Course timing and readings
9:00am Class: Location change for Friday’s class! The university scheduled an event for our Goergen classroom for Friday the 19th of Mel Weekend. So, well, we need to move the class to DEWEY1101 for that day only.
We will be spending a couple of weeks or more on our Economic Evolution – I try to break it up into two pieces, first the historical record and second a consideration of the ideas that have contributed to it. You can read through BOTH Sections B and C of the reading list at your leisure.
You should NOT be memorizing the data we put up, that is not the purpose of our exploration.
Assignments and due dates
Your week three research and rumination assignments are due this Sunday night, September 14. You also now have your week four research and rumination assignments outstanding as well. Those are due on the 21st. My advice on the ruminations in particular – make it clear you actually engaged the readings/ideas, but do not overdo them.
Our aim with grading your work is to have it done one week after submission. You can find the name of your grading TA by comparing the weekly TA announcement (which indicates which TA is doing which grading group) with the grading group you are in (found in the Blackboard gradebook).
My advice on the ruminations in particular – make it clear you actually engaged the readings/ideas, but do not overdo them. I am hoping you use these to inspire conversation outside of class, at office hours, or have you think more carefully in general.
Exam information
Please make note of the Exam dates and times. The exams are held outside of class-time. Do not make travel arrangements that conflict with either of our two midterms or our final exam. We do make accommodations for students with University of Rochester conflicts. Your first exam is on Friday, September 26th. Yes, “it is on the test,” and be prepared to explain your thinking in clear, concise writing. EXAMS WILL NOT BE GIVEN PRIOR TO, OR SUBSEQUENT TO, THIS DAY. And yes, they are open book, open note, open internet, open ChatGPT. You just can’t communicate with anyone about the exam. More specific exam information is already on Blackboard and will be included in next week’s announcement.
Recitation information
You will have your fourth recitation this week and … well, first there was Gilligan’s Island … now we will be playing …
Don’t miss it!
Other class admin, TA hours
COURSE Questions and Workflow:
Our syllabus and weekly announcements are likely to have answers to almost all questions you have about course policies. Please consult them first.
We have a talented and dedicated staff of 14 TAs here to help you with all aspects of the course. We offer office hours and contacts throughout the week and they have prepared lots of resources to help you. Use them.
If you have course administrative questions, such as, “how do I submit, etc.” please direct them to your TAs. Obviously feel free to contact them about course material questions as well.
If you have questions about economics, the lectures, the ideas, the course materials, books, articles, news, - i.e. about academic content, then please find me. If you send me emails about admin questions, they are almost surely addressed in something we have written for you, and I will simply forward those questions onto our staff – this way we can have a better ability to engage the material student questions.
Late Added the Class? You are responsible for making up missed class materials. If you missed Week One, we did not grade that week, so do not worry about missing it though I do think it was good practice for future work. You ARE responsible for getting the Week 3 work submitted on time this weekend.
Some Advice
Read through your notes casually once per week – this makes
exam preparation go much more smoothly.
TA Office Hours: Look for an announcement from Katherine!
CETL Study Help: One of our former TAs is also working with our Teaching Center this term to offer a weekly study group for Econ 108. While personally I like to work alone, many people find it helpful to talk things out in groups. Martin Trpceski will be running a session from 2 to 3:15 PM each week in Meliora 219. He is a great person, and of course did extremely well in our classes. To connect with Martin, please contact him at: mtrpcesk@u.rochester.edu
My Availability: I am going off of electronics from Friday nights until Monday mornings. Call or text me then if you would like to chat as I will not be on my computer. I can be reached at 585-478-2677.
For the most up to date info on my office hours availability, and campus whereabouts and other ways (possibly) to meet and get in touch with me, check this announcements page each week and/or subscribe to my Office Hours Blackboard page at tiny.cc/RizzoHours. I update my calendar weekly on that page, and include other sometimes useful information on it for you.
Thanks to those of you who dropped by for our outdoor lunch discussions this week.
Upcoming Special Events
Public Service Announcement
"Interested in learning more about a career in investment banking? Then come to the Investment Banking Launchpad next Monday, September 15th, to gain relevant insights into the type of work you will encounter in IB, hear about the recruitment cycle from seniors in banking, and discover campus resources designed to help you succeed! The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM in Morey 321."
