Professor Kevin O’Rourke will give the Alice Murray Distinguished Scholar Lecture on Thursday 19th February 2026 at 17:00 in the Neill Lecture Theatre of the Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin: ‘From most-favoured-nation to reciprocal tariffs: what is unsurprising about Trump’s tariffs, what is surprising, and why it matters’.
Registration for the event has now closed.
Abstract: Commentary on recent US tariff increases has largely focussed on the height of the duties involved, but in a historical context what is more striking is their discriminatory nature. The lecture will argue that the American move away from free trade is not so surprising, when viewed in a historical context, but that the US abandonment of the non-discrimination principles it traditionally championed is much more so. The reasons why the United States initially embraced the MFN principle will be revisited, since that historical experience has something to teach us today.
The Alice Murray Distinguished Scholar Award is awarded annually by the Centre for Economics, Policy, and History (CEPH) to an economic historian who has made a major contribution to the discipline.
In accepting his award, Professor O’Rourke notes, ‘I am very honoured to be receiving this prize in memory of Alice Effie Murray. She was not only the first woman to receive a degree from the LSE, but the first serious economic historian of Ireland, beating George O’Brien to the prize by some fifteen years. I am particularly pleased to be giving a talk in her honour since she was among other things a historian of trade and trade policy, and so throughout my career I have been following in her footsteps. I look forward to speaking in February about what history has to tell us about today’s dramatic trade policy landscape.‘
Biography
Kevin Hjortshøj O’Rourke is a Director of Research at the CNRS and a Professor of Economics at Sciences Po Paris. His research lies at the intersection of economic history and international economics, with a particular focus on the history of globalization and deglobalization: his publications include numerous articles in economic history and economics journals, as well as the prize-winning Globalization and History (co-authored with Jeffrey G. Williamson), Power and Plenty (co-authored with Ronald Findlay), and A Short History of Brexit.
Professor O’Rourke received his PhD from Harvard in 1989, and was previously the Chichele Professor of Economic History at All Souls College, Oxford. He has also taught at Columbia, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Harvard, and NYU Abu Dhabi. He is currently an Editor of the Economic History Review, and previously served the economic history profession in numerous capacities. He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Cliometric Society, and the Academy of Social Science. Professor O’Rourke holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Denmark.
Award
Professor Kevin O’Rourke stands as one of the most influential economic historians of his generation, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of the history of globalization, trade, and economic integration. His research has provided the intellectual framework that defines modern economic history’s approach to studying the movement of commodities, people and capital during the first era of globalization. His work on the interwar period has illuminated the complex relationships between protectionism, politics, macroeconomics, and economic catastrophe.
Professor O’Rourke’s contributions to Irish economic history have been particularly pathbreaking. His early work on the Great Famine clearly demonstrated that the Great Famine was a watershed movement in Ireland’s history, while his analysis of post-Famine Ireland has illuminated the relationships between emigration, agricultural change, and economic modernization.
Professor O’Rourke has distinguished himself as an intellectual leader who has shaped how economic history is studied and applied. His ability to combine sophisticated economic theory with meticulous historical evidence has set new standards for the field. Furthermore, his engagement with contemporary policy debates brings historical perspective to ongoing discussions about deglobalization, trade wars, and populism.
and 
by