Studying Economics:
A First Encounter
Why do students choose to study economics? What surprises
do they uncover? What are the abiding lessons?
Definitions of economics vary, and reveal the influence
of certain perceptual lenses, but they all deal with allocation
of resources among competing uses. Adults have long acknowledged
the fundamental role of economic forces in world, local
and even personal events. Students taking economics, however,
are just beginning to ponder those forces, and the related
interdependencies: philosophy, politics, ethics, environment,
law and social conditions.
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Responses from
the Ivory Tower
Why do politicians speak so simplistically? Why are they
focused on short-term goals? A consensus of Milton students
studying economics raised these and other shared concerns.
We asked two Milton graduates—economists, professors
and researchers—to respond to their questions.
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Making Poverty
History
At the heart of Kibera slum in Nairobi, the prospect of
a world without poverty seems hopeless. In Kibera, “Africa’s
biggest slum,” over one million people live in a vast
extension of tin and mud structures, with no electricity,
water or sewage. Children in Kibera have a one-in-ten chance
of dying before they reach their fifth birthdays. If they
survive, they are unlikely to go to school, and will probably
be caring for someone in their household dying from AIDS.
At least seven other slums like this in Nairobi, hundreds
more in other African cities, and thousands across the globe
compound Kibera’s impact.
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A Timely Risk:
Gaining Expertise in the Western Siberian Basin
While on vacation over New Year’s Eve 1990, John Fitzgibbons
’87 and his family were among the throngs of celebrating
Czechs whose palpable energy and optimism about a new, free
future was irresistible and memorable. Struck then by the
momentum of an emerging era, John came back to Harvard intent
upon studying Eastern Europe and Central Europe during his
final 18 months of college. From that point on, John seized
opportunities, and parlayed risk and acumen into a business
experience rare for a seasoned entrepreneur, let alone an
inexperienced 20-something.
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Microfinance:
The Little Engine That Could?
Is the impact of microfinance on the global economy powerful
enough to change the world?
“We’ve got the financial measurements
down pretty well, but the social return is harder to measure,”
Jared says. As an analyst with Microfinance Information
eXchange (MIX) at the World Bank—spun off from the
Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP)—Jared
Miller ’97 wants to find the answer.
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Race:
An Economic Realitynot a Biological Reality
With the Democratic National Convention showcasing Boston
to the world and with the Big Dig knocking down literal
and social barriers to once insulated, self-contained neighborhoods,
much has been made of the new Boston. But, as Callie Crossley,
a producer and regular panelist on PBS Boston affiliate
WGBH’s “Beat the Press,” reminded us in
a convention-week editorial, racial tension lies just below
the surface. “Boston’s reputation as racist
persists even as the mayor proclaims diversity is the strength
of the city,” but, says Crossley, “the population
has always been diverse; that is not the issue.” The
issue is about having a place and an equal voice at the
tables of power. Crossley notes that the heroism of Crispus
Attucks makes him “part of the very foundation of
this city. Yet his descendants have yet to find a permanent
place in the decision-making structure here. Asians and
Latinos, too, are nearly invisible in the top ranks of business
and political leadership. It is still unusual to see crossfertilization
of the races in any business or social setting.” Creating
a true new Boston is “about changing Boston’s
reality.” And increasingly researchers are finding
that that reality, the reality of racism, not only in Boston
but across the nation, has its deepest roots in economics.
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Not so Dismal
a Science
Addressing public issues in ways many policymakers
do not
Every Sunday coaches in the National Football League must
make high-stakes decisions under intense public scrutiny.
What, for example, should a team do when faced with a particular
fourth-down situation? A bad choice could end a season,
even a coaching career. David Romer, a professor of economics
at the University of California at Berkeley, thinks he can
help. To be sure, there are more pressing economic issues
facing the world—Romer himself writes extensively
on monetary policy—but in a paper entitled “It’s
Fourth Down and What Does the Bellman Equation Say?”
Romer has come to the rescue of the oft-besieged head coach.
Be aggressive, Romer counsels. Where, Red Sox fans cry out,
was baseball’s equivalent to David Romer when Grady
Little most needed him?
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