Grossman on Mitigating the Economic Fallout from the Coronavirus

Richard Grossman, professor and chair of economics, is an expert in economic history as well as current policy issues in macroeconomics, banking, and finance. In this Q&A, we asked him about the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, and how the government is responding in efforts to mitigate the damage. Q: We’ve all seen the headlines about a coronavirus-induced recession. What is the current state of the economy, and what do you predict we’ll see over the coming months? A: Prior to the virus outbreak, the American economy was doing well by conventional standards. The unemployment rate was 3.5% in…

Gil Skillman, professor of economics, is the author of “Moseley’s ‘Macro-Monetary’ Reading of Marx’s Capital: Rejoinder and Further Discussion,” published in the Review of Radical Political Economics on Dec. 17, 2019. According to the abstract: Moseley (2018) offers a partial reply to Skillman's review of his Money and Totality, addressing one comment at length while mentioning a second in passing and ignoring the third. In this rejoinder, Skillman responds to his replies and develops the three main arguments of his review in greater detail, with particular focus on the logical consistency of Moseley’s “algebraic summary” of his macro-monetary reading of…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News 1. The Washington Post: "How One College Is Helping Students Get Engaged in Elections—and, No, It’s Not Political" President Michael Roth writes about Wesleyan's initiative to engage students meaningfully in work in the public sphere ahead of the 2020 elections, and calls on other colleges and universities to do the same. He writes: "Now is the time for higher education leaders to commit their institutions to find their own paths for promoting student involvement in the…

James Shasha, the businessman and benefactor who founded and endowed the Shasha Seminar for Human Concerns at Wesleyan, died Oct. 21. He was 91. Born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1929, he emigrated to the United States when he was 15 and later attended Wesleyan, graduating in 1950 with a major in economics. In 1955 he moved to Argentina, where he pursued his business interests in the wool and carpet industries, serving as the country’s delegate to the International Wool and Textile organization. Later, at 73, he decided to delve into the hotel business without previous experience in this industry. He…

A team from Wesleyan took first place in the 2019 CSAW Policy Competition, the most comprehensive security competition in the world. Hosted by the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and NYU School of Law Center for Cybersecurity on Nov. 6–8, the U.S.-Canada policy competition challenged contestants to think about the big picture of cybersecurity policy, economics, law, and governance. The purpose of the competition is to encourage students who are interested in the nexus of policy and emerging technology issues to think critically about major policy issues affecting society and to impact the cyber industry by presenting their…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News 1. Marketplace Tech: "Twitter Bans Political Ads, But Is That All Good?" Associate Professor of Government Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, is interviewed about Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's announcement that the platform would no longer run political ads. Fowler says implementing this ban is likely to be more complicated than it sounds, and she is skeptical that it will help to reduce the impact of disinformation and improve political discourse. Fowler was…

In October, President Michael Roth and other Wesleyan faculty and staff traveled to Asia to meet with alumni, parents, prospective families, and others. The trip included visits to Seoul, Beijing, and Taipei. A highlight of the trip was Wesleyan’s second annual Liberal Arts + Sustainable Economic Development Forum, which took place in Beijing on Oct. 19. Last year, Wesleyan held the inaugural Liberal Arts + Forum in Shanghai, which highlighted film education and US-China collaborations. (Read the story here.) Over 100 people attended this year's forum, including prospective students and families, current parents, counselors, and alumni. The day started with…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News 1. CT Post: "Former Wesleyan Provost is First Woman President at Hobart and William Smith Colleges" Joyce Jacobsen, formerly Wesleyan's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and the Andrews Professor of Economics, was inaugurated Oct. 18 as the first woman president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. At the ceremony, the chairman of the HWS Board of Trustees said: “Dr. Jacobsen enters the presidency of Hobart and William Smith at a time of…

On Oct. 16, Richard Grossman, chair and professor of economics, discussed the latest unemployment numbers and current state of the economy with Todd Feinburg at WTIC in Hartford. This month, the national unemployment rate has fallen to a new low—3.5%. "Historically, and certainly for the last 10 years, the number peaked at 10% after the financial crisis, and it's been working its way down ever since," Grossman said. "That doesn't mean all is wonderful if you're in the labor force. There's a lot of other things going on ... people working part-time who would like to be working full-time ...…

On Oct. 3, Christiaan Hogendorn, associate professor of economics, presented a paper titled "Unequal Growth in Local Wages: Rail versus Internet Infrastructure" for the City College of New York's Economics Department. David Schwartz ’17 co-authored the paper. And on Oct. 12, Hogendorn presented a paper titled "The Long Tail of Online News Visits” at the 17th Media Economics Workshop in Braga, Portugal. The paper was co-authored by Hengyi Zhu ’15 and Lisa George of Hunter College. He also served as a discussant for a panel on Network-Mediated Knowledge Spillovers in ICT/Information Security.

Melanie Khamis, associate professor of economics, recently presented two talks. On Sept. 2, Khamis discussed “Migration and the Labor Market: New Evidence from Mexico" at the Council on Latin American and Iberian Studies at Yale University's MacMillan Center. On Sept. 20, she presented a paper titled “Personality, Gender, and the Labor Market” at the European Association of Labor Economists in Uppsala, Sweden. The paper addresses the topic of the effects of personality traits, both controlling for gender and interacting with gender, on labor market-related choices and outcomes. Coauthors of the paper include Giovanni Hutchinson '19 and Joyce Jacobsen, former Wesleyan…

In this recurring feature in The Wesleyan Connection, we highlight some of the latest news stories about Wesleyan and our alumni. Wesleyan in the News The Hill: "Analysis: 2020 Digital Spending Vastly Outpaces TV Ads" The Hill reports on a new analysis by the Wesleyan Media Project, which finds that 2020 presidential hopefuls have spent nearly six times more money on Facebook and Google advertising than on TV ads. President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee lead the way in digital advertising, having spent nearly $16 million so far. All told, Facebook and Google have raked in over $60 million…

Grossman on Mitigating the Economic Fallout from the Coronavirus

Skillman’s Article Published in the Review of Radical Political Economics

Wesleyan in the News

Shasha ’50, P’82, Founder of Human Concerns Seminar, Is Remembered

Wesleyan Places 1st in National Cybersecurity Competition

Wesleyan in the News

Annual Liberal Arts + Forum Highlight of Recent Trip to Asia

Wesleyan in the News

Grossman Discusses Latest Unemployment Trends on WTIC Radio

Hogendorn Presents Economics Papers in New York and Portugal

Khamis Speaks on Labor Markets

Wesleyan in the News