Research

My research exams how entrepreneurial and innovative ideas are generated, under what institutional contexts these ideas emerge, and how these ideas influence and are influenced by the adaptive process at both the micro and macro level of analysis. The majority of this work has been specific to the motivational and epistemological challenges inherent in the provision of national defense, particularly within the institutional structure of the modern military-industrial complex. I have analyzed the emergence and continuation of the military-industrial complex through the lens of public choice, institutional economics, market process theory, and political economy, mapping the interplay between branches of the military, Congress, and defense industries that forms the backbone of the structure. 

Academic Publications

Journal Articles

Duncan, Thomas K., and Nathan P. Goodman. in press. "State Capacity of Secret Surveillance," Eastern Economic Journal, forthcoming.

Carroll, Joshua, and Thomas K. Duncan. 2024. "An Importance-Performance Analysis of the Bike Virginia Event," Journal of Tourism Insights, 14(1): Article 8. 

Chatham, Michael D., Thomas K. Duncan, and Wendy Li, 2023. "Employing AI in Academia: The Role of ChatGPT in Generating Research Questions," Virginia Economic Journal, 22-36. [2023 Issue published Spring 2024.] 

Tilson*, William D., Daniel Farhat, and Thomas K. Duncan. 2021. “Exploring Terrorism, Counter Terrorism and Their Unintended Consequences,” Virginia Economic Journal, 26(1): 6-20.  (*former student) [2021 Issue published Spring 2022.]

Coyne, Christopher J., Thomas K. Duncan, and Abigail R. Hall. 2021. "The Political Economy of State Responses to Infectious Disease," Southern Economic Journal, 87(4): 1119-1137.

Chatham, Michael D., and Thomas K. Duncan. 2020. "Taxation as a Barrier to Blockchain Innovation,"  Journal of Taxation of Investments, 38(1): 3-21.

Tilson*, William D., Thomas K. Duncan, and Daniel Farhat. 2020. "An Agent-based Model of Ethnocentrism and the Unintended Consequences of Violence," Eastern Economic Journal, 46(3): 483-503. [*student].

Duncan, Thomas K., and Joshua Carroll. 2019. "The Economic Impact of Bike Virginia," Virginia Economic Journal, 1: 1-18. [2019 Issue published Spring 2020.]

Duncan, Thomas K., and Daniel Farhat. 2019. "A Note on Mutually Beneficial Exchange and Discrimination," Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 37(2): 169-176.

Boettke, Peter J., Thomas K. Duncan, and Nicholas A. Snow. 2019. "Competition for Antitrust: The National Civic Federation and the Founding of the Federal Trade Commission," The Journal of   Prices and Markets, 7(1): 3-17.

Leeson, Peter T., Christopher J. Coyne, and Thomas K. Duncan. 2016.  "Market-Provided National Defense: Reply to Newhard," The Journal of Private Enterprise, 31(2): 83-86.

Duncan, Thomas K., and Christopher J. Coyne. 2015. "The Revolving Door and the Entrenchment of the Permanent War Economy," Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy, 21(3): 391-413.

Leeson, Peter T., Christopher J. Coyne, and Thomas K. Duncan. 2014. "A Note on the Market Provision of National Defense," The Journal of Private Enterprise, 29(2): 51-55.

Duncan, Thomas K. 2014. "Doing Bad by Doing Good in Goma," Studies in Emergent Order, 7: 135-143

Duncan, Thomas K., and Christopher J. Coyne. 2013. "The Origins of the Permanent War Economy," The Independent Review, 18(2): 219-240.

Duncan, Thomas K., and Christopher J. Coyne. 2013. "The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy: A Market Process Approach," The Review of Austrian Economics, 26(4): 413-431.

Duncan, Thomas K. 2011. "Labor Theory of Property: Homesteading and the Loss of Subjective Value," Libertarian Papers, 3(22): Online


Contributions to Books

Duncan, Thomas K. in press. “The Non-Freedom of Foreign Intervention,” in Brandon Christensen (ed.), Global Federalism: Liberty and Security in an Anarchical World | Volume I: Westphalian Sovereignty and its National States, Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming.

Duncan, Thomas K. 2024. “The Continuing Costs of the Permanent War Economy,” in Christopher J. Coyne (ed.), The Legacy of Robert Higgs, The Mercatus Center at George Mason University: 257-282.

