MIT IAP

IAP 2002 Activities by Category

Economics and Finance

A Primer on the Fed
Hoyt Bleakley
Tue Jan 15, 02:30-04:00pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none

The how's and why's of Federal Reserve policy, including a tour of recent policy debates (from the perspective of an MIT and Fed "alumnus").
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Basics of Investments
Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, Fidelity Investments
Thu Jan 10, 12-01:00pm, Twenty Chimneys, Student Center

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None

This workshop is designed for participants who want to learn the basics of investments, including definitions of investment terms. This session will provide participants with the tools needed to understand options available through the MIT Supplemental 401(k) Plan.
Highlights include:
- A discussion about stock, bond, and money market asset classes;
- Instruction on the basics of asset allocation and structuring your portfolio.
Contact: Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, 258-8872
Sponsor: Human Resources

Emissions Trading: Hype or Harbinger?
Denny Ellerman
Fri Feb 1, 02-03:30pm, E51-376

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

Emissions trading has gone from being a pariah among policy-makers to being a star...everyone's favorite way to deal with pollution problems. This session will provide an explanation of emissions trading, a taxonomy of the types of emissions trading now being considered, and an assessment of the experience with emissions trading, mostly in the United States. The aim of the session is to provide attendees with an ability to distinguish the hype from the harbingers of the future for environmental regulation.
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Estate Planning Basics
Leader: TBD
Wed Jan 23, 11:30am-01:00pm, Twenty Chimneys, Student Center

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None

This workshop is designed for employees who want an overview of estate planning issues and considerations. Participants will learn the effects of recent tax law changes on estate planning strategies.
Highlights include:
- A detailed review of estate planning techniques;
- A discussion of common estate planning mistakes and how to avoid them;
- Steps to help make sure your estate plan is in order.
Contact: Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, Fidelity Investments, 258-8872
Sponsor: Human Resources

Financial Aid 101 for MIT Employees Who Are Parents
Ms. Yvonne Gittens
Tue Jan 8, Thu Jan 24, 05:30-07:30pm, 4-145

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session

Ms. Gittens will go over the basics of financial aid in the US and will cover the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student for Federal Student Aid, www.fafsa.ed.gov), the CSS Profile (www.collegeboard.org), and touch on institutional applications. The aim it to demystify the financial aid application process. Ms. Gittens will tell you about the federal loans and grant programs as well as the availablity of parent loans. Please bring your questions, calculators, pencils, 2000 federal tax return, and a sense of humor.
Contact: Ms. Yvonne Gittens, 11-320, x8-5610, gittens@mit.edu
Sponsor: Student Financial Services

Floating Contracts
Peter Ahumada
Mon Jan 14, Wed Jan 16, 02-04:00pm, 2-136

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)

What do cheap drugs for all who need them and commercial free radio have in common? What are floating contracts, anyway, and how might they save the world? How can we make altruistic aspirations into self-interested deeds? Is the internet good for something, after all? If you want to learn the theory of floating contracts, if you want to aid the sick poor people of the world, of if you just want to get rid of "commercials" on NPR, please join us.
Contact: Peter Ahumada, 864-2007, ahumada@mit.edu
Sponsor: Peter M Ahumada, ahumada@mit.edu

Fundamentals of Weather Derivatives and Catastrophe Bonds
Kenneth Collison, Laura Ann Jones
Thu Jan 17, 10am-12:00pm, E51-335
Thu Jan 17, 02-04:00pm, E51-395

No limit but advance sign up required (see contact below)
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)

Companies use these market tools to avoid risks such as losses due to hurricanes and earthquakes and reduced revenues due to cold summers and warm winters. How are transactions structured? Who are the participants? What roles do science and technology play in shaping these new financial markets? Experts from Constellation Power Source, ElementRe Capital Products, Inc. (Lynda Clemmons), Goldman Sachs (Michael Millette), and Enron's former Weather Desk (Joseph Hrgovcic) will participate in teaching this course by sharing both the fundamentals and applications of these market tools. There will be an optional lunch with the presenters.
Web: http://web.mit.edu/sloaneef/
Contact: Kenneth Collison, (617) 577-5593, collison@MIT.EDU
Sponsor: Sloan School of Management

Globalization and the Economic Downturn
Lester Thurow
Fri Jan 11, 11am-12:30pm, E51-345

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

Globalization is for the first time being hit by a global economic hard landing. What happens to globalization in the process? What should one expect to see when it comes to a recovery? How do companies and national economies have to change their management styles in hard times?
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Guns and Crime
Mark Duggan
Mon Jan 28, 03-04:30pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event

The causal effect of gun ownership on the crime rate is a controversial issue. This lecture will discuss the results from recent empirical research that has investigated this effect. Implications for public policy will be discussed.
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

How to Use DATASTREAM
Francesco Franco
Tue Jan 29, 10-11:30am, Undergrad Lab in E52

Enrollment limited: first come, first served
Signup by: 28-Jan-2002
Limited to 8 participants.

