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Economics Department Events & Activities

 

Lecture Series

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"Better Living Through Economics:
How Economists Stopped the Draft, Reduced Pollution,
and Made the World a Better Place"

Wednesday, April 18th
3:30pm
Holland Hall 413

 

John Siegfried

Professor Emeritus of Economics at Vanderbilt University

Siegfried’s Better Living through Economics illustrates how economists were instrumental in revising the consumer price index and in devising auctions for allocating spectrum rights to cell phone providers in the 1990s. It also describes how, more surprisingly, economists built the foundation for eliminating the military draft in favor of an all-volunteer army in 1973, for passing the Earned Income Tax Credit in 1975, for deregulating airlines in 1978, for adopting the welfare-to-work reforms during the Clinton administration, and for implementing the Pension Reform Act of 2006 that allowed employers to automatically enroll employees in a 401(k).

John J. Siegfried is the secretary-treasurer of the American Economic Association. He serves on the board of directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research and the National Council on Economic Education. He is a specialist in antitrust economics, industrial organization, economic education, sports economics, and economics of higher education. His book "Better Living Through Economics: How Economists Stopped the Draft, Reduced Pollution, and Made the
World a Better Place" is available at http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?recid=31841

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"Pruchasing a Planetary Future: The Economics of Climate Change"

Thursday, February 9th
3:45pm
Holland Hall 501

"Turning Nature into a Number: The Promise and the Perils
of the Economics of the Environment"

Thursday, February 9th
 7:00pm
Viking Theater

Frank Ackerman

Senior Research Fellow at the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a Senior Economist at the Stockholm Environment Institute--U.S. Center, Tufts University, Frank Ackerman is an economist who has written extensively about the economics of climate change and other environmental problems.

A prominent critic of conventional economic approaches to climate policy and the abuses of cost-benefit analysis, he has written extensively for academic, policy and general audiences and has directed studies for clients ranging from Greenpeace to the European Parliament and U.S. federal and state agencies.

Mr. Ackerman holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University.

 

View a live stream of Frank Ackerman's 7:00pm lecture
"Turning Nature into a Number: The Perils of the Economics of the Environment"
by clicking on the link below.

http://www.stolaf.edu/multimedia/play/?e=660

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"Economic Forecasting"

Wednesday, February 22nd
3:30pm
Holland Hall 501

 

"The Outlook for the U.S. Economy"

Wednesday, February 22nd
7:00pm
Tomson Hall 280

 

Dean Maki '87

Managing Director and Chief US Economist at Barclays Capital

Based in New York, Dean Maki is responsible for analyzing and forecasting the US economy and monetary and fiscal policy. He was named the most accurate forecaster of US GDP in 2009 by Bloomberg News, and the most accurate forecaster of CPI and PPI inflation by Bloomberg News for 2008-2010.

Mr. Maki joined Barclays Capital in February 2005 from JP Morgan Chase, where he was Vice President of Economic Research responsible for forecasts of Federal Reserve policy, the federal budget and Treasury debt issuance. Prior to this, he was a US economist at Putnam Investments and a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Board, where his research focused on the relationship between household balance sheets and consumer spending. His research has been published in a number of academic journals.  

Mr. Maki holds a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University and a BA in economics from St. Olaf College.

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“An Economist’s Perspective”

• A liberal arts education and its implications for one’s working life
• Challenges in communicating to the American public about economic issues and data
• The (brief) history of economic cycles
• Current economic policy issues facing the nation

Thursday, March 29th
7:00pm
Tomson Hall 280

 

Richard Lang, Ph.D.

Executive Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Retired

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"Iringa Hope: Developing Microfinance in Tanzania"

Tuesday, April 10th
3:30pm
Holland Hall 501

 

Dr. Tom Hendrickson

President of Iringa  Hope and
Professor of Engineering at MSU

Dr. Thomas Hendrickson will speak about "Iringa Hope", his micro finance project in the village of Tanzania. In 2007, he formed the SACCOS (Savings And Credit COperative Societies) which has grown to include 650 people.  SACCOS is a local microfinance bank that provides loans of $150-$300 for a 6-9 month period to the Tanzanian villagers.