We know institutions matter for growth, but why have a few places done it and not others?  Though broadly supportive of free markets, I do not consider myself an adherent of any school of thought, and I draw inspiration from several of them.

 My research philosophy breaks down into a few parts:

1) Put first things first.  The discovery of truth - including scientific truth - is pleasing to God.  That truth should be useful, not trivial.

2) Learn from and understand those who think differently than I do.

3) Link the research question to the big picture, and don't focus on small questions.

4) Find solutions for problems, not problems for solutions, and push the boundaries of conventional thought.

​Prior to the University of South Dakota, I was on the faculty at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, a visiting faculty member at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, Georgia, and a research scholar at The Sunwater Institute in North Bethesda, Maryland.  I earned my Ph.D. at Florida State University, studying under Dr. Randall Holcombe.  Prior to graduate school, I earned an undergraduate degree in economics and Russian at Wake Forest University and served as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Russian Far East.