“The world’s problem is not too many people but lack of political and economic freedom.” Julian Simon

Each year since 2001, Competitive Enterprise Institute pays tribute to free-market economist, professor, and consummate optimist Julian Simon by presenting the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award to an individual whose work supports Simon’s vision of mankind as the ultimate resource. This year, CEI  to honors Dr. Steven Horwitz, Director of the Institute for the Study of Political Economy and Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise at Ball State University, as the 2020 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Winner.

Professor Steven Horwitz extends Simon’s legacy with an exemplary teaching career and thorough empirical investigation of labor saving innovations in the modern economy.

Julian L. Simon (1932-1998) was a free-market economist and business professor known for his optimism about the future of mankind. His groundbreaking research built the case for how human ingenuity would allow the environment to support the world’s increasing population over the long-term, demonstrating human beings are an asset to the planet, not a liability.

Simon authored the 1981 classic, The Ultimate Resource, which debunked eco-doomsayers’ predictions that modern civilization is unsustainable. Over the years, he argued that humans are living longer, that people are better fed and healthier, that resources are becoming ever more abundant, and that environmental quality is improving.