Datastream services cover two key areas; first is historical content, much of it unrivalled in breadth and depth, on securities, companies, markets and economies globally. And alongside that content is a range of delivery platforms, offering easy-to-use, focused and flexible tools to analyze, manipulate and display the data. This talk will concentrate on its use for the economist (as opposed to the financial operator). Included will be A) What is datastream B) How to find the data C) How to download the data D) Special functions of datastream: graphs and descriptive statistics
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Industrial Strength Auctions
Paul Milgrom
Tue Jan 22, 01-03:00pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

The last five years has seen an explosion of new ideas for auctioning complex assets, with academic ideas influencing multi-billion dollar spectrum sales, business procurement, electricity markets, and more. This talk will review the performance of some of the new auction designs, emphasizing the most exciting recent developments.
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

New Tax Law - Effects on the MIT 401(k) Plan
Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, Fidelity Investments
Tue Jan 8, 12-01:00pm, Twenty Chimneys, Student Center

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None

This seminar will give you an overview of the new Tax Reform Act and how it affects your MIT 401(k) Retirement Plan.
Highlights include:
- A review of the major changes in the pension provisions of the new tax law;
- A discussion of how these changes may affect you and your retirement planning strategy.
Contact: Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, 258-8872
Sponsor: Human Resources

Qualified Retirement Assets in Estate Planning
Leader: TBD
Tue Jan 29, 11:30am-01:00pm, Wong Auditorium

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: A basic understanding of estate planning techniques

This workshop will review the important issues to consider when your retirement plan balances make up a significant part of your estate. Attendees should have a basic understanding of estate planning techniques such as those provided in "Estate Planning Basics".
Highlights include:
- A review of the income and estate tax issues associated with qualified retirement plans;
- A detailed discussion of estate planning techniques using retirement plan balances.
Contact: Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, Fidelity Investments, 258-8872
Sponsor: Human Resources

The Financial Markets Today
Roland Jacobson, Vice President of Investment Consulting, Fidelity Investments
Tue Jan 15, 12-01:00pm, Twenty Chimneys, Student Center

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: A basic understanding of investment principles

This workshop is designed for participants who want an overview of current financial market conditions. Attendees should have a basic understanding of investment vehicles such as provided in "Basics of Investments".
Highlights include:
- An open forum discussing current market and economic conditions;
- A review of the impact of recent events on money market, bond, and stock asset classes.
Contact: Paul Gunning, Sr. Retirement Counselor, Fidelity Investments, 258-8872
Sponsor: Human Resources

The Kyoto Emissions Targets for Greenhouse Gases and Improvements on Them
Richard Eckaus
Wed Jan 9, 02-03:30pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

A substantial portion of the difficulties in reaching agreement on limiting greenhouse gas emissions have their sources in differences among countries the desired distribution of the burdens of emissions constraints. The emissions constraints agreed on at Kyoto are quite arbitrary, both in terms of environmental science and economics. Calculations are presented of the implications of alternative allocations of emissions reductions that do have a plausible ethical basis: equal per capita emissions rights, equal country shares in reductions, equalized welfare costs, and emulation of the allocations of the United Nations budget. All of these would reach the overall Kyoto target at lower overall costs. This conclusion is another example of the well-known result that the overall cost of reducing emissions would be lowered through the participation of the developing countries, in which the costs of emissions reductions are relatively low. In addition, use of any of the alternative allocations analyzed here would eliminate the wholly capricious accommodation given to the countries of the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

The World Economy
Olivier Blanchard, Ricardo Caballero, Roberto Rigobon
Wed Jan 23, 05-06:30pm, E51-345

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

A discussion as to where the world economy appears to be going, and the potential implications of September 11.
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Understanding Your MIT Retirement Plans
Diane Gipson, MIT Retirement Counselor
Wed Jan 9, 12-01:00pm, Mezzanine Lounge, Student Center

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None

This workshop is designed for employees who want a review of the MIT Retirement Plans, how they work, and things to consider for each plan.
Highlights include:
- An in-depth review of the features and benefits of the MIT Basic Plan and the MIT Supplemental 401(k) Plan;
- A discussion of the tools, information, and services available to help you with your retirement planning.
Contact: Diane Gipson, MIT Retirement Counselor, E19-215L, 253-0114, gipson@mit.edu
Sponsor: Human Resources

Universal Laws in Economics: Doing Economics with Statistical Physics Methods
Xavier Gabaix
Thu Jan 24, 04-06:00pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

Economic data display a series of robust relationships that seem to hold across different times and economic systems. They are sometimes called "universal relationships". For instance, the distribution of firms, cities, mutual funds and even internet sites seem to follow "Zipf's law." Zipf's law says that the size of firms (resp. city, mutual fund etc) of the n-th largest city is proportional to 1/n. Similarly robust patterns have been found in he scaling of stock market fluctuations, trading activity, firm and GDP growth dynamics. This talk will survey the evidence and proposed explanations for those regularities. They typically have a "statistical physics" flavor.
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics

Water: Crisis, Conflict, and Rational Thinking
Frank Fisher
Mon Jan 7, 01-02:30pm, E51-372

No enrollment limit, no advance sign up

It is often said that the next war will be about water, but rational thinking shows that this is not true. An optimizing model has been built for Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, leading to a powerful method for the cost-benefit analysis of infrastructure and, more significantly, to a valuation of water ownership and a method of win-win conflict resolution.
Web: http://econ-www.mit.edu
Contact: Melissa Maney, E52-380, 252-1565, mbegley@mit.edu
Sponsor: Economics


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