John E. Walker Department of Economics

Junior/Senior Initiatives 2008-09

Student travel and activities

We propose continuing to fund student travel to the state archives in Columbia, the Port of Charleston, and elsewhere for the purpose of gathering original data that can be used to document the economic history of the state and for travel to present papers at academic conferences.  Research support is not limited to this course or project.  Funds also enable the department to purchase data sets, which are not standard but essential parts of the many applied economic research projects that our students are undertaking.

Last year, for the first time, the department fielded a Fed Challenge team.  We request continued funding to support the development of a team and for travel to compete in this national competition.

Econometrics Lab

The lab is where our students conduct the empirical research which makes the economics degree distinctive, and which is a key driver in job market placement for our undergraduates.  The computers in the lab should be replaced and software licenses must be renewed.

Student development and advising

Meetings with recent graduates are very informative about job placement and career development for our undergraduates.  We will arrange one visit each semester, hosted in the economics common room and an honorarium to offset the travel costs of the speaker.  In addition, we want to expand our advising with two nights of pizza, soft drinks and advice prior to registration each semester.

The inaugural year of the book club was a success and led to the creation of a research grant proposal (for support of undergraduate research activity) that is currently under review.  We propose funding for the purchase of eight books, four meals and funds to bring one or more authors to campus to discuss the book with students. Finally, a fund to be allocated to the Omicron Delta Epsilon (the student economics honors society) for student activities and projects, under their control.  The national organization provides matching funds for some projects, and the Clemson student group will be charged with seeking these funds and reporting on their activities at the end of the academic year.

Classroom enhancements

We continue to bring in top economists and other experts to speak to our students.  This year’s lecturers included three chaired professors, a Macarthur “Genius” Fellowship award winner and a four-star general.  Funds are used to defray travel costs and provide a modest honorarium. In addition, several courses have purchased software to enhance the course for students; for example, classroom experiments that illustrate how markets and the economy respond to such developments as money creation, an increase in the minimum wage and technological change.

Past Enhancements

As we have stated earlier, the philosophy of junior – senior enhancements in Economics has been discussed with students and faculty - in classes, a general meeting to which all students were invited, a meeting of the faculty, and with the department's student advisory board. Our philosophy has been that these funds be used to the greatest extent possible to strengthen and broaden the classroom experience, and to enhance opportunities for students to pursue research.

We have hired a visiting lecturer, Daria Litsukova Bokar, to develop a new course (Economics of Property Rights) and to re-develop a course that had not been taught in over a decade, Comparative Economic Systems. Dr. Litsukova, whose specialty in the field of New Institutional Economics fits these courses perfectly, in the 2007-08 academic year, taught both of these courses.  Our program of bringing distinguished economists and alumni to enhance the classroom experience continued.  Guest lecturers in the classroom included three chaired professors: Andrew Morriss of the University of Illinois, Kevin Murphy of the University of Chicago, and Russ Sobel of the University of West Virginia.  These speaker events were paired with appearances at the Piedmont Economics Club in Greenville, who shared in the cost of these visits. Travel support for students was provided for the Economics team that competed in a national competition, the Fed Challenge, sponsored by the Federal Reserve System. Travel support was also provided to students who were engaged in economic research and obtaining original data from archival sources in Columbia. Finally, the Economics Book Club was inaugurated. Discussions of the following books took place in 2007-08:

• The White Man’s Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly;
• The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein;
• Freakonomics by Steve Levitt and Stephen Dubner;
• Falling Behind: How Rising Inequality Harms the Middle Class by Robert Frank;
• Income and Wealth by Alan Reynolds;
• and The Authentic Adam Smith by James Buchnan

Students were hosted by economics professors in their homes, and they also met at various campus and local venues to discuss these works. Out of this effort, a $50,000 grant proposal has been produced for a student-driven research effort to gather empirical evidence on the claims made in The Shock Doctrine. Next year, visits by authors will accompany one or more of the books discussed by the reading group.