"The Name of the Disease": Documentary
Abhijit Banerjee and Arundhati Tuli Banerjee
Tue Jan 16, 01-02:30pm, E52-175
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
A documentary on health care in rural India by Abhijit Banerjee and Arundhati Tuli Banerjee. The documentary "The Name of the Disease" explores the voices of patients, shamans, doctors, and varied health officials in some of the poorest parts of rural Rajasthan, India, to attempt an understanding of the complex and multi-layered narratives of the poor and the sick. The film looks at some of the often conflicting perspectives, and it addresses the questions of daily tragedy and fatalism, tradition and modernity and complacency and rage, as it traces stories that people tell about their lives.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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An Unofficial Guide To Trying To Do Empirical Research
Amy Finkelstein
Wed Jan 17, 01-02:30pm, E51-361
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
An informal discussion with graduate students interested in empirical work on some successful strategies for making progress on research projects.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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Creativity: It's All In Your Head
Ruth Levitsky, Toastmasters@MIT, Cherylle Garnes, Ariela Marshall, Ray Valvano, Roger G. Swenson, Jr., Kevin Carlson, David Marshall
Sat Jan 27, 09am-12:00pm, E51-395, please note time/room change!
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Limited to 40 participants.
Single session event
Most people stopped being creative by the third grade. In this interactive team presentation you will learn tips, techniques and games to sharpen, enhance and spark your creativity in all areas of your life.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Toastmasters@MIT
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How Far Will the Housing Bubble Burst?
William Wheaton
Tue Jan 30, 01-02:30pm, E51-325
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Professor Wheaton will discuss what is different in this housing correction from past ones and make some prognosis for its depth and duration
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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How to Save a Million Dollars: Retirement Saving with 401(k)'s and IRAs
James Poterba
Mon Jan 8, 02-03:00pm, E51-372
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Tax-deferred retirement saving programs, such as 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), provide powerful tools for accumulating retirement wealth. This presentation will explain how these programs work and why they offer attractive wealth-accumulation opportunities for many individuals.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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Improve Your Public Speaking with Toastmasters
Ruth Levitsky
Fri Jan 12, 19, 26, 2, 12-01:00pm, E18-021
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Repeating event. Participants welcome at any session
Come to Toastmasters to practice your public speaking!
Web: http://web.mit.edu/personnel/toastmasters/
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
Cosponsor: Toastmasters@MIT
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Inside the International Monetary Fund: How it works; What It Does
Rachel Glennerster
Thu Jan 11, 10:30-11:30am, E51-361
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Seemingly always at the center of a heated public debate, the International Monetary Fund is simultaneously criticized for being irrelevant given the economic realities of the 21 century and overly powerful. Discussion of these issues in the press and elsewhere is often based on a misunderstanding of how and why the institution operates as it does. Rather than rehash old debates, this session is designed to provide an inside view of how the institution works, the different mechanisms through which the IMF supports the international financial system (of which its lending program is only a part), how decisions about lending get made, and how conditionally works in practice. The session is designed to be accessible to all students whether or not they have a background in economics.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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Numerical Techniques in Economics
Stephen Ryan
Thu Jan 25, 09:30-10:30am, E51-361
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The talk will focus on introducing people to a variety of numerical techniques that can be useful in economic research. I will cover a little background on programming compiled languages versus interpreted environments like Matlab, equation solving and function minimization, dynamic programming, numerical integration and differentiation, and some references for further work.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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Redistricting and the Rise of Pork Barrel Politics (a.k.a. "This Little Piggy Went to Washington")
Richard Holden
Mon Jan 22, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-145
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
This talk will examine the link between the increasingly aggressive use of "gerrymandering", the increase in congressional earmarks, and ideological polarization in the US congress. There will be a mixture of empirical evidence and theoretical explanations. I will argue that advances in redistricting technology have led to a more polarized congress and that bargaining in this more polarized legislature has led to the remarkable rise in earmarks/pork.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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The Economic Impacts of Climate Change: A Discussion of the Stern Report
Paul Joskow
Thu Feb 1, 01:30-03:30pm, E51-315
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
A Panel discussion of the Stern Report.
Professor Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor and Professor of Economics Emeritus (Moderator)
• Professor Paul L. Joskow, MIT Department of Economics
• Professor Stephen Ansolabehere, MIT Department of Political Science
• Dr. A. Denny Ellerman, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
• Professor Henry Jacoby, Sloan School of Management and MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
• Professor Ronald Prinn, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Center for Global Change Science
• Dr. John Reilly, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
• Dr. John Parsons, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
Contact: Paul Joskow, pjoskow@mit.edu
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The Economic Impacts of Climate Change: A Discussion of the Stern Review
Paul Joskow
Thu Feb 1, 01:30-03:30pm, E51-315
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
The Economic Impacts of Climate Change: A Discussion of the Stern Review
Panel discussion of the Stern Review assessment of evidence on impacts and costs of climate change using different techniques to assess costs and risks concluding there is still time to avoid the worst impacts if we take strong action now.
Professor Robert M. Solow, Institute Professor and Professor of Economics Emeritus (Moderator)
Professor Paul L. Joskow, MIT Economics
Professor Stephen Ansolabehere, MIT Political Science
Dr. A. Denny Ellerman, MIT CEEPR
Professor Henry Jacoby, MIT Sloan School and Joint Program/Global Change
Professor Ronald Prinn, MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences and Center for Global Change Science
Dr. John Reilly, MIT Joint Program/Global Change
Dr. John Parsons, MIT CEEPR
Web: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_report.cfm
Contact: Paul Joskow, pjoskow@mit.edu
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The State of the World Economy
Olivier Blanchard & Robert Solow
Mon Jan 29, 02:30-03:30pm, E51-335
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
A tour of the world, and the macroeconmic issues of the day, from growth in China, to the slump in Europe, to the current account deficit int he United States
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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What You Can Do With a Course 14 Degree
Jon Gruber
Wed Jan 10, 04-05:00pm, E51-390
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
A panel of former course 14 majors will discuss their post-graduation career paths.
Contact: Denise MacDougall, dmac@mit.edu
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