Duncan, Thomas K. 2019. "Potential Pitfalls in Private Aid: A Cautionary Note for Non-governmental Assistance," in Nabamita Dutta and Claudia R. Williamson (eds.), Lessons on Foreign Aid and Economic Development: Micro and Macro Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan: 225-244. 

Coyne, Christopher J., and Thomas K. Duncan. 2019. "The Unproductive Protective State: The U.S. Defense Sector as a Fiscal Commons," in Richard E. Wagner (ed), James M. Buchanan: A Theorist of Political Economy and Social Philosophy, Palgrave Macmillan: 235-261.

Duncan, Thomas K., and Christopher J. Coyne. 2015. "The Political Economy of Foreign Intervention," in Peter J. Boettke and Christopher J. Coyne (eds), The Oxford Handbook on Austrian Economics, Oxford University Press: 678-697.


Book Reviews

Review of Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall, Manufacturing Militarism: U.S. Government Propaganda in the War on Terror, The Review of Austrian Economics, 2024, 37(1): 113-116.

Review of Mark R. Wilson, Destructive Creation: American Business and the Winning of World War II, EH.net, May 2017: Online

Review of Louis Kriesberg, Realizing Peace: A Constructive Conflict Approach, The Review of Austrian Economics, 2016, 29(4): 437-440.

Review of Leon Fink, The Long Gilded Age: American Capitalism and the Lessons of a New World Order, The Journal of Economic History, 2016, 76(1): 256-258.

Review of Christopher J. Coyne and Rachel L. Mathers, The Handbook on the Political Economy of War, The Review of Austrian Economics, 2014, 27(3): 341-344.

Review of Katherine C. Epstein, Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain, The  Independent Review, 2014, 19(2): 294-297.


Internet-Based Content

Duncan, Thomas K., and Audrey Redford. 2020. “Drugs, Suicide, and Crime: Empirical Estimates of the Human Toll of the Shutdown,” American Institute for Economic Research, March 28.

Duncan, Thomas K. 2013. "How Will a Culture of Permanent War Impact America’s Future?" Cato Policy Report, April.


Working Papers

"Ballistic Equilibria: Military entrepreneurship in the context of Austrian economic theory"


Invited Presentations and Seminars

“Unmasking the War Machine: The Political Economy of International Conflict,” Governor’s School for Humanities, Radford University, Faculty Afternoon Workshop, June 24-28, 2024.

“The Political Economy of State Responses to Infectious Disease,” The Economics of Covid-19 hosted via Economics Student Association and Omicron Delta Epsilon, Radford University, Radford, VA February 2021 (Virtual)

"The True Cost of Secret Surveillance,” Davis Activities, Research, and Teaching Seminar (DARTS), Radford University, Radford, VA March 2020

CSPE Fellowship Orientation Colloquium hosted via the Center for the Study of Political Economy at Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA January 2020

Applied Topics in Policy Colloquium hosted via the Mercatus Center, Arlington, VA August 2019

Southwest Virginia Teachers Conference hosted by Radford University Department of Economics, Radford, VA July 2019

Applied Research in Political Economy Colloquium hosted via the Mercatus Center, Fairfax, VA June 2019

Southwest Virginia Teachers Conference hosted by Radford University Department of Economics, Radford, VA July 2018

Toleration in a Free Society Colloquium hosted via the Institute for Humane Studies, Radford University, Radford, VA December 2017

Southwest Virginia Teachers Conference hosted by Radford University Department of Economics, Radford, VA August 2017

Applied Research in the PPE Framework Colloquium hosted via the Mercatus Center, Fairfax, VA June 2017

"Economic Impact of Trump's First 100 Days," Trump Forum hosted by Radford University Political Science Society, Radford, VA April 2017

Markets and Morality Colloquium hosted via the Institute for Humane Studies, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA March 2017

"Unpacking the Permanent War Economy" Lecture at Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, VA February 2016

"Foreign Intervention and the Market Process" Lecture at Beloit College, Beloit, WI March 2015

"The Revolving Door and the Entrenchment of the Permanent War Economy," Scott Horton Show (talk radio interview), February 2015 (Audio found here)

Applied Research in the PPE Framework Colloquium hosted via the Mercatus Center, Fairfax, VA September 2014

"The Continuing Costs of the Permanent War Economy" Liberty, Privacy, and the Security State, Advanced Policy Seminar hosted via the Institute for Humane Studies and the Mercatus Center, Fairfax, VA March 2014

