Barbara Galletti’s Mercatus Fellowship Story
From Lima to Lavoie: How the Don Lavoie Fellowship Helped Barbara Galletti Transform Economic Ideas into Powerful Storytelling
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hen Barbara Galletti discovered the Don Lavoie Fellowship something clicked. Within months of completing the fellowship, she found herself drawing on the books she'd studied to script a documentary about F.A. Hayek and interviewing Larry White, whose work had been her favorite during the program. Today, as Senior Producer at the Cato Institute, Barbara credits the fellowship with giving her "four months of a mini college experience" that transformed her understanding of economics.
Barbara joined the fellowship while interning at the Cato Institute in 2023, seeking something she hadn't experienced in years: deep intellectual inquiry through shared reading and discussion. "It's been years since I've been in a class where everybody read the same book and we just discussed the ideas that we had," she recalls. "That part was actually something I missed a lot and that I was very glad to be part of again."
I thought it was great that it was open for people who didn't necessarily have an economics background.
A trained lawyer and journalist from Peru, Barbara had always been interested in libertarian ideas but lacked a formal economics background. "One of the reasons I was attracted to this program is because I wanted to learn more" she explains. "And I thought it was great that it was open for people who didn't necessarily have an economics background. I do work with these themes a lot and I'm very interested in it. I just never had the opportunity to formally study it."
I love the bouncing of ideas, and I love talking to people who don't agree with me.
The Don Lavoie Fellowship is an online, semester-long program for undergraduate students from any discipline, recent graduates and young professionals considering graduate school and interested in political economy. The fellowship's virtual format makes it accessible to students worldwide who through online discussions with peers and scholars explore key ideas in the Austrian, Virginia, and Bloomington schools of political economy.
Barbara was immediately drawn to the fellowship's interdisciplinary nature. "I found this one that was the one that applied to me" she says. "I was really glad that I found a fellowship that applied to my situation at the time."
Among the readings, The Clash of Economic Ideas by Lawrence H. White stood out. "That book actually made me get into reading a lot more about not only the world, but the US history of how things progressed in government when it came to economic policy," she notes. Equally impactful was her introduction to the Ostroms. "That was very new to me and very interesting to me because that was kind of a line that I had not gotten into before and answered a different set of questions that usually the economic side answers."
It's just a great opportunity for professional development, for personal development.
Today, Barbara continues to draw directly on what she learned through the fellowship. She directed a documentary for libertarianism.org about Hayek. "I've gone back to all my notes, to my highlights, to the books I received during the fellowship. I've gone back to it to write my script for this documentary."
The fellowship also shaped her approach to building professional networks and engaging with ideas. "I love the bouncing of ideas, and I love talking to people who don't agree with me," she says. "Like, that's something I actually enjoy. As long as that is respected then I like talking to people who make me challenge my beliefs."
To prospective fellows, Barbara offers clear advice: "Read the books. Don't just do the skimming reading for the exam version of the book. It's just a great opportunity for professional development, for personal development."