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What makes a free society thrive? Ideas and the people who put them into action.


Each fall since 2022, the Markets & Society Conference has brought together Mercatus scholars, alumni, and partners to think big about how markets and civil society shape a free and flourishing world. This year was our largest and most vibrant conference yet, with over 430 attendees, including more than 200 Mercatus fellows and alumni, convening for three days of spirited discussions, discoveries, lectures, workshops, and collaboration.


What sets this conference apart isn’t just the scale – it’s the energy that comes from the sense of community and shared purpose. A first-time attendee – an established scholar – remarked that everyone there seemed to be building something that matters. That spirit came alive at the new Arlington Forum, where academics, policy experts, and philanthropists traded ideas, tested projects, and found collaborators in real time. One participant summed it up as the rare event that was both fun and genuinely useful.


The speakers were top-notch. Emily Oster spoke on data literacy – the ability to interpret and use evidence responsibly – and the need for humility in data analysis, pushing back against the overconfidence sometimes found in empirical research. Mark Granovetter explored how personal networks, built on trust and social connection, interact with formal institutions in the economy. Bobbi Herzberg delivered a moving keynote on the ideas of Vincent Ostrom, emphasizing his enduring insights into democracy, self-governance, and the importance of polycentric institutions. Emily Chamlee-Wright argued that cultural economy – the moral and interpretive fabric that allows markets and liberal institutions to thrive – is essential to understanding how liberalism endures and
evolves.


“It’s fair to say that it’s become one of the most exhilarating conferences I’ve ever attended,” said Virgil Storr, Mercatus’ Senior Vice President, Research and Programs. With sessions on democracy, social change, and the next generation of liberal scholarship and the launch of new collaborations on fiscal reform, AI literacy, and entrepreneurship, Markets & Society continues to be the hub for people shaping the ideas that matter most. Mark your calendar for next year's conference, October 23–26, in Falls Church, VA.

mailto:[email protected]?subject=
Ben Brophy
Vice President, Strategic Engagement

Mercatus Center at George Mason University

Topics & Issues



Revana Sharfuddin proposes a bold but simple fix to AI-related job loss:
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update the tax code to treat worker training like any other business investment.


Jack Salmon tracks the
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alarming rise in federal debt – now over $30 trillion – and explains how rising interest costs are crowding out future economic growth.


Alex Tabarrok and Tyler Cowen
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debate whether the “Baumol effect” really explains why services like education and healthcare keep getting more expensive.


Jordan Lofthouse offers a
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practical toolkit of economic insights for solving today's environmental challenges, from property rights to polycentric governance.









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