"The financial crisis -- what we do and don't understand."
Professor Bengt Holmström
Wed Jan 19, 02:30-03:30pm, E51-395
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Why did the US run into a financial panic after 70 panic free years? Why did the crisis
spread so quickly, so broadly? Answers to these important questions are emerging, some of
them unsettling. The lecture will offer an interpretation of the events that pinpoint
major vulnerabilities in the global financial system and suggests some novel avenues for
resolving them.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Being an Economics Professor in a Business School
Robert Gibbons and Roberto Rigobon
Mon Jan 24, 12:45-02:00pm, E62-550
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
This session will discuss how several kinds of economists (in fields such as IO, applied micro, applied theory, macro, and international) have found productive professorial careers in several kinds of faculty groups (including economics, strategy, political economy, and international management) within several kinds of business schools (from Chicago to HBS, and many in between). Of course, professorial career includes both research and teaching, so we will discuss how both may be somewhat different than in an economics department, but also how in many business schools the differences compared to a department are greater in terms of teaching than research.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Health Reform in the U.S.
Jonathan Gruber, Professor of Economics
Mon Jan 10, 10-11:00am, E51-335
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
This talk will discuss the path to national health reform, the content of the recent health care reform bill, and where we go from here
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Housing Imbalances
Professor William Wheaton
Tue Jan 25, 04-05:00pm, E51-057
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Professor Wheaton discusses the housing market in terms of a series of "imbalances", in home ownership, geography, and aggregate supply/demand.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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PhD Careers and Internships at Yahoo!
David Reiley, Course 14, PhD '96
Tue Jan 18, 10-11:00am, E51-345
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Technology industry laboratories employ some of the world's best academic computer scientists, and recently they have begun to employ world-class social scientists as well. Yahoo!'s Microeconomics and Social Systems (MESS) group engages in self-directed scientific research in economics, sociology, mechanism design, and human-computer interaction. In this session, I will present the perspective of an MIT economics PhD who spent thirteen years as a university professor before moving to Yahoo! I plan to describe career opportunities at Yahoo! Labs, including the unique opportunities afforded by access to business executives, to data, and to interdisciplinary collaborations with computer scientists and other social scientists. We will look at a sampling of ongoing research projects at Yahoo!, discuss careers at Yahoo! and other technology companies, and talk about internship opportunities for early-year PhD students, particularly in economics. The format will be interactive, with plenty of opportunity to ask questions.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Pricing for Real Consumers: Free Units, Surprise Penalties, and Bill-shock
Michael Grubb, Asst. Professor of Applied Economics, Sloan
Tue Jan 25, 02-03:00pm, E51-145
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Opening a cellular phone bill can lead to a nasty surprise - talking beyond the 'free' allowance can easily incur overage charges several times higher than the monthly fee. Opening a checking-account statement can be just as scary. In 2009, overdraft charges exceeded $35 billion. Firms adopt such pricing tactics - offering allowances of free units followed by steep penalties - as a natural consequence of consumer overconfidence and inattention. Recent regulatory proposals, such as the FCC's proposed bill-shock regulation, may help or harm consumers.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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The Out-of-Africa Hypothesis, Human Genetic Diversity, and Comparative Economic Development
Oded Galor Visiting Professor from Brown University
Mon Jan 24, 12-01:00pm, E52-244
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
This research argues that deep-rooted factors, determined tens of thousands of years ago, had a significant effect on the course of economic development from the dawn of human civilization to the contemporary era. It advances and empirically establishes the hypothesis that, in the course of the exodus of Homo sapiens out of Africa, variation in migratory distance from the cradle of humankind to various settlements across the globe affected genetic diversity and has had a long-lasting effect on the pattern of comparative economic development that is not captured by geographical, institutional, and cultural factors. In particular, the level of genetic diversity within a society is found to have a hump-shaped effect on development outcomes in both the pre-colonial and the modern era, reflecting the trade-off between the beneficial and the detrimental effects of diversity on productivity.
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Transportation technology, Trade and Globalization
James Feyrer, visiting professor
Wed Jan 26, 03-04:00pm, E51-057
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
How have changes in transportation technology changed patterns of trade? What insights can these changes provide into the importance of trade and globalization in changing world income?
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Poverty and Prosperity
Professor Daron Acemoglu
Wed Jan 26, 11am-12:00pm, E51-151
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
What are the determinants of long-term success for a country? In Adam Smith's time, the poorest country was probably four or five times poorer than the richest. This disparity has grown incredibly- but why? Why do such gaps endure? And if we can diagnose these issues, can we then rectify them?
Contact: Ruth Levitsky, E52-252, x3-3399, levitsky@mit.edu
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