Vernon Lomax Smith (born January 1, 1927 in Wichita, Kansas) is professor of economics and law at George Mason University and the George Mason University School of Law, a research scholar in the Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science, and a Fellow of the Mercatus Center all in Arlington, Virginia.

An alumnus of Wichita North High School and Friends University, Smith received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Caltech in 1949, an M.A. in economics from the University of Kansas in 1952, and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1955.

Smith's first teaching post was at the Krannert School of Purdue University, which he held from 1955 until 1967, attaining the rank of full professor. It was there that his work in experimental economics began. As Smith describes it:

"In the Autumn semester, 1955, I taught Principles of Economics, and found it a challenge to convey basic microeconomic theory to students. Why/how could any market approximate a competitive equilibrium? I resolved that on the first day of class the following semester, I would try running a market experiment that would give the students an opportunity to experience an actual market, and me the opportunity to observe one in which I knew, but they did not know what were the alleged driving conditions of supply and demand in that market."

Smith also taught as a visiting associate professor at Stanford University (1961-1962) and there made contact with Sydney Siegel, who was also doing work in experimental economics. Smith moved with his family to Massachusetts and got a position first at Brown University (1967-1968), then at the University of Massachusetts (1968-1972). Smith also received appointments at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (1972-1973) and Caltech (1974-1975). He moved on to the University of Arizona from 1976 until 2002, where he conducted research that earned him the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences. He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles and books on capital theory, finance, natural resource economics and experimental economics.

Smith received the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2002. He served as an expert for the Copenhagen Consensus.

In February 2005 Smith spoke out publicly about his Asperger's syndrome, which is part of the autistic spectrum.

See also

• List of economists
• List of economics consultancies and think tanks

References