Please join us the day after the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner for brunch with 2025 Honoree James Otteson. In conversation with Kent Lassman, he will discuss his forthcoming book, Human Dignity: Surprising Implications for Taking a Key Idea Seriously. Carrying on the legacies of Julian Simon and Adam Smith, Otteson compellingly argues that the universal “North Star” of business ethics and honorable business is respecting people’s dignity.

Join us in CEI’s office for delicious Tatte breakfast and good vibes about humanity.

When: 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Friday, September 19, 2025

Where: Competitive Enterprise Institute

1310 L St NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

RSVP: [email protected] or 202.331.2764

James R. Otteson is the John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics at the Mendoza College of Business at his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. Known as the “Adam Smith professor,” Otteson has taught the morality of markets, honorable business practices, and the principles of a purpose-driven life. He has published and coauthored many explorations into Smith’s philosophy beginning with Adam Smith’s Marketplace of Life in 2002. 

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