Richard Hornbeck, an economic historian from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will present a lecture at Northwestern University this week focusing on how current economic models may underestimate the benefits of transportation investments.
The event, titled “Amplified gains from transportation infrastructure investments,” is part of the 2025 Leon N. Moses Distinguished Lecture in Transportation. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 700 University Place in Evanston. The lecture is free and open to the public, with registration encouraged.
Hornbeck holds the V. Duane Rath Professorship of Economics at the University of Chicago and researches historical development within the U.S. economy. In his upcoming talk, he plans to highlight that traditional models often assume efficient markets but fail to account for real-world issues such as uncompetitive markets and limited access to financing for firms.
He will use U.S. railroad expansion in the late nineteenth century as an example where ignoring these broader distortions led economists to undervalue railroads’ role in economic growth. Hornbeck argues that updating these frameworks could help economists better estimate future gains from transportation investments.
Hornbeck also serves as a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and has affiliations with programs focused on American economic development, development economics, and environmental and energy economics. Before joining Chicago Booth in 2015, he was Dunwalke Associate Professor of American History in Harvard’s economics department. He received an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship in 2014 and participated in the Review of Economic Studies Tour in 2009.
The annual Leon N. Moses Distinguished Lecture honors Professor Leon N. Moses for his work in transportation economics and regional science, as well as his service to Northwestern University Transportation Center (NUTC).
Founded in 1954, NUTC is recognized internationally for its interdisciplinary approach to education and research related to transportation systems and supply chain operations.