You're invited! Buckingham Events
Vinson Centre Seminar Series in the Classical Political Economy Tradition Winter term 2025
Conserving wildlife through trading wildlife
Wednesday 18th February, 16:00 - 18:00
Enterprise Hub, Vinson Building (1st floor), University of Buckingham
The trade in ivory is banned to protect elephants. The trade in horn is banned to protect rhinos. The import of hunting trophies is banned to protected hunted species. But what if these trade bans are not working and trading wildlife is actually the way to conserve it? Though the Global Biodiversity Framework, international policy makers recognise that we should ensure that the harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, legal, and beneficial to people. Could liberalised markets for wildlife-based goods and services be the way to conserve wildlife? This talk will explore the increasingly popular concept of a wildlife economy and also reflect a bit on the place of the wild in classical economic thought.
Dr Francis Vorhies is a conservation economist and most recently has been the founding director of the African Wildlife Economy Institute Stellenbosch University South Africa, After completing his economics doctorate at the University of Colorado with a thesis on the monetary theories of Karl Marx and Ludwig von Mises, his attention turned to the opportunities to conserve nature by privatising it. opportun He has also been a resident economist at the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at the University of Oxford.
'Competitive forces of a banking system Empirical issues and development of theoretical discussions'
Tuesday 28th January, 13:00 - 14:00
VB2, Vinson Building (1st floor), University of Buckingham
Why is the issue of the organisation of the banking system and the conditions for competition in banknote issuance topical? The two models of banknote issuance (free banking vs central bank) are contrasted, but the banking history of countries has not conclusively demonstrated that central banking has influenced the economy and ensured economic growth better than free banking. The superiority of free banking, with its better ability to maintain exchange rates, was inherited in the 19th century. Moreover, the historical evolution of economic thought has long attributed to free banking the attribute of a system in which bank debts are converted into precious metals such (gold and silver). Within a restricted exchange rate cycle, foreign currency arbitrage proved to be a viable strategy. A notable example of a nation in exceptional constitutional circumstances underscores the issue in a distinctive manner. The issue resurfaced with greater acuity in the context of the formation of new states following the dissolution of the communist bloc.