Andrés Álvarez
Is a Professor of Economics at Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia. As a historian of economic thought, his primary research now centers on the study of inequality. He investigates both the determinants of inequality within labor market structures and how the discipline of economics has evolved in its attention to this topic. He is particularly interested in the work of Anthony Atkinson and his foundational role in renewing the study of inequality. His work also includes contributions to the history of monetary ideas, monetary history, and economic thought in Colombia.
Nahid Aslanbeigui
Independent Scholar
After some forty years of teaching, I am pursuing full-time research, working on the quantification of economics at the University of Cambridge, 1937-1957, as well as the question of how the analysis of negative externalities became embedded in economics pedagogy following World War II.
Email: naslanbe@gmail.com
Benjamin Brisson
Is a political theorist and intellectual historian. He recently graduated with a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. Ben’s work, broadly conceived, engages with the history of political economy, critical theory, and studies of fascism. During his time at the HOPE Center, Ben will work on his book project, which examines the unexplored history and theoretical connections between the Austrian School of Economics and the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory in the mid-20th century. Ben is eager to explore the HOPE Center’s archives, especially the Hayek Papers, during his stay over the 2025-2026 academic year. These papers will be an invaluable resource for his project’s goal of reassessing the intellectual history and roots of neoliberalism and antifascist discourse. Ben previously earned an M.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine and a B.A. in Economics from St. Lawrence University. More information about his work can be found at his website: benbrisson.wordpress.com.
Florent His
Prepared a dissertation at the University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne between 2019 and 2025, on the history of Financial Keynesianism, a branch of Keynesian economics initiated by Hyman P. Minsky. His dissertation examines several of Minsky’s contributions to macroeconomics from a historical perspective, interpreting them as attempts to place financial processes and their impact on economic dynamics at the center of the economic analysis. It also explores how changes in the social organization of the profession—including the evolution of expertise production and the emergence of heterodox economics—shaped research on financial instability in the second half of the twentieth century. During his time at the CHOPE, he will work on how other macroeconomists addressed financial instability, especially in macroeconometric models of the 1970s and 1980s.
Eva Jacob
Completed her PhD in Economics at the University of Strasbourg (France) in June 2025. Her doctoral thesis explores the tension between universal basic income and theories of justice, using interdisciplinary and complementary methods such as economic philosophy, experimental economics, and a dual approach to the history of economic thought, combining analytical reconstruction and bibliometric methods. The thesis critically examines whether unconditional basic income can be considered a fair policy, given that it provides financial support without work requirements. One key limitation she identifies is the lack of sustainable funding mechanisms. During her time at the HOPE Center, she will investigate Anthony B. Atkinson’s work on optimal taxation and redistributive schemes as potential avenues to address this issue.
Edward Nik-Khah
Is Professor of Economics at Roanoke College. His previously completed research has explored the design of markets to achieve a myriad of public policy goals, the history of information economics, the tensions within neoliberalism, and the political economy of research and innovation. During his stay at Duke, he will be researching the history of how markets came to be understood as organizations and the rollout of digital platforms into medicine.
Raphaël Orange-Leroy
Defended his Ph.D. in History at CY Cergy Paris University, in co-supervision with University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. His research focuses on the role of 1960s-1970s' North-South negotiations in forging our current global economic governance. Through the histories of international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), he explores the political and intellectual influence of diplomats, economists, central bankers, and international civil servants working in the interest of developing countries in the monetary and financial fields. While in the Center, he will study the role of multilateral expertise to produce new knowledge at the crossroad of development and monetary economics. He is an alumnus from Sorbonne University and the Fulbright Program.
Luca Rebolino
Is a PhD candidate in History at the University of Bologna (Italy), where he is also part of the honors program offered by the Collegio Superiore. He is currently pursuing a research project in U.S. intellectual history, weaving together the histories of the social sciences, political thought, and science and technology.
He explores the relationship between technology and politics, with a special focus on the institutional and intellectual context of the United States in the latter half of the twentieth century. Indeed, he aims to investigate how the cybernetic conceptual framework influenced social research, particularly within neoliberal political theory.
During his semester-long visit at the Center, he will explore the Hayek Papers collection to understand how Hayek’s engagement with cybernetics and systems theory shaped his economic and social views, especially in light of his broader political goals.
He previously earned his BA in International Relations from the University of Turin, spending an exchange semester at Maastricht University; followed by an MSC in Political Theory from the University of Amsterdam; and, finally, an MA in Contemporary History from the University of Bologna. For more information and contact details, please see: https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/luca.rebolino2/en
email: luca.rebolino2@unibo.it
Roberto Pereira Silva
Graduated in History with a master's and PhD in Economic History. He is a professor of economic history and history of economic thought at the University Federal of Alfenas, Brazil. His research focus is Brazilian Economic Thought in the twentieth century, particularly the work of Celso Furtado. This research aims to identify the institutional and political context in which economic ideas emerge to influence economic policy. While in the Center for the History of Political Economy, his research will be on the archive of Earl J. Hamilton, held in the Rubinstein Library. He will investigate how Hamilton's empirical studies on Spanish Price History were received and assimilated by economists such as John Maynard Keynes and by economic historians, mainly the French Fernand Braudel, François Simiand, and Pierre Chaunu. The purpose is to pursue a deeper view of how historical and empirical studies can be used to justify theoretical assessment and, reversely, how theoretical economic propositions can influence historical reconstruction.