Roanoke College Economics

Dr. Robert Stauffer has another Letter in the WSJ

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 11:12:00 +0000

Dr. Robert Stauffer, Professor Emeritus, Economics, has another Letter published in the Wall Street Journal. In "Time for Market-Based Interest Rates Again," Stauffer takes issue with a piece by Alan Blinder on Federal Reserve Bank policy. You can read it here.

Roanomics Volume 8

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 21:28:00 +0000

Roanomics Volume 7, Issue 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:34:00 +0000

Just before the new academic year begins, our latest issue of Roanomics will fill you in on last spring and the summer. Enjoy!

A Week in the Life of Jared

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:05:00 +0000

This summer, rising senior Jared Mercadante kept himself busy in Washington, D.C. as a Koch Foundation Fellow and an intern. He shares a sample week with us.

Jared Mercadante

My name is Jared Mercadante, and I am heading into my senior year at Roanoke College where I am studying economics and philosophy. This summer, as part of the Charles Koch Institute’s “Koch Fellow Program: Policy”, I interned at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, the premier university Libertarian economic policy think tank. Although I was a remote employee, I lived in the Washington, D.C. area so as to be able to form connections with scholars and other interns. While there, I worked for the Study of American Capitalism department, which is a group of scholars and researchers focused on corporate welfare, barriers to entry, and the sharing economy. Because of the department’s broad purview, I worked on projects ranging from Minor League Baseball stadium subsidies to Mississippi’s Certificate of Need program. This is what my last week of work looked like:

Monday: I had gone home for the weekend, so I drove up during the middle of the day and worked from home for the rest of the afternoon. Because it was my last week of work, I really had to push to get all of my work done before Friday. This week, I was working on two important projects. The program director, Dr. Matt Mitchell, was invited to testify before Mississippi’s Certificate of Need (CON) board, so I was tasked with preparing a memo for him, answering questions about the length of time it takes to a acquire a CON, the fees associated with it, and the history of the program, including important scandals. My other major project was a policy brief discussing the Government Accounting Standards Board Statement No.77, focusing on the excellent job done by Birmingham, Alabama, with the hope of informing other city and state governments how best to report information on corporate tax abatements. I also managed to squeeze in a little research time on a project for Dr. Kassens.

Tuesday: I was in the office today. I really enjoyed my days in the office because they gave me the chance to work more closely with my department. Most of my work was entirely independent, so it was nice getting the chance to collaborate. Today, I spent most of my time working on the policy brief with Dr. Michael Farren. We were hoping to have a working draft by Friday, with the intention of finalizing it over the next few months after my internship ended.

Jared's Office

Wednesday: I had plenty of work to occupy my time, so I stayed home today. I finished as much of the memo on Mississippi’s CON program as possible; I had to wait until Thursday to submit a public records request to the Mississippi Department of Health for the rest of the information. After completing the memo, I finished my rough draft of the policy brief and submitted it to Dr. Farren for edits. I had a substantial lull after that, so I managed to get another two hours of work done for Dr. Kassens.

Notes on CON Laws for Memo

Thursday: Today was very laid back- I got to the office around 11pm and spent the rest of the morning turning over some unfinished long term projects to the full-time research associate. After this, I had my going away lunch with the on-site members of my department. From here, Dr. Farren and I spent a few hours looking over my rough draft of the policy brief to see what additional information he wanted me to gather for use in the second draft. I left around 3:00 and got home in time to relax for a few hours before I made my way to the Cato Institute to meet a few friends for the annual Libertarian vs. Conservative debate. This is an event hosted at Cato at the end of every summer, pitting two interns from Cato against two interns from the conservative Heritage Foundation. The auditorium fills up within minutes, and the overflow room is packed. It’s a really exciting atmosphere, and definitely worth going to if you’re in the DC area.

Graduate studies area at the Mercatus Center

Friday: Today was technically my last day, but I had very little work to do, so I stayed home. I had submitted the public records request for the CON memo, but it would take weeks to hear back. I was just waiting for the edits from Dr. Farren on the policy brief, which ended up not coming until Saturday. This gave me the opportunity to catch up on some research for Dr. Kassens; it had been a busy week, giving me very few chances to get work done for her. After today, I will continue working on the policy brief with Dr. Farren, but aside from that, I am officially done at the Mercatus Center. After work, I made my way over to the National Mall to enjoy a little bit of sunlight.

Working from home

***Interested in an internship or research experience while at Roanoke College or over the summer? Talk to Dr. Kassens for information and contacts.***

Mutahir Nadeem accepted to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 23:26:00 +0000

Economics minor Mutahir Nadeem is accepted to present his research at the 31st National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Memphis. His paper is entitled "Charity vs. Aid in Poverty Alleviation" and was written in his fall econometrics course. Congrats Mutahir!

You can read about the conference here.

