All posts by Jin Chung

Seminar in Applied Economics at the Graduate Center presents Robert Engle

In an upcoming seminar on October 27, 2015, Nobel Prize in Economics Laureate, Robert Engle will discuss “Systemic Risk and the Prospect for Global Financial Stability” (Link) and his paper on “Dynamic Conditional Beta” (Link).

The following is the abstract taken from the latter.

“Dynamic Conditional Beta (DCB) is an approach to estimating regressions with time varying parameters. The conditional covariance matrices of the exogenous and dependent variable for each time period are used to formulate the dynamic beta. Joint estimation of the covariance matrices and other regression parameters is developed. Tests of the hypothesis that betas are constant are non-nested tests and several approaches are developed including a novel nested model. The methodology is applied to industry multifactor asset pricing and to global systemic risk estimation with non-synchronous prices.”

Professor Engle received his Nobel Prize in Economics in 2003 for his discovery of methods of analyzing unpredictable movements in financial asset prices and interest rates.  He also participated in the round table discussion on “the Future of Quantitative Finance” organized by our program in 2011.

Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Location:

365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

Room 9207

 

Please be sure to arrive early; seating is limited and cannot be guaranteed.

 

Robert Solow on rents and decoupling of productivity and wages

Wonderful overview by Branko Milanovic of the recent lecture by Robert Solow at the Graduate Center.

“…Bob Solow explored a couple of days ago another possibility. Going back to his own seminal work on the theory of growth, some 60 years ago, Solow asked the following question: why did we assume that there is perfect competition and that factors are paid their perfect competition marginal products? We knew, continued Solow, that there were monopolies; moreover, the theory of imperfect competition (Edward Chamberlin and Joan Robinson) existed since the 1930s. Solow said: “I could not find a good reason, but since theory and facts were broadly in accord, nobody bothered much with the assumptions”. That is, until recently. How can we explain, continued Solow, a sustained and significant divergence between non-farm sector productivity and real wage? Despite some quibbles about the measurement of the two, there is no doubt that  they have diverged. But that goes against everything we thought we knew! (I am paraphrasing Solow here.)…”

For the full blog post:

http://glineq.blogspot.com/2015/05/bob-solow-on-rents-and-decoupling-of.html

 

Globalization, Technological Change, and Inequality: Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Krugman

May 4 @ 6:30 pm8:30 pm

Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Krugman, two great economic minds, engage in an illuminating discussion moderated by Gillian Tett, US managing editor of the Financial Times. Since he late 20th century, globalization has accompanied widening inequality in both rich and poor countries, despite a decline in global inequality. In the US, globalization and technological change are often blamed for exacerbating income inequality. The panelists will shed light on these complex issues and how they relate to recent economic crises. Sachs, named one of Time magazine’s “100 most influential world leaders,” is a professor of economics at Columbia University, a senior UN advisor, and author of bestselling books, including The End of Poverty. Krugman is a Nobel Prize-winning economist, notedNew York Times columnist and author, professor at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and distinguished scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center at the Graduate Center, where he will join the economics faculty in Fall 2015. – See more at: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/Public-Programming/Calendar/Detail?id=29498#sthash.Z1FX3nB5.dpuf

The event is free but you must reserve your seat by visiting here.

Alumni Day!

Join us for the annual Alumni Day and Roundtable Discussion!

Date: May 5, 2015

Location: C197 (Concourse level located in basement) 

Time:  6:30 pm

Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Krugman will be discussing the complex relationship between globalization, technology and inequality.

 

For more information the click the image below!Capture

Upcoming Seminars

The following is a list of upcoming seminars and dates.

Christopher Sims, Nobel Laureate

Princeton University

“Exiting from Liquidity Traps: Keynes brought up to Date”

April 14, 2015, 12:00 pm – 01:00 pm

Room 5383

 

Elhanan Helpman

Harvard University

“Growth Trade and Inequality”

April 16, 2015, 03:00 pm – 05:00 pm

Room 8304

 

Tony Smith 

Yale University

“A Global Economy – Climate Model with High Regional Resolution”

April 21, 2015, 12:00 pm – 01:30 pm

Room 5383

 

Robert Solow, Nobel Laureate

MIT

“The Solow Residual 60 Years Later”

April 30, 2015, 12:00 pm – 01:30 pm

Room 5383

For more information click the image below:

Notable Seminars 2015

Reminder for Alumni Award Applications

The Alumni Awards for 2015 are the folowing.

