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DEPARTMENT of ECONOMICS 1285 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1285 the Economics Department Newsletter Number 22 - Fall 2000

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DEPARTMENT of ECONOMICS 1285 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1285 the Economics Department Newsletter Number 22 - Fall 2000 DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS 1285 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1285 The Economics Department Newsletter Number 22 - Fall 2000 General News Henry Goldstein has been busy lately – buying and John Tschirhart New Mikesell Visiting Professor refurbishing a villa in Italy! It’s a good thing Henry can work from home, because the commute has to be murder. In September we were happy to welcome John Tschirhart to our department as this years Mikesell Visiting Professor. Van’s the Man This position, funded by a generous gift from Ray Mikesell, brings prominent economists in Environmental and Resource Van Kolpin has taken over from Mark Thoma as the new economics as long term visitors to our department. John will head of the economics department. Mark has returned to full be with us for the fall of 2000 and the winter of 2001. time teaching and research after guiding the department for John’s record demonstrates the sort of high quality visitor the the past five years. Thanks Mark. Mikesell professorship can attract. Currently a full professor at the University of Wyoming, and a past Burlington Promotions and Hires Northern Professor of Law and Economics at the same institution, John has published 2 books, 45 articles in Bruce Blonigen has earned tenure and has been promoted to economics journals, and has received numerous prestigious Associate Professor. Bruce, who does primarily empirical grants. He recently received almost $1,000,000 in funding research in the field of International Economics, has been in from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for work in the forefront of a new wave of research on foreign direct his current area of research, the integration of ecological and investment. economic models. Wes Wilson has been promoted from Associate to Full Ray Strikes Again!! Professor. Wes, whom alums of recent vintages will know well for his tremendous contribution to the undergraduate It will surprise no-one to hear that Ray Mikesell continues program, has earned national attention with his work on to be as prolific as ever. This Fall sees the publication by the industrial organization, and is currently the chair of the University of Oregon Press of Foreign Adventures of an TPUG group of the American Economic Association. Economist, Ray’s professional memoirs. The department is looking to fill a tenure-track position this --"From the Bretton Woods debates to the founding of Israel, year. We hope to find someone in either International from solving the currency problems of Saudi Arabia to Finance or Empirical Microeconomics. negotiating trade agreements in Latin America, economist Raymond Mikesell has helped to shape the global economy in the second half of the twentieth century. In Foreign Featured Faculty Member - Joe Stone Adventures of an Economist, Mikesell tells the story of these events as only an eye-witness can, with first-person verve, Many alums like to check in with us from time to time and insight, and wit." -- from book jacket of Foreign Adventures see how their old professors are getting along. In this and of an Economist subsequent newsletters we shall attempt to feed this thirst for knowledge by profiling one of those members of our faculty To celebrate the publication of Ray’s memoirs, the with whom many alums are familiar. In this edition we start Department of Economics and College of Arts and Sciences this feature with Professor Joe Stone. will be hosting a book signing party for our longtime colleague and friend on Tuesday, November 7 at 4:00p.m. in Joe Stone specializes in Labor and International Economics. the Knight Library Browsing Room. He joined the University of Oregon as an Assistant Professor in 1979 after a spell at The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He has subsequently risen through the ranks to become the George’s High Expectations W.E. Miner Professor of Economics (one of the department’s two endowed chairs) and of Dean of the College of Arts and George Evans and his Finnish coauthor Seppo Honkapohja Sciences. In 1984-85 Joe took a leave from the University have completed their book, "Learning and Expectations in of Oregon to serve as The Senior Economist for International Macroeconomics" which is to be published by Princeton Trade Policy on President Reagan’s Council of Economic University Press. Advisors. Henry Goes Multinational To date Joe has managed to publish 43 professional papers, author two books, and brought the funding from 18 grants obtained without costs. The example quoted by my old into the University’s coffers. Most impressively he has economics professor at Oregon was the invention of the mentored many graduate students, coauthoring published automobile. It transformed the world and by almost any papers with no less than 7 of his Ph.D. students. measure was a boon to society. But it was hell for buggy whip manufacturers. Despite his current administrative duties Joe remains academically active. In the last two years he has published Globalization has a lot of the attributes of technological three papers on the relative merits of public and private change and in fact is driven by technological change. It schooling. One of these publications arising from a would not be happening without the revolutionary advances presentation given at the Kennedy School of Government, in communication and transportation that have occurred Harvard University. during the past generation. Today, factories all over the world are on line with headquarters in the US or Europe. Joe continues to maintain links with many old colleagues and What we have is a new way of doing things that is students. His recent work has been coauthored with ex- transforming society. Most of us would not question the Oregon faculty member David Figlio and ex-graduate benefits that the information age is bringing to society. But student Beth Wilson. He also maintains close links with we should not be lulled for a moment into thinking that these another ex-Oregon faculty member Randy Eberts (now changes come without costs. The same is true for director of the W.E. Upjohn Institute). globalization. Those of you that remember Joe will surely agree with the The anti-globalization groups are correct in focusing on assessment “not bad for a kid from the small town of these costs and indicating their discontent that there are Seminole, Texas.” groups in society that seem not to be benefitting from the increase in prosperity associated with these changes. They are also correct in pointing to certain groups whose interests The Controversy over Globalization are damaged by globalization. But they are not correct in The University's recent decisions to join both the Workers trying to limit the costs of change by trying to roll back the Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Labor Association clock and keep the changes from happening. (FLA) out of concerns about worker's conditions in factories producing apparel sporting University logos has sparked One of the contributions that economists can make to the much discussion on campus about the role of globalization debate, and indeed we are trained to do so, is to bring the in people's lives and the economy. As many of you are focus of the discussion to the balance of costs and benefits aware, issues concerning the role of globalization are not involved in the process. That will help policymakers to design just significant for the University of Oregon campus, but programs that can ease the adjustment process and ensure across our country and the world. In the interest of fostering that vulnerable groups are protected during the transition discussion on this issue, we have interviewed Robert Sheehy, phase. a prominent alumnus working in the global economy, about his views on these matters. We also wanted to inform you of 2. What are the most compelling arguments of the pro- some of the activities within our department dealing with globalization advocates? global economic issues. The theoretical and logical basis of the pro-globalization argument is very strong-it goes all the way back to Ricardo Robert Sheehy graduated from the UO in 1970 with BA and the initial demonstrations of the benefits from trade. The degrees in Economics and Romance Languages. He practical basis for their argument is even stronger. subsequently received an MA and PhD in Economics from Globalization has clearly contributed to a diminution of the University of Florida. Robert was an economist at the poverty in many countries. It also benefits the global International Monetary Fund during 1976-90 and spent 2 consumer community by allowing them to obtain the highest years plus of that time as the representative in Sri Lanka. His quality products at the lowest prices. last position there was Deputy Director of the office in Geneva, Switzerland. From 1990 until this past July, Robert One of the greatest misunderstandings in the current was responsible for international securitization projects at discussion and perhaps the area of greatest potential Bear Stearns, and was stationed in Paris (6 years), London (3 mischief is the argument of the so-called "worker rights" years) and Tokyo (1 year). Since August of this year, he has movement that globalization results in exploitation of taken a position as General Manager of the Securitization workers in developing countries. I find it curious that there Department at Shinsei Bank in Tokyo (the former Long- is no discussion of the alternatives that would face workers Term Credit Bank of Japan). in these countries if the factories, which have to pay wages that are competitive in the local market, were not being built Below are Roberts responses to some questions posed to him in the first place.
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