undefinedundefinedAcross his various areas of interest and experience, one quickly ascertains that Dan West is deeply committed to human flourishing, not only in terms of material prosperity and security, but also in virtuous conduct in human beings’ relations to one another and the world around them. As Managing Director at SCF Partners, Dan and his colleagues provide equity capital and strategic growth assistance to leading energy service, equipment, and technology companies. As the founding chairman of Brillante Academy, he works to provide educational opportunities for pre-K and elementary school children and families near the US-Mexico border. And as a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps, Dan led the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel force in support of the NATO Libyan intervention and served as executive officer of an infantry company in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Dan participated as a member of the inaugural cohort of John Stuart Mill Fellows during the 2023-24 academic year. John Stuart Mill Fellows participate in three weekend colloquia where technology, business, and social leaders are introduced to key texts in classical liberal political economy as a framework for exploring the role entrepreneurship plays in various aspects of social intercourse.

As a John Stuart Mill Fellow, he “found it inspiring to dive deeply into important issues of classical political economy with an exceptional group of scholars and entrepreneurs.”

Dan highlights that the readings and discussions that formed the fellowship experience provoked thoughtful reflection on both opportunities and challenges related to his work. “Energy has always been tightly linked with national security. Our texts covered important aspects of this problem, including concerns about trade and competitiveness and the promise of gains from trade. These benefits can be deeper than economic: as Montesquieu describes so well, commerce can soften the relations between peoples and nations.”

“Market economies can work wonders and have lifted billions of people out of poverty—but they often do not intrinsically correct for ‘externalities.’ Human societies have long grappled with externalities resulting from energy production and consumption; notable examples include air pollution and emissions from coal and hydrocarbons, and concerns over nuclear radiation and contamination. What is the appropriate role for governments in addressing these problems? Are government bodies likely to succeed when attempting to pick winners amongst emerging potential clean technologies? Smith, Tocqueville, Hayek, and others have wisdom to share on these and other related questions.”

Despite these pressing challenges and the novel frictions they generate, Dan found that the insights of these classical texts bear continuing relevance, both now and in the future.  “While I had read Smith, Tocqueville, and some Mill and Hayek before, the program helped me gain a much richer understanding of their ideas. I specifically appreciated the curation of high-impact passages, the context provided by Mercatus faculty about the writers themselves and their intellectual roots, and the insights offered by fellow participants.”

Of his work at SCF Partners, he says, “at the most basic level, we are stewards of capital -- primarily on behalf of endowed non-profit organizations like universities, research hospitals, churches, and employee pensions. Those institutions trust us with their capital; our task is to grow it so that they can use the proceeds to advance their respective missions.” 

He found his experience in the John Stuart Mill Fellowship complementary to this orientation: “One important takeaway for me is that entrepreneurship and the benefits of an emergent order are not limited to the context of for-profit businesses. At Brillante Academy, we have introduced an innovative model to serve our children and families, providing them with a virtue-based education that challenges them to achieve excellence. Many other program participants were also involved in social or political entrepreneurship in various capacities. Some of our most interesting conversations revolved around efforts to innovate and achieve a step change on big problems like foster care or governance of AI, rather than pursuing incremental change through established channels.”

Dan found that the program provided a fruitful opportunity to combine theory and practice. “The John Stuart Mill Fellowship challenges participants to actually read and digest the best that has been written on classical political economy -- and then to earnestly debate its application to contemporary problems like artificial intelligence, education reform, and trade policy with China.