Sound Economics

Since the beginning of the decade, the IMF and World Bank have begun to retract on their statement that the solution to solving the world’s poverty is economic liberalization of low and middle income nations. Originally implemented via Structural Adjustment Loans, these programs, beginning in the 1980’s in Sub-Saharan Africa, promoted economic liberalization via social spending cuts, tariff elimination, and subsidy removal in exchange for high-interest loans. This growth-oriented strategy was developed out of the expectations that a) “trade, not aid” was the best way to promote economic growth and b) economic growth would be equitable and all socioeconomic classes Continue reading Economic Liberalization and the Global Food Regime→

I want to thank our writers and contributors from this semester: Max, Abigail, Madeleine, Finn, and Emily! We’ll be back in the spring to bring you more news and analysis from the world of economics! EXTRA! If any students out there are interested in pursuing a one-year Master’s degree in Applied Economics and Finance, check out this program at UC Santa Cruz. Flyer HERE!

Conventional economic theories suggest that as supply and demand act in negative correlation with one another. The Giffen good defies these market forces, whereby an increase in the price of a good correlates with an increase in its consumption. The only problem is that this sort of economic behavior is rarely, if ever recorded however, University of Pennsylvania Economist, Dr. Robert Jensen, pointed out several conditions that would have to exist in order for Giffen behavior to occur in food. The first assumption is that households must be heavily impoverished, to the degree that they face regular concerns about where Continue reading Economic Food for Thought: Are we about to see the rise of Giffen goods?→

The recent release of the European Social Survey showed several interesting trends regarding the opinions of younger generations regarding welfare policy. Throughout the continent, the younger generations were in strong support of a Universal Basic Income (UBI), with strongest support coming from Russia. The European Social Survey is not the first indication of support for this simplified welfare system. Finland is in the midst of a 2-year long trial run where the government selected 2,000 unemployed individuals to receive a UBI to see how it impacts their employment status, income, and social well-being. A similar pilot experiment is taking place Continue reading Is Universal Basic Income the future of welfare?→

In my last post, I outlined some of the stereotypes associated with econ majors and why I personally decided to major in economics. For this post, however, I am planning to address research and opinions which say that economics makes you a bad person, or more specifically, ” to exhibit a range of “debased” moral behavior and attitudes” (Etzioni, 2015). For this post I will be citing some relevant academic literature, explaining via examples, and trying to correct what I view as a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. Much of the sociological research, as well as a number of blog posts, describe economists and Continue reading Why Should(n’t) You Study Economics? (Part 2)→