Department of Economics Engerman Lecture
Who: Robert Margo of Boston University
A specialist in the history of the American economy with particular emphasis on the economic history of African-Americans, Margo is the author or co-author of 5 books and over 150 articles, book chapters and book reviews. He has served on the editorial boards of many journals, including the Journal of Economic History, the American Economic Review, and the Quarterly Journal of Economics; and he has served as editor or co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and of Explorations in Economic History. He was elected a Fellow of the Cliometric Society in 2012.
Additionally, Margo is an accomplished performer on classical guitar, mandolin, renaissance and baroque lutes. In the Boston area, he performs regularly with the Providence (Rhode Island) Mandolin Orchestra and the New American Mandolin Ensemble.
When: Wednesday, October 15th
Where: TBD
What: TBD
The Politics and Markets Project, Hosted by Professor David Primo
Title: Topic TBD (this will be a moderated panel discussion, likely on immigration)
Date: Wednesday, November 5th
Time: 7:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: Wegmans Hall, 1400.
The Department of Economics will be hosting several additional events this fall, TBA, coming soon!
Expected Guests/Topics: Lorenzo Caliendo (late September); Paul Bloom on Empathy/Compassion; David Livingstone-Smith (philosopher); Victor Haghani (money manager)
Some Items That Caught Our Attention
The Planners vs. The People: Democracy is now synonymous with “the will of SOME people”, “As I pointed out in testimony before the planning board, the plan is ideal for a 30-something white-collar hipster with no children, but that is not who we are. The plumbers, handymen, and nurses are not going to ride scooters to their jobs. Parents with children are not going to put their week’s groceries in a backpack and walk home.”
Your Neighbor is Not Your Enemy
Nature-nomics: “Wildfires in western US may improve East Coast air quality. Heat from wildfires in the western US reduces air pollution in the east by roughly the same amount as the wildfires increase pollution in the west, according to a new study. This is due to a series of weather pattern shifts that trigger rainfall on the East Coast, effectively washing away pollutants. By ignoring western wildfires' positive effect on eastern air quality, previous nationwide wildfire impact estimates may have inflated premature deaths by 1,200 people and damages by $3.3B.”
People Want Free Sh!t: French fiscal crisis edition
Power to the People? No Kings Edition: “In the US, Congress has quietly walked away from most of its former duties. Major policy changes once came through legislation like the Social Security Act of 1935, or the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Clean Air Act of 1970, or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. There have been no bills like these for a generation. … Even those are beyond the ability of today’s Congress, which is standing idly by as President Trump reforms the government by issuing executive orders to federal agencies. …The underlying reason for this widespread political shift is that changes in weapons technology have concentrated military power in the hands of state militaries.
How Well Do AI Job Interviews Perform? “Contrary to the forecasts of professional recruiters, we find that AI-led interviews increase job offers by 12%, job starts by 18%, and 30-day retention by 17% among all applicants. Applicants accept job offers with a similar likelihood and rate interview, as well as recruiter quality, similarly in a customer experience survey. When offered the choice, 78% of applicants choose the AI recruiter, and we find evidence that applicants with lower test scores are more likely to choose AI. Analyzing interview transcripts reveals that AI-led interviews elicit more hiring-relevant information from applicants compared to human-led interviews. Recruiters score the interview performance of AI-interviewed applicants higher, but place greater weight on standardized tests in their hiring decisions. Overall, we provide evidence that AI can match human recruiters in conducting job interviews while preserving applicants’ satisfaction and firm operations.”
Jibbetz or Genius?
Is Medicaid Worth More Than Its Critics Suggest? “GTP’s answer is below. To me, this very much sounds like the authors were desperately hunting for a way to remain pro-Medicaid. The cost of the program is now nearing $1 trillion annually; can we seriously believe that the typical recipient wouldn’t gladly have half the cash instead?”
Get off TikTok! Binge watch Penguins instead.
Suburban (Sp)Brawl? Our cities themselves didn’t want to grow, and caused the suburbs to exist (because it’s the only place allowed to grow): “Over the course of the 20th century, our city leaders decided they didn’t want cities any more. From 1890 to 1960, the population of New York City increased from 1.5 million to just under 8 million. After the downzoning, growth stopped. New York City has roughly the same population today that it did in 1960. Over the course of the last 100 years (Next year will be the 100 year anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that cities could consider apartments to be nuisances.), every city in America implemented similar plans, and so for the last several decades, in the aggregate, we are only able to build suburbs.”
Smartphone Bans in Schools Don’t Matter.
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Chart of the Week
In less than two decades, belief in the value of a college education has plunged from 75% of the population to 35% of the population.
Photo of the Week
Not far from campus:
Film, music, cultural item of the Week
They Said It
“When you have a book, you have a friend.”