economics – Page 6

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, rebuts an op-ed on Fox News in which U.S. Senator Rand Paul argues for the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Writing on the site Climate Feedback, Yohe explains that Paul's opinion relies on the flawed claim that the agreement would do little to slow climate change and would cost American jobs. Yohe breaks down Paul's assertions regarding anticipated global warming—both with and without the agreement—as well as the Senator's predictions that the agreement would cost the country 6.5 million in lost jobs and $3 trillion in lost GDP. Yohe contends…

A team of Wesleyan students took second place with a 24.28 percent return in the 2017 Adirondack Cup, a stock picking contest for college students interested in the investment field. This is the sixth year that Wesleyan has fielded a team, and represented the best performance to date. The contest offers a unique setting for students to test their investment research skills using businesses not widely covered by analysts and the news media. Over 160 students from 22 colleges and universities participated in the contest this year, which focuses exclusively on "small cap" public companies, the expertise of the contest's…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, joined Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy at a press conference March 22 at the Connecticut Science Center to speak out against major cuts to environmental programs proposed by President Donald Trump. "As a scholar with more than three decades of experience studying climate change, I fear our new president is on a course to reverse this progress with extremely dangerous consequences,'' Yohe said at the event, according to The Hartford Courant. Yohe was a senior member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—which received a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace…

Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, was a guest on WNPR's "Where We Live" recently to discuss climate change and politics. President Donald Trump's newly released budget proposal substantially cuts the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce and other agencies that conduct research and do work on climate change. (Yohe begins speaking around 2 minutes into the program). Since the election, Yohe explains, he and others in the scientific community "have been concerned that part of the attack on science will be the eradication of scientific data scattered around all of the federal…

On Feb. 2, the Wesleyan community will be treated to a performance of “The Rap Guide to Climate Chaos,” a one-man show written and performed by Baba Brinkman on the politics, economics and science of global warming. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall. The event is free of charge. Gary Yohe, the Huffington Foundation Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies, has worked with Brinkman in the past and was responsible for bringing his performance to Wesleyan. In May 2016, Brinkman invited Yohe to serve as the climate expert during an off-Broadway performance…

Abigail Hornstein, associate professor of economics, presented two papers at the 2017 American Economic Association meeting held Jan. 6-8 in Chicago. In her working paper, "Words vs. Actions: International Variation in the Propensity to Honor Pledges," Hornstein used data on contracted and utilized foreign direct investment in China to show that firms fulfill an average of 59 percent of their pledges within two years. "The propensity to fulfill contracts is lower for firms from countries with greater uncertainty avoidance, power distance and egalitarianism; and is higher if the source country is more traditional," she explained. Prior literature has shown that…

Professor of Economics Richard Grossman tells his students that getting closer to the truth is what economic research is all about. That's why he was so dismayed when "my devotion to, and belief in, the truth was battered by the presidential election," he writes in an op-ed on The Hill. He writes: It turns out that polling data and analysis contained very little truth. The news were no better. The mainstream media got many things wrong. And there was no shortage of fake news. Although peddled as the real thing, it really wasn’t even trying to provide truth, only to shape opinion.…

David Kuenzel, assistant professor of economics, is the author of a new paper published in the European Economic Review titled "WTO Dispute Determinants." In the paper, Kuenzel investigates what factors drive the decisions of World Trade Organization member countries to engage in trade disputes with each other. "Understanding the determinants of the dispute pattern is crucial, since the WTO can only function properly if its dispute settlement mechanism is equally accessible to all member countries," Kuenzel said. The paper presents a new theory and empirical evidence to show that trade policy flexibility, which is defined as the difference between the…

Masami Imai, chair and professor of economics, professor of East Asian studies, presented a paper at the 19th Annual International Banking Conference held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago on Nov. 4. This year’s theme was Achieving Financial Stability: Challenges to Prudential Regulation, giving Imai the opportunity to speak on “Japan’s Regulatory Response to Banking Problems.” At the 12th Annual Workshop on Macroeconomics Research at Liberal Arts Colleges, held at Williams College in August, and at the Japanese Economic Association Meeting held at Waseda University College in Tokyo, Japan in September, Imai discussed “The Effects of Ethnic Chinese Minority on Vietnam’s Regional…

William J. Barber, the Andrews Professor of Economics, Emeritus, died Oct. 26 at the age of 91. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Jan. 28 in Memorial Chapel with a reception to follow in Daniel Family Commons. Barber arrived at Wesleyan in 1957 after receiving his BA from Harvard University and completing a Rhodes Scholarship and earning a BA, MA and Doctor of Philosophy from Oxford University. He taught at Wesleyan for 37 years before retiring in 1994. Barber was actively engaged in the leadership of the University throughout his time at Wesleyan. He was a founding member…

Melanie Khamis, assistant professor of economics, assistant professor of Latin American studies, attended the Informality and Development Conference in Honor of Elinor Ostrom held at Indiana University on Oct. 22-23. Khamis, co-authored two papers presented at the conference including “Migration and the Informal Sector,” and “Risk Attitudes, Informal Employment and Wages: Evidence from a Transition Country." The conference was organized by faculty from Cornell University and Indiana University. It centered around the study of informality, the part of an economy that is neither taxed not monitored by any form of government—a subject area where Professor Ostrom, the first and only woman to have won…

David Kuenzel, assistant professor of economics, is the co-author of a new paper published in the Canadian Journal of Economics titled "The Elusive Effects of Trade on Growth: Export Diversity and Economic Take-off." In the paper, Kuenzel and his co-author, Theo Eicher from the University of Washington, investigate whether the diversity of countries' export portfolios affects their economic growth performance. In the paper, Kuenzel and Eicher propose a structured approach to trade and growth determinants based on recent advances in international trade. The results show that export diversity serves as a crucial growth determinant for low-income countries, and the effect…

Yohe Rebuts Sen. Paul’s Call to Withdraw from Paris Climate Agreement

Wesleyan Team Takes Second Prize in Investment Contest

Yohe Joins Conn. Governor to Oppose Environmental Program Cuts

Yohe Talks Climate Change and Politics on ‘Where We Live’

Yohe Brings “Rap Guide to Climate Chaos” to Campus

Hornstein Presents Papers at American Economic Association Conference

Grossman Argues Truth Was Lost in the Election

Kuenzel Published in European Economic Review

Imai Presents Economics Research at Banking Conference, Macroeconomics Research Workshop

Barber Remembered as a Founding Member of the College of Social Studies

Khamis Participates in Informality, Development Conference

Kuenzel Investigates Whether the Diversity of Countries’ Export Portfolios Affects Economic Growth