Cassandra or scapegoat? The ideas of Ayn Rand, bestselling author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, have been front and center in recent debates over the financial crisis. Some blame Rand's celebration of free markets for the catastrophe, pointing to her long relationship with Alan Greenspan; others claim her fiction predicts both the bailout and the dire consequences sure to follow. Professor Jennifer Burns, author of the new book Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right (Oxford University Press), discusses these questions and how Rand's powerful novels have shaped our understanding of capitalism, markets, and the government's role in the economy. Goddess of the Market will be released in October, 2009, but is available now for advance purchase through amazon.com or other on-line book retailers. Books will be sold at the event and Professor Burns will be autographing copies.

Jennifer Burns is a graduate of Harvard College ('97-98) and an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and lived in the Bay Area for many years, where she began researching and writing her book (and attended many Harvard Club events in her free time!). Podcasts of her introductory lectures on American history are available at http://iTunes.berkeley.edu and on her website, www.jenniferburns.org.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Hors d'oeuvres from 6:30-7:30pm
Talk from 7:30-9:00pm
University Club
800 Powell St, San Francisco CA  Map
$15 members; $25 non-members
Light appetizers and refreshments will be served
SOLD OUT!