DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS NEWSLETTER Department of Economics Newsletter May 2015 GENERAL DEPARTMENT NEWS The Economics Department at Johns 2016. Professor Quah is an economic Poster for the Richard Ely Distinguished Hopkins has had another busy year with theorist with many major works to his credit Lecture Series 2014-2015: multiple events and many developmentsMay 20and15 is an outstanding addition to the among the faculty and graduate students. Department. This Newsletter will cover many of them but feel free to keep track of all developments as The Department was well represented at the they happen on the department website, AEA Meetings in January, 2015 in Boston. http://www.econ.jhu.edu/. Among the faculty, Chris Carroll, Olivier Jeanne, Ali Khan, Anton Korinek, Robert We welcomed Assistant Professor Ying Chen Moffitt, Nick Papageorge, and Yuya Sasaki to the Department in September. Ying were on the program. The traditional cocktail specializes in Economic Theory and comes party and reception also drew a number of from Southampton and Arizona State and current and former graduate students and received her Ph.D. from Yale. Ying is faculty. We will be having another in January, teaching graduate and undergraduate 2016 in San Francisco. Mark it on your courses in micro theory. calendars. We look forward to the Spring 2016 Ely We are also happy to report that Dr. Robert Our annual Richard T. Ely Lecture this year Lectures as well, which will be given by Barbera, a graduate alumnus from our was given by John Geanakoplos (photo Professor Robert Porter of Northwestern Department, has continued his stepped up below) from Yale University, who gave four University. role in the Department this year, continuing stimulating lectures on “Collateral and to teach introductory Macroeconomics as Default: Booms and Busts.” Professor We had several visitors this academic year well as Economic Forecasting, and serving as Geanakoplos’s week with us was filled with who enlivened the Department. Professor a Fellow of our Center for Financial discussions of macro policy and finance, Jean Guillaume Forand from the University Economics. meetings with faculty and students, and of Waterloo, Dr. Illenin Kondo from the several lunches and dinners. The slides from Federal Reserve Board, and Professor Jan We welcomed back Jon Faust in September, his lectures as well as a reading list can be Zapal of CERGE-EI all spent time with us. our Louis J. Maccini Professor of Economics, found at http://econ.jhu.edu/research/ely- Dr. Jeremy Nalewaik of the Federal Reserve from government service. Jon concluded his lectures/richard-ely-distinguished-lecture- will also be spending the upcoming summer two year leave to the Federal Reserve Board, series-2014-2015/. in the Department. having served as a Special Advisor to Ben Bernanke, reassuming the Directorship of our Center for Financial Economics. He has been interviewed by the National Press and FACULTY NEWS quoted regularly in macroeconomic issues since his return. At the same time, Chris Carroll has Jorge Balat continues his work on auction continued his leave this academic year as the models and production functions and Assistant Director and Chief Economist for presented his work at several universities and the Office of Research of the Consumer conferences this year, both in the U.S. and Financial Protection Bureau. Chris will return abroad. Last summer he visited the Central to the Department this next September. Bank in Columbia to head up an electricity auctions project, and he returned in I am also happy to report that Professor December to give a short course on empirical John Quah, currently of Oxford University, auctions. In March, he co-organized the will be joining the Department in January, Washington DC Industrial Organization DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS NEWSLETTER 2 conference. He is on leave at Stanford this Edi Karni, the Scott and Barbara Black Nick Papageorge was on leave in the Fall Spring. Professor of Economics, has been doing and he visited both Hong Kong and London. research on unawareness. He gave a lecture He gave several presentations to universities Larry Ball continues to serve as a Visiting on this topic at Tel-Aviv University in in both locations during his visit. Scholar in the IMF Research Department as January. well as serving on the Advisory Board of the Yuya Sasaki is on leave at Yale this Spring. Economic Research Forum in Turkey. He was Ali Khan, the Abram Hutzler Professor of Last summer he gave a talk at Hosei a co-organizer of an NBER Central Bank of Political Economy, continues his research on University and made a presentation at the Turkey Conference on Monetary Policy in mathematical economics and has published 2014 International Panel Data Conference. Emerging Economies in Istanbul in June. He several papers this year as well as having He has given several other seminars during also gave the Werner Sichel Lecture at the others forthcoming. The memorable