Last night I went to Annapolis to see Tom Palmer convince college kids that globalization rules — St. John’s College was the last stop on his recent college lecture tour. Tom is the best speaker Cato has, but he doesn’t speak very often at Cato itself — or, at least, I don’t hear about it if he does (he speaks at Cato University events, but those are never near DC). And yet there’s only a single video clip of him on Cato’s web site. So the trip was more than worthwhile. When I was a Cato intern back in 1997, Tom led lunchtime discussions/lectures with the interns every week — easily a highlight of the experience. But now I have to catch his appearances when the opportunity arises. Last night was the first time since the FEE convention last year in Las Vegas . . . which was the first time since my internship.

It may sound like I’m heaping too much praise here, but watching this guy lecture is, for me, kind of on par with, say, watching Robert Fripp play guitar. They’re both masters of their respective crafts, and when they’re in the proverbial zone it’s almost jaw-droppingly good.

After delivering a thorough, engaging case for the value and, yes, morality of free global trade, and fielding questions graciously from the economically illiterate, Tom moved the discussion to a more informal setting — and I skipped out. I’m not a beer-drinker and I decided that, as an old guy, I should probably keep my college interloping to a minimum. Even though I’ve been out of college for less than six years, I don’t really fit in, if I ever did. And although the lecture was open to the public, it was meant as an exegesis for engaged, questioning students — not a sermon for a converted member of the choir . . .