Roanomics Volume 7, Issue 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 16:29:00 +0000

Roanomics, Volume 7, Issue 1 by Alice Louise Kassens Uhl on Scribd

Jared Mercadante accepted as a Koch Fellow for 2017 Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 16:04:00 +0000

The Roanoke College Economics Program is excited to announce that junior economics major Jared Mercadante has been accepted into the Koch Fellow Program (KFP) for the summer of 2017.

Per the webpage:

ABOUT THE KOCH FELLOW PROGRAM (KFP): POLICY
The Charles Koch Institute’s semester-long fellow program gives students the opportunity to gain hands-on paid policy experience while participating in focused professional education. In addition to hearing from leading policy experts each Tuesday, fellows come together in DC at the beginning and end of the program for professional development workshops and networking opportunities.

Through the program, fellows will find a full- or part-time internship with one of our partner organizations throughout the country. Roles are specifically geared toward a future career in policy and research analysis; however, we encourage applicants from all academic disciplines, as well as those with advanced degrees.

We are extremely proud and excited for Jared. If you see him on campus, tell him congrats.

You can read more about the program here.

Roanomics Volume 6, Issue 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 20:49:00 +0000

The latest issue of Roanomics is here just in time for exams. Enjoy!

Roanomics, Vol. 6, Iss. 2

Reading Group - Read our story

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Feb 2016 17:12:00 +0000

The Roanoke College Economics Reading Group traveled to Washington DC last week. You can read our story on Storify below:

Economics Reading Group - The Road to Serfdom

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 14:37:00 +0000

This year the Economics Reading Group is reading F.A. Hayek's "Road to Serfdom." Students received copies of the book before the December break and we will meet to discuss the book on Thursday evening.

We will watch the first of a two part interview with Milton Friedman on the book during our discussion (while we eat pizza!) You can watch both parts of the interview below.

Next week we will travel to Washington DC to visit with scholars on the topic of economic freedom from the Mercatus Center, Heritage Foundation, and American Enterprise Institute.

Ted Ellis `15 suggestions for questions to ask in your next interview

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 13:40:00 +0000

Ted Ellis `15 is currently an intern at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. He recently published a piece titled "9 Rewarding Questions to Ask in an Interview." He has some great ideas for job applicants of all ages.

You can follow Ted on Linked In to read more of his publications.

ECON 122 Twitter Word Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Dec 2015 19:02:00 +0000

Students in Dr. Kassens' ECON 122 Principles of Macroeconomics course submitted five tweets over the course of the semester based on prompts.

You can read some of the individual assignments and tweets associated with each by reading our story on Storify. Links are below.

You can also check out our word cloud to get an idea of the big topics.

Enjoy!

Assignment #1: https://storify.com/alicekassens/all-volunteer-army-or-conscription-1

Assignment #3: https://storify.com/alicekassens/what-do-we-know-about-the-92-million-americans-who

Assignment #5: https://storify.com/alicekassens/explain-an-observation-occurrence-or-event-experie

Principles of Macroeconomics Twitter assignment regarding the labor market

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 17:31:00 +0000

View the story "“What do we know about the 92 million Americans who aren’t in the labor force?”" on Storify

It is that time! Roanomics Vol. 6, Iss. 1 is here

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 00:02:00 +0000

Check out the latest issue of Roanomics. You can scroll through from here or download a copy.

Roanomics, vol 6 iss 1

Senior economics major Ted Ellis wins RC Spring Break Photo Contest

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 12:42:00 +0000

Ted Ellis spent his spring break in Panama conducting research for his Spanish Honors in Major project (he is a double Economics and Spanish major). He submitted the photo below to the Roanoke College Spring Break Photo Contest and took first prize. Congrats Ted!

Ted Ellis `15 and Rooney visit Panama

A short story about our trip to Washington DC

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 21:59:00 +0000

Roanoke students participate in a public choice seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:01:00 +0000

Three faculty (Michelle Vachris (CNU), Justin Isaacs (HSC), and Alice Kassens (Roanoke College)) received an external grant to host a public choice seminar.

On January 23, five Roanoke College economics majors (Katelyn Nuckoles, William Corso, Nick Flanagan, Ted Ellis, and Jonathan Eary) loaded into a Roanoke College van with Dr. Kassens to begin the journey to Christopher Newport University.

The seminar was a three day affair and included six seminar sessions. Students came into the weekend having read three books: The Calculus of Consent (Buchanan & Tullock), The Myth of the Rational Voter (Caplan), and Bootleggers and Baptists (Smith & Yandle).

RC Economics majors heading out to the seminar

Each of the six sessions was led by faculty who provided questions pertaining to the assigned reading. The students then engaged in a conversation addressing those questions and posing questions of their own.

Ted Ellis making addressing a question

On the final day of the seminar, one of the book authors, Adam Smith (yes, really), led a discussion of his book and joined the group for lunch afterwards.

Adam Smith discussing his book

We had one unexpected surprise towards the end of the trip. Our Roanoke College van decided to quit on us! Luckily we were parked in a parking lot at Christopher Newport University and easily got transportation to the places we needed to go from other seminar participants.

