Department of Economics

NEW COURSES FOR FALL 2010:

ECON 003 Principles of Economics.  Combines ECON 001 and ECON 002.  Read about it in the Hoya here.
ECON 443 International Trade - Advanced. International Trade for Economics Majors, instead of 243.
ECON 471 Unemployment.
ECON 458 Economic Crises.

TEACHING AWARD WINNER PENS OP-ED:

Marius Schwartz, winner of the Economics Department's 2010 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award, has co-authored a New York Times Op-Ed piece on "Net Neutrality."  Marius's students write that they "learn more in one day of his classes than in the rest of my classes combined." Congratulations Marius and thanks for your efforts on behalf of Georgetown's undergraduate economics students.

WELCOME NEW FACULTY:

Guido Kuersteiner, an econometrician, joins Georgetown after visiting us during 2009-2010. He has taught at MIT, Boston University, and UC Davis. Guido's research examines efficient estimation of time series models, dynamic panel models, finite sample properties of estimators for simultaneous equations models, and Bootstrap and Jackknife based bias correction for maximum likelihood estimators.  His recent paper "Constructing Optimal Instruments by First Stage Prediction Averaging" is forthcoming in Econometrica.

Dan Cao is finishing his PhD thesis at MIT, and will be starting at Georgetown in the Fall of 2010.  His research examines the role of risk-taking, incorrect beliefs about future economic conditions, and collateralized debts (such as mortgage backed securities) in driving up financial market volatility.

CONGRATULATIONS GEORGETOWN GRADUATE STUDENTS:

Helena Aten has won Georgetown's annual Razin Prize, given for the best dissertation or research paper produced by an advanced graduate student.  The Ofair Razin Prize was established in 1997 in memory of Ofair Razin (1966-1996; PhD, Georgetown University, 1996).   This year's Razin Lecture will be given by Olivier Blanchard on March 24. Helena's research uses game theory to study political institutions in a paper called “Competing Informed Principals and Representative Democracy.” 

Liz Schroeder has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at Oregon State starting in the fall of 2010. Her thesis studies the effect of microcredit borrowing on household consumption in Bangladesh.
 

Dave Amdur will start at Muhlenberg College as an Assistant Professor in fall 2010.  His thesis research studies international investment and business cycles.