News
Daniel E. Polsky has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Daniel E. Polsky, who received a PhD in economics from our department in 1996, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), one of the nation's highest honors in biomedicine.
Dirk Krueger named Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences
Dirk Krueger, professor of economics has been appointed Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Social Sciences.
Exploring the human propensity to cooperate
Economics Doctoral candidate Tomás Larroucau worked with psychologist Coren Apicella and a psychology Doctoral canidate Kristopher Smith, Larroucau and Smith conducted research with the Hadza people of Tanzania, one of the last remaining nomadic hunter-gatherer populations. The six years of work shows that, year after year, cooperators live with other cooperators—results remarkable in light of Hadza residence patterns. Their group settings, called camps, change every six to eight weeks, meaning individuals reside with different people each year.
Recent Graduate Donato Onorato is a Finalist in the International Atlantic Economic Society's Best Undergraduate Paper Competition
Donato Onorato, a 2018 Penn graduate who majored in mathematical economics, has been selected as one of four finalists in the International Atlantic Economic Society's 14th Annual Best Undergraduate Paper Competition.
The Economics Department Welcomes New Faculty for 2018-2019
Penn Arts and Sciences has appointed three new members to its standing Economics faculty for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Cryptocurrency Competition and the U.S. Monetary System
Jesús Fernández-Villaverde argues that a purely private monetary system, such as Bitcoin, is not a cure-all for the problems of over-issuing, double-spending, and counterfeiting. Cryptocurrency fails to provide the socially optimum quantity of money and requires additional regulation, he says. Read the full article in The Wharton School's Public Policy Initiative Issue Brief: Volume 6, Number 5.
In Memoriam: Peter F. Christoffersen, 1967-2018
Professor Peter F. Christoffersen, Professor of Finance and TMX Chair in Capital Markets at the University of Toronto, passed away on June 22, 2018.
Frank DiTraglia was Awarded a Course Development Grant
Assistant Professor of Economics, Frank DiTraglia has been awarded a course development grant for ECON 224: Statistical Learning and Causal Inference for Economics by the SAIL course development grant committee. This new course will focus on modern techniques and essential skills in data analysis. It builds on the material taught in Econ 103 and Econ 104.
Breaking the bank: A discussion with economics professor Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde on the history and future of cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have been around for a long time, historically in the form of tokens, Jesús Fernández-Villaverde of the School of Arts
Mark Perfect Awarded the Yardley Prize from the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships
Mark Perfect, a Mathematical Economics major, was awarded the Yardley Award from Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. The award was for his project under the direction of Professor Jere Behrman and Professor Holger Sieg, “Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Measuring the Impact of the Recovery School District on Student Outcomes.”