the academic year. Upjohn Employment Institute and Western conference in his honor last May still Michigan University in October. His paper on resonates in the Department. Richard Spady published a coauthored book how the Federal Reserve could do more to called The American Political Landscape reverse inflation was published by the Center Anton Korinek spent the Fall 2014 semester which has been called a “must-read” in book for Budget and Policy Priorities advancing his research on macroprudential reviews. regulation. He traveled to a number of Ying Chen coauthored a paper, “Mandatory seminars and conferences and gave a short Yuya Takahashi continues to do research on vs Discretionary Spending: The Status Quo course on “International Capital Market estimation of dynamic games and price Effect” in the October 2014 issue of the Integration: Managing Benefits and Costs” determination in intermediate goods American Economic Review. Professor Chen to 15 East and Southeast Asian central banks markets. He gave a talk at the Helsinki has made several presentations at seminars in Kuala Lumpur. He is also the happy father Center of Economic Research in November. and conferences over the past year. of Elise Korinek, born April 20, 2015 at 10:11 pm. Jonathan Wright is on leave in the Spring at Carl Christ, Professor Emeritus, and his wife the University of Pennsylvania. He presented Phyllis, who live close to campus, continue to Elena Krasnokutskaya has given several a paper called “Forecasting with Model participate in many activities of the talks at seminars and conferences on issues Uncertainty: Representations and Risk Department. Carl is a valuable link to the in industrial organization and applied Reduction” at two conferences, one as an many graduate alumni in our department. microeconomics. Invited Lecture and one as a conference keynote address. In March, he wrote a Greg Duffee, the Carl Christ Professor of Lou Maccini, Professor Emeritus, lives in Ann Brookings post on seasonal adjustment Economics, was the keynote speaker in Arbor with his wife Carol and makes the which can be found at: September at the European Central Bank occasional visit back to the Department. Lou http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/jobs/posts/ workshop on “Understanding the Yield gave a Plenary Address on a joint work, 2015/03/06-adjusted-unemployment-wright Curve: What Has Changed Since the Crisis?” “Inventories and the American Market for In October and November, he gave seminars New Automobiles: Some Results” at the 18th Larry Ball, Olivier Jeanne, Anton Korinek and tutorials at the Norwegian Business Symposium of the International Society for and Jonathan Wright spoke at the School, the Stockholm School of Economics, Inventory Research in Budapest last August. International Monetary Fund Annual and Inquire Europe. He is still active in scholarly research, having Research Conference last November. just published a paper in the Journal of Bruce Hamilton, Professor Emeritus in the Economic Dynamics and Control and with two Department, continues to teach his popular other projects underway. undergraduate course in Antitrust as well as GRADUATE STUDENT NEWS the major Principles of Microeconomics Robert Moffitt, the Krieger-Eisenhower course. He also serves as the Director of Professor of Economics, organized a Undergraduate Studies. conference in December at the NBER on The Department welcomed 10 incoming “Means-Tested Transfers in the United first-year students in September with a party Yingyao Hu has been named an Associate States” and he will edit the conference which faculty and other graduate students Editor of The Econometrics Journal for a volume to be published in 2016. He gave an attended. A photo gallery from the party is three-year term. He served as Co-Editor of a Invited Lecture on a related topic at the available at: special issue of the Journal of Econometrics Andrew Young School of Public Policy at on measurement error. He is a member of Georgia State University in October. He http://econ.jhu.edu/2014/10/13/new- the Scientific Committee of the International visited the Institute for Labor Economics in doctoral-students-welcome-party/ Symposium on Econometric Theory and Bonn for a week in March and gave a lecture Applications. at Erasmus University as part of the trip. Olivier Jeanne is spending the year as Barbara Morgan is working with faculty in Resident Scholar in the Research Sociology and Political Science on a new Department of the International Monetary social policy program for undergraduates Fund. He gave the keynote address for a involving an interdisciplinary introductory conference at the European University course to social policy and intensive Institute of Florence in September. The semesters with internships in Baltimore and address was on macroprudential policy and Washington. She is also a frequent was coauthored with his colleague in the commentator on inequality issues on WYPR’s department, Anton Korinek. Midday program with Dan Rodricks.