Rate My Professor Thomas Duncan

Thomas K. Duncan serves as Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics in the Davis College of Business and Economics at Radford University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University (2013), an M.A. in Economics from San Jose State University (2008), and B.A. degrees in Economics and Religion from Hampden-Sydney College (2005). Duncan teaches various economics courses, including at least one section of Principles of Macroeconomics each semester, and supports independent studies for economics students. His approachable demeanor makes his office hours in Kyle Hall 282 a welcoming space for students and others interested in economics.

Duncan's scholarly work centers on the interaction between institutional settings and economic outcomes, exploring how entrepreneurial and innovative ideas are generated, the institutional contexts in which they emerge, and their influence on adaptive processes at micro and macro levels, with a specific focus on the provision of national defense within the modern military-industrial complex. He has an extensive publication record in leading journals. Key articles include 'State Capacity of Secret Surveillance' (Eastern Economic Journal, 2025, with Nathan P. Goodman), 'The Political Economy of State Responses to Infectious Disease' (Southern Economic Journal, 2021, with Christopher J. Coyne and Abigail R. Hall), 'Taxation as a Barrier to Blockchain Innovation' (Journal of Taxation of Investments, 2020, with Michael D. Chatham), 'An Agent-based Model of Ethnocentrism and the Unintended Consequences of Violence' (Eastern Economic Journal, 2020, with William D. Tilson and Daniel Farhat), 'The Origins of the Permanent War Economy' (The Independent Review, 2013, with Christopher J. Coyne), and 'The Overlooked Costs of the Permanent War Economy: A Market Process Approach' (The Review of Austrian Economics, 2013, with Christopher J. Coyne). Duncan has contributed chapters to prominent volumes such as 'The Political Economy of Foreign Intervention' in The Oxford Handbook of Austrian Economics (2015, with Christopher J. Coyne) and 'The Non-Freedom of Foreign Intervention' in Global Federalism (2024). He has also published book reviews in The Review of Austrian Economics, The Independent Review, and other outlets. At Radford University, Duncan participates in Faculty Senate committees and served as Honors College faculty from 2018 to 2021.