Rice Economics Spring 2022 Newsletter | Page 2

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New Course on the Menu
Frontiers in Economics 4 Ukraine
Advising Corner : ECON Undergraduate Committee
Mallesh Pai , Director of Undergrad Studies
Maria Bejan Major Adviser
Nina Bokova Major Adviser
James Brown Major Adviser
James DeNicco Major Adviser
Mahmoud El-Gamal Major Adviser

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Main Course : ECON 465 , Markets , Governments and Resource Allocation
Appetizers : ECON 200 , MATH 212
Master Chef : Dr . John W . Diamond , Kelly Fellow at the Baker Institute
Dinner is Served : Spring 2023 , Mondays and Wednesdays , 4:00- 5:15 pm
Come enjoy a gastroeconomical delight !
New Course on the Menu
ECON 465 lays the foundation for the theory of policy analysis , including an introduction to economic modeling . The course begins by introducing the basic model of the competitive economy , and then investigating the efficiency of the competitive equilibrium under a host of assumptions needed to derive a tractable model . The leads to the development of the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics . The course then discusses an analysis of government and lays out an overview of the public sector . The public sector accounts for about a third of all economic activity in the United States , which is relatively small compared to some other industrialized countries . The decisions of various governments affect us daily in many ways , and the course will analyze the activities of government with a particular focus on the theory and evidence on government expenditure policy . It then examines the existence and importance of various market failures and potential government solutions , followed by an analysis of the public sector and its decision-making process .
Frontiers in Economics 4 Ukraine
In solidarity with the people of Ukraine , and in particular with the Kyiv School of Economics ( to which several members of our department share a personal connection ), Mallesh Pai , in collaboration with faculty at the University of Birmingham , the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid , the University of Mannheim , and the Toulouse School of Economics , is organizing a virtual seminar series , the “ KSE Frontiers in Economics 4 Ukraine .” The first of these was held on March 30 , with Jean Tirole , winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics , talking about “ Privacy and the Control of Citizens .” Subsequent speakers will include Daron Acemoglu of MIT , Steven Durlauf of the University of Chicago , and Stefanie Stantcheva of Harvard University . Currently , the seminars are scheduled for every Wednesday at 11:00 am CST . Details about future seminars and sign-up procedures are available at https :// sites . google . com / view / fie4ukr . The speakers have been encouraged to present “ frontier ” work , as a play on the etymology of the word Ukraine .
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