Winter Course ‘Modalities’

Thu, 11/19/2020 - 11:23am
Below are the course modalities for the Winter Term economics courses. If you have questions, please contact your (potential) instructor. For mixed-modality courses, you must register for the correct section. If you plan to be remote, register for the remote section.  If you register for the in-person section, you are required to attend class in …

Economics Senior Experience Series Talk, Tuesday, March 10th at 4:30pm

Fri, 03/06/2020 - 9:50am
Event: Economics Senior Experience Series Talk Date: Tuesday, March 10th, at 4:30pm Location: Wriston Auditorium Speaker: Dean Yang. Professor of Economics & Public Policy at the University of Michigan. Title: Abundance from Abroad: International Migration and the Developing World. Description: What impact does international migration have on development of migrants’ home areas? Does migration promote …

2018 Advice to Potential Majors

Wed, 09/12/2018 - 11:17am
If you are considering the study of economics as a potential major, we have developed some basic guidelines for you to review and consider.  For more on the collegiate economics major more generally, here is some information from the American Economics Association. For those of you interested in Business or “Pre-Business”, economics courses might prove to …

2017 Advice to Students Interested in Economics

Mon, 09/04/2017 - 9:36am
If you are considering the study of economics as a potential major, we have developed some basic guidelines for you to review and consider.  Here is an overview of our conception of economics at Lawrence. For more on the collegiate economics major more generally, here is some information from the American Economics Association. For those of …

An Obscure National Holiday

Sat, 08/05/2017 - 9:45pm
I was informed earlier today that today is, in fact, national underwear day.   That said, here is a piece I wrote on life-cycle consumption not too long ago: Back in the day, Modigliani and Brumberg (from their perches in Urbana-Champaign!) posited that individuals smooth out their consumption over the course of their lifetimes. In …

A Second Globalization Features The Great Convergence

Tue, 05/02/2017 - 12:36pm
In previous blog postings (here and here), I have addressed some of the key myths regarding international trade as well as the difficulties in determining whether U.S. exchange rates are over, under, or fairly valued.  This posting addresses how the forces that drive globalization have changed and so has the distribution of income (in both …

All the Charts Any Macro or Financial Economist Could Hope For

Tue, 04/18/2017 - 3:08pm
Each quarter J P Morgan, Inc provides a huge chartbook that one can use to characterize financial markets and the U.S. and global economies.  Below is a sample chart on patterns and metrics for the S & P 500 index. Check them out.

Economics Colloquium, Wednesday

Thu, 03/30/2017 - 10:24am

Are U.S. Exchange Rates Too High, Too Low, or Just Right?

Tue, 03/07/2017 - 3:27pm
Currency exchanges rates between any two countries are determined by a variety of factors including their balance of trade and payments, capital flows (both restricted and unrestricted), and monetary policies.  In a recent posting on Conversable Economics, Timothy Taylor argued that “all exchange rates are bad” (meaning that they generate some negative consequences.)  Although this …