Economic Development in Bhutan: A New Frontier
Richard Eckaus
Wed Jan 6, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-372
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None
Bhutan is still emerging from its centuries-old isolation and trying to find a unique pattern of development that will preserve its culture, religion and environment. The difficulties of such a development path and the strains it will impose will be described.
Contact: Caroline Smith, E52-380, x3-3630, crsmith@mit.edu
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Entry and Market Structure? Where's the Beef?
Otto Toivanen
Thu Jan 28, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-390
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None
Otto Toivanen will discuss empirical modelling entry in a duopoly market. Michael Waterson, his co-author, and he are using data from the UK fast food industry to answer a variety of questions relating to entry behavior in oligopoly.
Contact: Otto Toivanen, E52-251D, x3-8556, toivanen@mit.edu
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European Unemployment: Is There Any Progress?
Prof. Franco Modigliani
Tue Jan 19, 01-02:30pm, E51-315
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
A review of the process of European unemployment, of the cures that have been proposed, and in particular in the Economist Manifesto and the progress since the appearance of that document.
Contact: Joelle Rogers, x3-6853
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Globalization without a Global Government
Prof. Lester Thurow
Thu Jan 21, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-345
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
A century ago some technological break-throughs led us to move from local to national economies. Today a similar set of technological break-throughs is leading us to move from national economies to a global economy. We learned in the last century that national economies required some national regulations. But how are we to make a global economy without a global government?
Contact: Doris Hagen, E52-450, x3-7190, dhagen@mit.edu
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How to Save a Million Dollars
Prof. James Poterba
Wed Jan 27, 01-02:30pm, E51-315
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
Retirement saving programs such as Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans are changing the way Americans save for retirement. This seminar will discuss the wealth-building potential of these saving programs, and emphasize their practical role in retirement planning.
Contact: Liz Carlson, E52-352, x3-6840, carlson@mit.edu
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Inefficient Financial Markets
Andrei Shleifer
Wed Jan 20, Thu Jan 21, 02:30-04:00pm, E51-345
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: none
The lectures will deal with the questions of efficiency of financial markets from the perspective of behavioral finance. Some of the topics covered will include financial market anomalies, limits of arbitrage, and investor sentiment.
Contact: Caroline Smith, E52-380, x3-3630, crsmith@mit.edu
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Introduction to the Contemporary Politics of Inequality
David Spector
Fri Jan 29, 02:30-04:00pm, E51-361
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
What are the causes of the general increase in inequality in the last 30 years? Why did the welfare state adjust to it in such divergent ways across countries?
Contact: Alterra Gionfriddo, E52-252, x3-3971, alterra@mit.edu
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Social Security Reform
Prof. Peter Diamond
Tue Jan 12, 02-03:30pm, E51-151
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
Social Security is out of actuarial balance. Proposals for reform include traditional "fixes" of lower benefits and more coverage. They also include policy innovations of Trust Fund investment in stocks and individual accounts. Background and policy analysis will be presented.
Contact: Liz Carlson, E52-352, x3-6840, carlson@mit.edu
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Strategic Bidding in Auctions with Scoring Rules: A Real-World Application of Game Theory
Prof. Susan Athey
Tue Jan 26, 01-02:00pm, E51-361
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None
Game theory predicts that auction bidders can, and will, "game" the scoring system, and they will try to use private information to their advantage. We'll show that real-world bidders use strategies predicted by theory, using data from Forest Service timber auctions.
Contact: Kelley Donovan, E52-252, x8-0777, kdonovan@mit.edu
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The Economics of Smoking: An Economist's View from Inside Tobacco Legislation
Prof. Jonathan Gruber
Thu Jan 14, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-145
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
Jonathan Gruber was the chief economist for the Clinton Administration during their efforts in the Spring of 1998 to pass comprehensive tobacco legislation. He will discuss his experiences and the role that economics played, and didn't play, in shaping that legislation.
Contact: Ana Medeiros, E52-352, x3-3807, amede@mit.edu
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The Long-Run Outlook for the US Stock Market
John Campbell Harvard University and MIT Fischer Black Visiting Professor
Tue Jan 12, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-345
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
Valuation ratios are often used to measure the level of stock prices; even after declines in mid-1998 these ratios are still unusually high by historical standards. This talk discusses how valuation ratios have historically related to subsequent stock market performance, and evaluates alternative explanations of the current high ratios.
Contact: Caroline Smith, E52-380, x3-3630, crsmith@mit.edu
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The U. S. Economy: Lessons from 1998 and Prospects for 1999
Prof. Robert Solow
Wed Jan 20, 10:30am-12:00pm, E51-345
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: none
Contact: Janice Murray, E52-383, x3-3362, jamu@mit.edu
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Through the Looking Glass at the Fed
Hoyt Bleakley
Mon Jan 11, 02-03:30pm, E51-390
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: None
What it is like on the inside of the Federal Reserve and how The Fed has occupied itself in recent years (from the perspective of an MIT and Fed "alumnus.")
Contact: Hoyt Bleakley, E52-391, hoyt@mit.edu
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