Who Am I?
I received my Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. I then spent five years on the faculty at UCLA where I actually learned economics, mainly from Armen Alchian and Harold Demsetz. At Berkeley I was trained to be a big-government interventionist. At UCLA I became a small-government classical liberal, and I have continued as such to this day.
I was Professor of Economics at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) from 1973 to my retirement in July 2007. I was Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Business and Economics from 2005 - 2007. I have been a Visiting Professor at Stanford University, the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the Universidad Francisco Marroquin, Guatemala.
I am a member, and a past Vice President and member of the Board of Directors, of the Mont Pelerin Society -- the international free-market organization founded by F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman (and others) in 1947. I was Director of the Smith Center for Private Enterprise Studies at CSUEB from its founding in 1991 to my retirement in 2007. The principal mission of the Smith Center is to foster a better understanding of free market principles and their application to public policy.
I am a former columnist in The Freeman, a magazine devoted to free market principles and published by the Foundation for Economic Education in Atlanta, Georgia. I am on the editorial boards of three academic journals, an adjunct scholar with the CATO Institute in Washington, DC, a member of the Advisory Board of the Free Market Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a former consultant on labor economics to the New Zealand Business Roundtable. I am currently a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research.
I retired from university teaching in June 2007; and, as of April 1, 2020, I am retired from my consultancy in labor-management relations. I continue to write occasional commentaries and to speak publicly on labor-related as well as general economic topics.
Recent Short Commentary
Progressive Interest Rates and Progressive Income Tax Rates are Illegitimate
"Progressive Interest Rates?" American Institute for Economic Research, Daily Economy, April 27, 2023
Labor Unions are Disguised Government Agents
"Government Action and Private Unions," American Institute for Economic Research, August 5, 2021
Socialism Must be Authoritarian
"Socialism Must be Authoritarian," American Institute for Economic Research, March 11, 2020
American Unions Aren't Doing Well
"Bleak Future For Unions," InsideSources.com, February 5, 2020
Arizona Does Not Have "Guaranteed Recognition" of Occupational Licenses
"Reciprocity in Occupational Licensure Might Be a Bad Idea," American Institute for Economic Research, January 27, 2020.
Approve of labor unions?
"That Labor Union Poll Is Not Believable," American Institute for Economic Research, August 30, 2019
Exclusive representation in government employment must go.
"Coercion in Government Employment," American Institute for Economic Research, August 19, 2019.
On the effects of Janus on higher education
"After Janus: Vindication and Hope," James G. Martin Center, July 25, 2018
On the aftermath of Janus
"After Janus, New Models for Labor Relations," The Acton Institute, July 11, 2018
On Catholic Bishops' Amicus Brief against Mark Janus
"Catholic Bishops against Mark Janus," The Acton Institute, February 7, 2018
On government shutdown follies:
"Shutdown Blessings," The Heartland Institute, January 22, 2018
Promulgating the Freedom Philosophy
Through Writing and Speaking
Charles W. Baird, Ph. D.