Professor, Economics

Jeff Hummel is the author of Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War (1996). He teaches both economics and history, and before joining the SJSU economics faculty in the fall of 2002, lectured as an adjunct at Golden Gate University and Santa Clara University. He served in the U.S. Army as a tank platoon leader during the early seventies, was Publications Director for the Independent Institute in Oakland, CA, in the late eighties, and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, for the 2001-2002 academic year.

Publications

Books

Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A History of the American Civil War, 2nd edition (Chicago: Open Court, 2014).

Other Publications

• “How the Fed Became Huge,” Reason, 46 (December 2014): 43-49
• “What’s Wrong With the Taylor Rule,” Library of Economics and Liberty (November 2014)
• "Some Possible Consequences of a U.S. Government Default," Econ Journal Watch, 9 (January 2012)
• "Why Default on U.S. Treasuries is Likely," Library of Economics and Liberty (August 2009)
• "Greenspan's Monetary Policy in Retrospect: Discretion or Rules?" (with David R. Henderson), Cato Briefing Paper, No. 109 (November 3, 2008)

Select working papers:

• "Deadweight Loss and the American Civil War: The Political Economy of Slavery, Secession, and Emancipation," October 2012
• "The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850: Symbolic Gesture or Rational Guarantee?" (with Barry R. Weingast) January 2006

Articles and reviews published in:

• Wall Street Journal
• Journal of Economic History
• Independent Review
• Texas Law Review
• International Philosophical Quarterly
• Reason
• and numerous other publications ...

Contributions to:

• Boom and Bust Banking: The Causes and Cures of the Great Recession, David Beckworth, ed.
• History of the American Government and Economy, Price Fishback , ed.
• Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice, Edward P. Stringham, ed.
• Reassessing the Presidency, John V. Denson, ed.
• Arms, Politics, and the Economy, Robert Higgs, ed.

Scripts for audio tapes produced by Knowledge Products:

• on the Constitution, narrated by Walter Cronkite
• on American Wars, narrated by George C. Scott

Email

Preferred: jeffrey.hummel@sjsu.edu

Telephone

Preferred: (925) 324-0659

Office Hours

Tuesday, 6:00-6:30 P.M.; and by appointment

Education

Ph.D. History, University of Texas, Austin, 2001
B.A. History, Grove City College, 1971

Links

• Blog Posts at Alt-M
• Curriculum Vitae
• Research Fellow, Independent Institute
• Jeff Hummel's Personal Website, In Progress