The Connecticut College Department of Economics has produced a speaker series that covers a broad variety of topics within the larger field of economics.
In designing the series, Professor of Economics Maria Cruz-Saco and her colleague David Chavanne, assistant professor of economics, originally looked for speakers and topics that would fall under one theme, but, said Cruz-Saco, “it became increasingly more obvious that our students would best benefit from having experts on a few key topics that are sort of ‘in the news’ these days.
“However, there are a few critical topics,” she added. “They include the predictive role of economics in dealing with uncertainty. Our first speaker, from the Institute of New Economic Thinking, articulated criticisms to conventional mathematical models and their inability to truly represent what is going on. Our second speaker explained the making of the Greece payments crisis, and our third speaker was an expert on minimum wages who elaborated on the impact of increasing the federal minimum wage as suggested by President Obama. The upcoming talks will focus on implications of globalization in specific countries and regions in the world.”
The remaining talks in the series are:
•“It's Capabilities, Stupid! Lessons for Latin American countries in the Middle Income Trap” by Eva Paus, professor of economics at Mount Holyoke — Thursday, April 11
•“Do Remittances Enhance Labor Productivity Growth in Mexico? An Empirical Analysis, 1960-2010” by Miguel Ramirez, professor of economics at Trinity College — Thursday, April 18
“The lecture series is another learning venue, an exciting opportunity to get together and listen to an expert, ask questions and engage with both students and faculty,” said Cruz-Saco.
The talks are free and open to the public. All take place at 4:30 p.m. in Room 210 of Blaustein Humanities Center unless noted. For more information, contact Cruz-Saco at macru@conncoll.edu.
The series is co-sponsored by the Dilley Lecture fund from the Department of Government, the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and the Liberal Arts, Office of the Dean of International Students, and the departments of Italian, French and Hispanic studies.