Joshua C. Hall is an professor of economics, department chair, and director of the Center for Free Enterprise in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He earned his bachelor and master degrees in economics from Ohio University and his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in 2007. Prior to returning to his alma mater, he was the Elbert H. Neese, Jr. Professor of Economics at Beloit College and an Economist with the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. Hall is a past President of the Association of Private Enterprise Education. In addition to being a co-author on the widely-cited Economic Freedom of the World annual report, he is author of over 100 academic journal articles, including over a dozen in economic education.
Kerianne Lawson is a graduate student pursuing a Ph.D. in economics at West Virginia University and has a graduate assistantship with the Center for Free Enterprise. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Southern Methodist University in 2017. While at SMU, she worked at the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom, which sparked her love for economics. Her research interests include urban and regional economics, mainly focusing on crime and other consequences of urban disamenities, as well as economic freedom.