MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2013 Activities by Sponsor - Economics

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Financial Crises and Amplification Mechanisms

Alp Simsek, Assistant Professor of Economics

Jan/22 Tue 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

 This talks draws upon the recent academic literature in financial economics to describe the mechanisms by which relatively small events lead to large effects in financial markets and the rest of the economy. The mechanisms will be illustrated with examples from the recent financial crises in the US and the Euro zone.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Google Advertising

Glenn Ellison, Professor of Economics

Jan/10 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

In 15 years Google has grown from a research project to a $200 billion dollar company. An often underappreciated key to its success is the innovative process by which it sells "sponsored links". In this talk I'll use several game theoretic models to help explain how Google advertising works, why it works so well, why improving online advertising will be an exciting area for game theorists, and how policy-makers should think about the industry.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Health Policy

Jonathan Gruber, Professor of Economics

Jan/30 Wed 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The talk will discuss the past, present and future of health care reform in the United States.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Jobs for Economic Faculty in Business Schools

Robert Gibbons, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Management, Roberto Rigobon, Professor

Jan/23 Wed 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-372

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

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. 

Sponsor(s): Economics, Academic Media Production Services
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617-252-1565, kscants@mit.edu


Monetary Policy at Zero Interest Rates: Understanding Recent Federal Reserve Actions

Ivan Werning, Professor

Jan/28 Mon 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The US economy is a Liquidity Trap. The 2007-8 crisis in the U.S. led to a steep recession, followed by aggressive policy responses. Monetary policy went full tilt, cutting interest rates rapidly to zero, where they have remained since the end of 2008. Unconventional monetary policies were also pursued, starting with “quantitative easing”, purchases of long-term bonds and other assets. In August 2011, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC statement signaled the intent to keep interest rates at zero until at least mid 2013. These statements have been subsequently renewed and extended.

 

This talk uses recent research to shed light on the inherent policy challenges of such liquidity trap scenarios. Using a simple macroeconomic model of the economy we will characterize optimal monetary policy responses employing optimal control techniques. The model highlights the importance of communication and commitment, with optimal policies requiring "forward guidance" to maintaing future interest rates at zero.

 

The results provide insight into current debates and policy decisions regarding monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


On measuring the effects of tax stimulus policy in recessions

Jonathan Parker, Professor of Finance

Jan/25 Fri 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Going into the Great Recession, the profession lacked consensus on the efficacy of fiscal stimulus during recessions. This talk first critiques the two main methods by which macroeconomists infer the effects of fiscal stimulus on the economy, and then describes an example of using causal microeconomic evidence to discipline a model ready for sharpening macroeconomic inference. 

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Politics, Economics, and the Euro Area Crisis.

Athanasios Orphanides

Jan/29 Tue 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-315

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Until its tenth anniversary and even after the start of the global financial crisis, the European economic and monetary union was a considered a success. Since 2009, however, the euro area is mired in a crisis that presently threatens the survival of the monetary union and even the European Union in its current form.   This session will briefly review the framework of the euro area and some of the weaknesses that have been playing a role in perpetuating and magnifying the crisis.  One focus will be the governance of the euro area, the absence of a representative government that can decisively tackle the crisis, and the role of political considerations at individual member states.  Another focus will be the role of the ECB and economic considerations for the euro area as a whole.  Questions serve as a backdrop:  Will the euro area survive? What are possible paths towards a resolution of the crisis?   

Sponsor(s): Sloan School of Management, Economics
Contact: Athanasios Orphanides, orphanid@mit.edu


Psychology and Economics

Anat Bracha, Economist

Feb/01 Fri 01:00PM-02:30PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

"This talk aims to give students a glimpse into research in psychology and economics by covering some of the main ideas in the field and discussing existing experimental evidence. The topics include biases in decisionmaking, dual processes, hyperbolic discounting, incentives, gender differences, and the effect of learning from experience rather than information. I will discuss research done at the Boston Fed and elsewhere with applications to consumption and savings, inflation expectations, the real-estate market, charitable giving, and the labor market."

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


School Choice Reforms in Boston in 2012

Parag Pathak, Associate Professor of Economics

Jan/15 Tue 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-335

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

None

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


The Ins and Outs of the IRB Process: A Practical Guide for Graduate Students and other Researchers

Deanna Ford, Associate Director (EPoD), Heather McCurdy, Research Administrator (JPAL), Ashish Shenoy, Ben Feigenberg

Jan/24 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

If you are collecting or using data from human subjects in research, your project needs approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB).  Does the IRB approval process seem a bit unclear or intimidating? Are you collecting primary data in the U.S. or abroad and wondering what needs to be approved, when in your project you need to apply and how to ensure you have a project design and data management plan that will receive approval?  Come join us to gain a clearer understanding of the IRB review process, learn recommended IRB-compliant best practices for primary data collection and secure data management, and receive practical guidance for specific requirements at MIT and Harvard.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Trade Theory with Numbers

Arnaud Costinot, Professor of Economics

Jan/18 Fri 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-335

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

The theoretical proposition that there are gains from international trade is one of the most fundamental result in all of economics. Under perfect competition, opening up to trade acts as an expansion of the production possibility frontier and leads to Pareto superior outcomes. The objective of this talk is to survey a recent body of theoretical work that aims to put "numbers" on this and other related comparative static exercises.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


What Will The Housing Recovery Look Like

William Wheaton, Professor

Jan/31 Thu 01:00PM-02:30PM E51-395

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Professor Wheaton tracks the causes of the housing bubble, bust and upcoming recovery. Current data point to a recovery in both prices and construction, and together these should begin contributing to aggregate economic growth for the first time in 5 years. Recent research also provides specific estimates of how rapidly house prices will recover in each metro area in order to generate that area's need levels of new construction.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU


Why Did So Many People Make So Many Ex Post Bad Decisions? The Causes of the Foreclosure Crisis

Christopher Foote & Paul Willen, Senior Economist & Policy Advisor

Jan/14 Mon 10:30AM-12:00PM E51-335

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

We present 12 facts about the mortgage market. We argue that the facts refute the popular story that the recent housing crisis resulted from financial industry insiders deceiving uninformed mortgage borrowers and investors. Instead,  borrowers and investors made decisions that were rational and logical given their ex post overly optimistic beliefs about house prices. We then show that neither institutional features of the mortgage market nor financial innovations are any more likely to explain those distorted beliefs than they are to explain the Dutch tulip bubble 400 years ago. Economists should acknowledge the limits of our understanding of asset price bubbles and design policies accordingly.

Sponsor(s): Economics
Contact: Kim Scantlebury, E52-252, 617 252-1565, KSCANTS@MIT.EDU