Economic Round Table and Annual Hayek Group Celebration
Tom Cargill (Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Nevada, Reno),
Gerald O'Driscoll (Cato Institute Senior Fellow and Hayek Group Founder),
Mark Pingle (Professor of Economics, University of Nevada, Reno)
November 12
Speakers
Thomas F. Cargill is a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute and Professor Emeritus of Economics in the College of Business at the University of Nevada, Reno. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University California, Davis, and he has been Visiting Lecturer at Cal State University, Sacramento; Assistant Professor at Purdue University; Visiting Scholar, Comptroller Currency, Washington, D.C,: and Visiting Scholar at the Hoover Institution; and Visiting Economist at the Bank of Japan, Tokyo.
Gerald O’Driscoll is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives. He is a widely quoted expert on international monetary and financial issues. Previously the director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at the Heritage Foundation, O’Driscoll was senior editor of the annual Index of Economic Freedom, co-published by Heritage and the Wall Street Journal.
O’Driscoll has also served as vice president and director of policy analysis at Citigroup. Before that, he was vice president and economic adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He also served as staff director of the congressionally mandated Meltzer Commission on international financial institutions.
O’Driscoll has taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Iowa State University; and New York University. He is widely published in leading publications, including the Wall Street Journal. He appears frequently on national radio and television, including Fox Business News, CNBC, and Bloomberg. He is a member of the Mont Pelerin Society and is president of the Association of Private Enterprise Education.
O’Driscoll holds a BA in economics from Fordham University and an MA and PhD in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Mark Pingle is a professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Reno Department of Economics, where he has served since 1990. Professor Pingle has published papers, books, and other writings in the areas of macroeconomics, behavioral economics, and experimental economics. Professor Pingle is Book Editor for Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics and associate editor for the Review of Behavioral Economics. He is a past President of the Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics. Since Fall 2008, professor Pingle has focused on building an Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. This effort has included much community outreach in an effort to enhance economic development in Nevada, specifically by seeking to develop a culture of entrepreneurship. Progress includes more than $10 million in university endowment funds raised for entrepreneurship, rapidly expanding enrollments in entrepreneurship courses, and a community organization called Entrepreneurship Nevada that fosters collaboration among community groups that support entrepreneurship. Mark served as President of The Hayek Group from 2018 to 2025 and remains on the Hayek Group Board. Professor Pingle grew up in a cattle ranching family in Southern Oregon and played on a state championship baseball team in high school. He received his B.S. degree in economics from Southern Oregon State College in 1983. He received his M.A. in 1984 and Ph.D. in Economics in 1988, both from the University of Southern California. Mark and his wife Melissa have three girls—Rachel, Rebekah, and Leah — and seven grandchildren.
Topic
The year 2026 has been a great year for The Hayek Group. Come and celebrate 2026 at this dinner meeting with other Hayek Group members and friends.
In lieu of a featured speaker, this dinner meeting will feature an economic round table of economists (Tom Cargill, Gerald O’Driscoll, and Mark Pingle) who are also members of The Hayek Group. Each economist will present a short (5 to 7 minute) expression of their view of current economic conditions, just post-election. Where is the economy now? Where are we headed? What are the most important policy actions to consider, so we move toward a brighter future? After these short presentations, there will be an extended Q&A time, where YOU can express yourself and get feedback from the economic round table participants.