Peter Boettke offers two great posts on recent developments among my generation of economists. First, two of his former students, Adam Martin and Claudia Williamson, are joining NYU's Development Research Institute. These are great placements for two excellent young scholars. Second, he has a post describing the student programs being built and supervised by some of his former students. Programs at San Jose State, Trinity College, Suffolk University, James Madison University, Mercer University, Loyola University-New Orleans, Beloit College, West Virginia University, Saint Lawrence University, and George Mason University are being supervised and nurtured by some of Pete's students and colleagues past and present. I consider myself a fellow traveler with Pete's students (and with good reason: my advisor, John Nye, is now at GMU) and I'm really excited about what they are doing. More on that in a minute.

Pete has said before that a dog that can't wag it's own tail is a pretty sad dog, so I'm going to take an opportunity to highlight some of the things our students at Rhodes are doing. First, seniors Jill Carr and Dustin Sump will present their research at the APEE meetings in Guatemala City this weekend. Jill is entering the PhD program at Texas A&M in the Fall, and Dustin will be working as a member of the Koch Associates Program next year before entering a PhD program. Allyson Pellissier, a junior, is weighing several exciting opportunities for this summer and will pursue a PhD in economics after she graduates. I anticipate that a few dozen Rhodes students will participate in summer seminars sponsored by IHS, the Mises Institute, FEE, and other organizations. In the last few years, Rhodes students have been instrumental in bringing William Easterly, Bryan Caplan, Randall Parker, Chris Coyne, J.C. Bradbury, John Hasnas, Mike DeBow, Randall Holcombe, Larry White, Ken Elzinga, and Deirdre McCloskey to campus. We're rounding out this list of speakers with a visit from Douglass C. North on April 23. In Fall 2007, some of my economic history students wrote articles that were published in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. In just the last week, a lot of students have expressed interest in doing graduate work in economics. Mike Hammock nails it in his description of what he likes most about Rhodes: "You know you're at a good school when students choose to sit next to you in the dining hall so that they can talk about economics outside the classroom."

I remember a conversation I had with Pete in graduate school about building a culture of excellence among the scholars of my generation. In my estimation, that is exactly what is happening: people like Pete Leeson, Chris Coyne, Claudia Williamson, Ben Powell, and Ed Stringham, just to name a few, are doing work of lasting importance that is being published in excellent journals, and they are being rewarded with excellent opportunities. Having peers, colleagues, and students of this caliber makes me very optimistic for the future of our cherished discipline.

And so we continue our preparations for APEE. Division of Labour will be well-represented: Josh, Ed, Frank, Larry, Bob, and I are all on the program. I expect that a good time will be had by all.