Steven G. Medema

Steven G. Medema is a Research Professor in the Department of Economics at Duke University and the Associate Director of the Center for the History of Political Economy. He was previously University Distinguished Professor of Economics, President’s Teaching Scholar, and Director of the University Honors and Leadership Program at the University of Colorado Denver. He received his B.A. (Economics) from Calvin College in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Economics from Michigan State University in 1989. Dr. Medema’s research focuses on the history of twentieth-century economics, and he is the author of numerous books and articles dealing with various aspects of the history of economics, law and economics, and public economics. His book, The Hesitant Hand: Taming Self-Interest in the History of Economic Ideas (Princeton, 2009), was awarded the 2010 Book Prize from the European Society for the History of Economic Thought (ESHET). Dr. Medema served as Editor of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought from 1999-2008. He is a member of the editorial boards of several history of economics journals and the Book Reviews Editor for History of Political Economy. He was elected President of the History of Economics Society for 2009-10. He served on the Executive Committee of ESHET from 2012-2016 and was a member of the ESHET Scientific Council from 2000-2006. Dr. Medema is currently working on a book-length project entitled, “Legal Fiction: An Intellectual History of the Coase Theorem,” for which he received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship.