Peter Leeson

Peter Leeson
Born (1979-07-29) July 29, 1979 (age 45)
NationalityAmerican
SpouseAnia Leeson
Academic career
FieldEconomics
InstitutionUniversity of Chicago
(2009–2010)
George Mason University
(2007–present)
West Virginia University
(2005–2007)
Alma materHillsdale College
George Mason University
InfluencesGary Becker, Ludwig von Mises, George Stigler, Gordon Tullock
ContributionsThe Invisible Hook
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Peter T. Leeson (born July 29, 1979) is an American economist and the Duncan Black Professor of Economics and Law at George Mason University.[1] In 2012 Big Think listed him among "Eight of the World's Top Young Economists".[2] He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[3]

Leeson is known for extending rational choice theory into unusual domains,[4][5][6] such as to the study of bizarre rituals and superstitions, and to the behavior of Caribbean pirates.[7][8][9] As Freakonomics coauthor Steven Levitt put it, "the amazing thing about Pete Leeson is that he takes these crazy topics and through a brilliant mix of meticulous historical research, data gathering, and creative economic thinking he shows that these seemingly nonsensical practices actually make a whole lot of sense... I can't think of another economist whose work has so consistently blown my mind."[10] According to the American Institute for Economic Research's Art Carden, "to the extent that the economics profession has an heir to Gary Becker in the sense of pushing economic analysis as far as we think it will go and then discovering it will go a little farther, it's Leeson."[11]

In 2022 Leeson received the Adam Smith Award, previously given to Nobel Laureates Douglass North, James M. Buchanan, Vernon L. Smith, and Elinor Ostrom.[12]

Formerly, he held faculty positions at West Virginia University and the University of Chicago.

  1. ^ "Peter T. Leeson." George Mason University Department of Economics
  2. ^ Wyne, Ali. "Empirics and Psychology: Eight of the World's Top Young Economists Discuss Where Their Field is Going." Big Think. July 25, 2012. [1]
  3. ^ Department of Economics, George Mason University. "Peter Leeson Elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts."[2]
  4. ^ Dubner, Stephen J. "What Do Broken-Hearted Knitters, Urinating Goalkeepers, and the C.I.A. Have in Common?" Freakonomics.com. January 12, 2022. [3]
  5. ^ Keenan, Michael. "Interview with Peter Leeson, Author of The Invisible Hook and Anarchy Unbound". Seasteading.org. April 24, 2014. [4]
  6. ^ Koyama, Mark. "Peter T. Leeson, WTF?!: An Economic Tour of the Weird." Review of Austrian Economics. 2019, Vol. 32, pp. 81-84. [5]
  7. ^ Rothman, Lily. "Game of Thrones and the Case for Trial by Combat." Time. March 12, 2014. [6]
  8. ^ Worstall, Tim. "Wifeselling: Is Selling Your Wife Slavery?" Forbes. June 21, 2011. [7]
  9. ^ Levitt, Steven. "The Economics of Gypsies." Freakonomics.com. July 27, 2010. [8]
  10. ^ Levitt, Steven D. "Peter Leeson on Why Trial-by-Fire Wasn't Barbaric and Why Pirates Were Democratic." Freakonomics.com. June 11, 2021. [9]
  11. ^ Carden, Art. "Peter T. Leeson: A Birthday Appreciation." AIER.org. July 29, 2020. [10]
  12. ^ "Leeson honored with the 2022 Adam Smith Award by The Association of Private Enterprise Education." April 20, 2022. [11]