"The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy" Lecture at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA March 2014

"The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy" Lecture at Loyola University, New Orleans, LA October 2013

"The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy" The True Costs of War, Foundation for Economic Education Summer Seminar, St. Louis, MO July 2013

"Introduction to Economic Thinking" The True Costs of War, Foundation for Economic Education Summer Seminar, St. Louis, MO July 2013

"The Fatal Conceit of Foreign Intervention" The Trust Costs of War, Foundation for Economic Education Summer Seminar, St. Louis, MO July 2013

"The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy: A Market Process Approach," War Generation: How Will a Culture of Permanent War Impact America's Future?, Cato Institute Student Forum, Washington, DC November 2012 (Video found here)


Conference Presentations

"Ballistic Equilibria: Military entrepreneurship in the context of Austrian economic theory," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., November 2024

"Ballistic Equilibria: Military entrepreneurship in the context of  Austrian economic theory," Markets & Society Conference,  Falls Church, VA October 2024

"Employing AI in Academia: The Role of ChatGPT in Generating Research Questions," Virginia Association of Economists Annual Meeting, Lexington, VA 2024

"The Non-Freedom of Foreign Intervention," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, November 2023

"The Non-Freedom of Foreign Intervention," Markets & Society Conference, Falls Church, VA October 2023

"State Capacity of Secrets," Virginia Association of Economists Annual Meeting, Richmond, VA April 2023

"Learning the Peace: Lessons from an Agent-based Marauder Economy," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, November 2022

"State Capacity of Secrets," Markets & Society Conference, Falls Church, VA October 2022

Education Matters: An Education Conversation, Panel Discussion Chair and Participant, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Houston, TX, November 2021

"Trends in Liquor Sales in the New River Valley," Virginia Association of Economists Annual Meeting, April 2021 (Virtual)

Discussant for Decision Making and Experimental Economics Panel, Virginia Association of Economists Annual Meeting, April 2021 (Virtual)

Discussant for Hampden-Sydney Political Economy I Panel, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, November 2020 (Virtual)

“Taxation as a Barrier to Blockchain Innovation,” Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, November 2019

Discussant for Hampden-Sydney Political Economy Panel, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, November 2019

“The True Cost of Secret Surveillance,” The Mont Pelerin Society Texas 2019 , Forth Worth, TX, May 2019

"The True Cost of Secret Surveillance," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Nassau, Bahamas, April 2019

“Potential Pitfalls in Private Aid: A Cautionary Note for Non-governmental Assistance,” Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C., November 2018

Discussant for Carl Menger Undergraduate Essay Contest Panel, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C., November 2018

Discussant for Hampden-Sydney Political Economy Panel, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington D.C., November 2018

“The Unproductive Protective State,” Association of Private Enterprise Education, Las Vegas, NV April 2018

"Blown Away: Bombs, Networks and Ethnocentrism," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Tampa, FL November 2017

"Perpetual Economic Waste," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. November 2016

Discussant for Carl Menger Essay Undergraduate Essay Contest Panel, Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. November 2016

"Expanding Economic Waste in the Permanent War Economy," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA November 2015

"Expanding Economic Waste in the Permanent War Economy," Radford University COBE Research Symposium, Radford, VA November 2015

"The Revolving Door and the Entrenchment of the Permanent War Economy," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA November 2014

"Foreign Intervention and the Market Process," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Tampa, FL November 2013

"The Origins of the Permanent War Economy," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Maui, HI, April 2013

"The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy: A Market Process Approach," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, Lavoie Memorial Panel, New Orleans, LA November 2012

"Dividing Conquer: Free Riding and the Underproduction of Aggression," Southern Economic Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA November 2012

"Some Perils of the Permanent War Economy: A Market Process Approach," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Las Vegas, NV April 2012.

"History and Theory: Did the 'Robber Barons' Cause the Regulatory State?," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Nassau, Bahamas April 2011.

"Sound Money: A Project of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Nassau, Bahamas April 2011.

"The Sound Money Message: Preventing the Next Crisis with Fundamental Reform," Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Washington, D.C. March 2011.

"Cops! Or Close to It: The Case of Private Police in San Francisco," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Las Vegas, NV April 2010.

"Land Tax and the Anticommons," Association of Private Enterprise Education, Las Vegas, NV April 2008.