T102 | Contemporary Economic Policy Issues | Tuesdays - 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Zoom |
Economics
plays a central role in the functioning of every aspect of society. It plays
this role primarily through the actions of governments at the federal, state,
and local levels. Given the centrality of its role, this course will address a
set of prominent policy issues where economics is at their core. We will
explore these issues in detail, including their origins as policy matters, the
underlying data and evidence, and what policy levers are available to deal with
them. The focus will be on what the economics profession collectively
understands to be true about the issue. The course will begin with an initial
lecture on the US economy. Subsequent lectures will be standalone, taught by a
subject matter expert – all of whom have a PhD in economics. Potential topics
include climate change economics, healthcare economics, economic inequality, autonomous
vehicles, and many more. The topics presented will be determined by what is
most topical at the time of the course.
Geoffrey Woglom is Professor of Economics, emeritus, at Amherst College, where he taught for over 40 years. He has also held visiting positions at Cambridge, Harvard and the London School of Economics, as well as teaching as a Fulbright Scholar both at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town and at Nanjing University. During his career he has been an economic consultant for the IMF, the Federal Reserve Board and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. He received his PhD in economics from Yale University. Since his retirement he has been a member of the National Economic Education Delegation (NEED), for whom he has delivered over 170 talks on a variety of economic topics. He is currently, the Associate Director at NEED. |
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