Robert B. Ekelund, Jr.

Robert B. Ekelund, Ph.D., is Eminent Scholar and Professor of Economics Emeritus in the Department of Economics in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University. Ekelund retired from economics in 2003 but not from economic research which he has conducted for over 50 years. After retirement his interests expanded, specifically, to the new economics of markets for religion and culture and, most particularly, for art. Additionally, he completed (along with colleague Robert Hebert) completed a 6th edition of the History of Economic Theory and Method (published in 2014), continuing a progression from the 1st edition of 1976. In 2017, he published (with John D. Jackson and the late Robert D. Tollison) a book entitled The Economics of American Art: Issues, Artists and Market Institutions with Oxford University Press and is currently developing a book-length manuscript on Freedom and Inequality.  In addition to economic research he maintains work on life-long hobbies of classical piano, painting and gardening.