To the rescue, Big Daddy Towing

The weekend provided an excellent educational opportunity for the students from the participating schools. We hope to make this an annual event that rotates between CNU, HSC, and Roanoke College.

Save the penny? Most say "NO"!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Jan 2015 17:53:00 +0000

Source: The New Yorker

Last month Dr. Garry Fleming wrote a piece for Roanomics discussing the future of the penny. The New Yorker published an interesting article on the issue in 2008. Below is an excerpt from Fleming's commentary:

Today, pennies are simultaneously ubiquitous and scarce, an interesting paradox. No one actually carries pennies around anymore, do they? In fact, most people view them as a nuisance. If change is to be given for a transactions that involves pennies, many sellers will round up to the nearest nickel, so buyers won’t have to deal with those pesky ‘copperheads’. Penny jars can be found at most checkout counters in nearly every retail establishment, so that change given in pennies can be either donated to a worthy charity or left for the next to customer ‘borrow’ so his change comes out even to five cents. The penny has been relegated to a status similar to that of a computer’s A-drive!

Recently, the US Mint has been toying with the idea of a stoppage of penny production and the eventual removal of the penny from circulation. One reason for this is a selfish one; it now costs the US Treasury 1.8 cents to manufacture one penny, so the government actually accrues a loss on its production. Recall that “seigniorage” is the revenue the government obtains when it issues money that has a face value greater than its production costs. Seigniorage has served as an important source of government revenue for a long time. Now it can be argued that the seigniorage of the penny is negative, thus making it unprofitable for the government to mint additional coins. There are other practical reasons for eliminating the penny, including the facts that they are not accepted in vending machines and a single penny will buy nothing at today’s prices.

We asked you what you thought (via our very unscientific online poll): "Should the penny be removed from circulation?"

What did you tell us? 60% of respondents said that the penny should be removed from circulation.

Now the follow-up question:
If the penny is removed from circulation, could we find other uses for our pennies?

Leave your ideas in the comment section of this post.

Save the penny?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:45:00 +0000

In the latest issue of Roanomics Dr. Garry Fleming asks the question: "Do you think that the penny should be removed from circulation?" Read his argument here (first page of the issue).

What do you think?

After reading Fleming's short discussion, vote below. This is an unscientific poll, but we will share the percentages of "Yes" responses.

Loading...

Roanomics Volume 5, Issue 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 17:40:00 +0000

Enjoy the latest from the Roanoke College Economics Program.

Roanomics Volume 5, Issue 1

November Virginia Consumer Sentiment and Inflation Expectations Report is out: Things are looking good!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:57:00 +0000

Read the latest Consumer Sentiment and Inflation Expectations Report here.

As you can see from the two graphics below, sentiment remains strong in the Commonwealth and short-term inflation expectations are low.

Table 1. US and VA Consumer Sentiment, pst. two yrs.

US data downloaded from FRED 11/17/2014; blue line is US Consumer Sentiment;

black line is a two year moving average; orange bars are VA Consumer Sentiment

Table 2. Short- and long-term inflation expectations (VA), pst. two yrs.

The next report will be released in February 2015.

PHHS AP Economics students visit Roanoke College

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:10:00 +0000

Four Roanoke College senior economics majors (Emma Webb, Katelyn Nuckoles, William Corso, and Robert Horn) are enrolled in a service learning project in which they help teach the Patrick Henry High School AP Economics class.

On November 13th, the PHHS students visited Roanoke College. They attended an economics class, took a tour, participated in an information session on applying to college hosted by the Admissions Office, and ate lunch with the Roanoke College economists.

You can read the reflections of the semester by the Roanoke College students here.

We will continue the service learning project in the spring.

RC and PHHS service learning students and faculty

Public Choice Seminar opportunity available for RC students

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:13:00 +0000

Want to spend a weekend on the Virginia coast studying and talking about Public Choice Economics with students and faculty from Roanoke College, Christopher Newport University, and Hampden-Sydney College?

Check out the flyer below for details.

If you are a Roanoke College student and are interested, please contact Dr. Kassens by December 1.

2015 Undergraduate Seminar on Public Choice

Economics Reading Group Meeting #2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 20:26:00 +0000

The first meeting of the Economics Reading Group was held last week. We discussed the chapter on income facts and fallacies in Thomas Sowell's "Economic Facts and Fallacies." Our discussion was started by watching a video interview of Sowell from 2008 (posted in a previous blog post).

Our next meeting will be held November 20th. In that meeting we will discuss the chapter on male-female facts and fallacies.

To watch a more recent interview (2011) with Sowell on the latest edition of his book, see below.

2014-15 Economics Reading Group

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:18:00 +0000

The 2014-15 Economics Reading Group has expanded to include a trip to Washington, D.C. in February to visit with an AEI scholar. Ten Roanoke College students are participating.

This semester the group is reading Thomas Sowell's "Economic Facts and Fallacies". You can watch an interview with Sowell about the book below.

Visit this blog for updates on the Reading Group.