03-10-2025
Government deeply affects business. It influences essential areas such as pricing, building, marketing, tax levels and incentives, and environmental regulations, among many others.
Jesse Crosson, assistant professor of political science, will examine the relationship between free governments and free markets in a course called The Good Business of a Healthy Democracy. The course will be offered in the second module of the spring semester to online master’s students in the Daniels School of Business. Crosson is teaching the course through the Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program, which is designed to give students in different academic disciplines the opportunity to broaden their understanding of the world and themselves.
“I’ve always been interested in the relationship between business and government,” says Crosson, who co-founded and co-directs the Purdue Program on American Institute Renewal. “We live in a polarized, often gridlocked world.
“Business can be the leader and the adult in the room. We want people to think of rules and incentives rather than villains and heroes, and both free governments and free markets are built upon robust rules to structure incentives.”
In the course, students are exposed to transformative texts on politics and markets from the likes of Plato, George Washington, James Madison and Milton Friedman, giving them background to the history of the link between democratic governments and free markets. An important component of the course and a staple of Cornerstone offerings is the requirement that students have speaking assignments that call for them to present persuasively on topics that are complex and controversial.
“It’s important for business leaders to be able to articulate thoughts with nuance on difficult topics. The course will give them feedback both on their content and their delivery,” Crosson says.
Course topics include which types of governmental institutions are friendliest and which are least conducive to growth and prosperity, the threats that are common to both free governments and free markets, and the differences between being pro-democracy and pro-government.
“I’m a big believer that following our Constitution and having the ability to function as free people serves as the engine for free enterprise,” Crosson says. “We need to look for reasonable solutions and institutions that allow free markets to work, and business leaders have an important role to play in that process.”