Sallie Mae Bank Award – Partnership with Alumnus Ray Quinlan (2007)

Five students will be awarded at least $5000 primarily on need basis.  To apply for this award, please send me an application no longer than 2.5 pages describing:

(i) The justification for need, which will be kept confidential;

(ii) Your scholarly achievements: please indicate the progress  in the program and any other achievements you may want to emphasize.

(iii) A description of how this grant will be used to further your research such as conference participation, data/software purchases, etc.

The scholarship funds will be expended during the 2015-2016 academic year.

A small number of students will be awarded partial reimbursement for their travel expenses to conferences or seminars between Fall 2014 and June 2015.  Please send me your application together with the following material:

(i)  Documentation on prior application for GC travel grants or DSRG grants for the same conference/seminar;

(ii) Conference program with your paper or seminar invitation.

(iii) Receipts for completed travel

 The Nadia Doytch Award for the best paper in International Macroeconomics and Finance

The Salih Neftci Memorial Award for the best paper in Macroeconomics and Financial Economics

The Deadline for applications is April 15, 2015. Papers and applications are to be submitted to Dr. Merih Uctum at muctum@gc.cuny.edu

 

Capital in the Twenty-First Century


6:00 pm, Proshansky Auditorium

The French economist Thomas Piketty (Paris School of Economics) will present a lecture on his new book, Capital in the Twenty-First Century. In this landmark book, Piketty argues that the main driver of inequality—the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth—threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. He calls for political action and policy intervention. Joseph Stiglitz (Columbia University), Paul Krugman (Princeton University), and Steven Durlauf (University of Wisconsin–Madison) will comment. The event will be introduced and moderated by Janet Gornick and Branko Milanovic (Graduate Center, Luxembourg Income Study Center).

Co-sponsored by the Luxembourg Income Study Center and the Advanced Research Collaborative.

Free, Reservations Required
http://community.gc.cuny.edu/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century

For more information, or assistance with reservations, call GC Public Programs at 212-817-8215.

Participant Bios:

Thomas Piketty is professor at the Paris School of Economics and a major contributor to the World Top Incomes Database, along with Tony Atkinson, Emmanuel Saez, and Facundo Alvaredo. He has published many academic papers on income distribution, and is, with Atkinson, co-editor of Top Incomes: A Global Perspective and Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries.

Joseph Stiglitz, university professor at Columbia University, is the author of, most recently, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics, and he was a lead author of the 1995 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. In 2011, Time named Stiglitz one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Paul Krugman won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is currently professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University. In summer 2014, Krugman will join the LIS Center as a distinguished scholar; he will join the economics faculty of the Graduate Center in fall 2015. Krugman is the author of, most recently, End This Depression Now! A noted New York Times columnist, he also writes a popular blog, “The Conscience of a Liberal.”

Steven Durlauf is Vilas Research Professor and Kenneth J. Arrow and Laurits R. Christensen Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is currently co-leader of the Working Group on Measurement and Interpretation of Inequality, part of INET Global Working Group on Human Capital and Economic Inequality, and co-director of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group. He is coeditor of nine books and a contributing author to over 100 papers.

Branko Milanovic is a senior scholar at the LIS Center and visiting presidential professor at the Graduate Center. He is author of, most recently, The Haves and Have-Nots, and his review of Piketty’s new book is forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Literature.

Janet Gornick is professor of political science and sociology at the Graduate Center, director of both LIS and the LIS Center at the Graduate Center, co-editor of the recently published Income Inequality: Economic Disparities and the Middle Class in Affluent Countries, and coauthor of Gender Equality: Transforming Family Divisions of Labor.