August Hardy comes to Sweet Briar from George Mason University, where he completed his master’s and Ph.D. in economics. His dissertation focused on “Rationality on the Fringes.” He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. Hardy’s research and teaching focus primarily on applied microeconomics and political economy, with a secondary interest in industrial organization. Specifically, his recent research has focused on the application of price theory to non-market interactions.
“I am interested in the ways in which the interactions between individuals create emergent institutions to sustain exchange and increase welfare,” he explains. “By viewing human behavior as fundamentally purposive and recalling the extraordinary value of markets as a discovery process, economics sheds light on things once thought mysterious. With this foundation, my research seeks to illuminate and explore the determinants of human behavior where others do not look.”
At GMU, Hardy has taught such courses as Introductory and Intermediate Microeconomics, Public Choice, Money and Banking and International Economic Policy.