The Faculty of Management Sciences held its 2^nd Herman Mashaba Lecture on Entrepreneurship on 28 September 2015.  The lecture served as a continuation of the first lecture in terms of broad objectives of creating an entrepreneurial spirit among CUT students.  It was named after Dr Herman Mashaba, a CUT alumnus, with the aim of helping the university to make further advances in developing innovative and entrepreneurially-oriented academic programmes for its students.  

This year, the lecture was presented by Prof. Kurt Leube, an acclaimed Professor from Stanford University in the USA. He spoke about the history of the Austrian School of Economics and its implications for the 21st Century.  The School dates back to the 19^th Century when it was first founded in 1871 with the publication of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics.  Many of leading Austrian Economics scholars left Austria from as early as 1930s to ply their trade in a number of top seeded universities in the US and UK. No wonder its influence is felt across the globe and practised by many successful economies in the world. He shared some ideas about the Austrian School of Economics and its differences with other schools of economics which uses logic of a prior thinking, where a person can think on their own without relying on the outside world to find out about economic laws of universal application; whereas other mainstream schools of economics make use of data and mathematical models to prove their point objectively.  “A minimum of theoretical perception of how capitalism works or what an open and free society stands for, at all times is a necessary precondition of any serious political discussion. Taking sides or judging matters responsibly compels everyone to have more than just a passing notion of a few economic parameters. “Only those who are able to challenge futile ideas and positions with sound socio-economic analyses and viable alternatives will endure in the looming row over free markets, redistribution, or business ethics,” he said. Prof. Leube is also a Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution and specialises in Austrian Economics, Economic Philosophy, and the History of Economic Thought. In addition to his research work at Hoover, he also teaches ‘Austrian Economics’ in the EISP and CS Programs. He holds several recurrent Guest Professorships at leading European and South American universities, and serves also as the Academic Director of the “European Center of Austrian Economics Foundation” (ecaef.li) in Vaduz, Principality of Liechtenstein. Professor Leube is a resident of California and native of Austria and was educated in both, Germany and Austria. 

After working in Austria in different positions, he accepted an appointment as Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University in late 1983, and subsequently moved to California where he presently resides. In 1985 he was also appointed Professor of Economics at California State University, Hayward, and became their Professor Emeritus in 2002. Professor Leube is internationally recognised as “a leading authority in the tradition of the Austrian School of Economics and one of the closest collaborators and disciples of Nobel Laureate Friedrich A. von Hayek”. 

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At the 2^nd annual Herman Mashaba lecture is from left: Prof. Thandwa Mthembu, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of CUT; Prof. Kurt Leube, Dr Herman Mashaba, CUT alumnus and a business mogul and Prof. Albert Strydom, Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences.