Course timing and readings
We are gonna finish up our basic principles by exploring more unintended consequences and discussing the pie fallacy on Monday. On Wednesday we aim to cover “Ethics and Morals in Commercial Society” before we move onto the next major section of the course. Described by many economists as the “Simplest Idea No One Understands” we will cover the economics of trade and comparative advantage after our ethics discussions.
Assignments and due dates
Your week 9 assignments are due Sunday. For the research project you are going to be defending “objectionable” agents or ideas. Note that we are asking you to defend TWO positions – one that tends to be anti-capitalist and one that tends to be pro-capitalist in nature. For the rumination, it is a brief reflection on recitation and whether any exchanges or actions in your life are truly euvoluntary.
Week 10 homework is due the Sunday after the exam. I am combining the research and rumination assignments into a single one, so please only submit into the RESEARCH submission this week, and be sure to follow the group submission discussions carefully if you choose to do the conversations as a group, which again I recommend. You should have fun with this one, as we are asking you to write up a newspaper headline and story for the NEGATIVE NEWSPAPER – in other words you will be exploring the world that does not exist.
Exam information
Exam: Please see the Blackboard Website and the Course Syllabus for additional information
The exam will be given in Hoyt Auditorium from 2:00pm to 5:00pm on Friday the 31st.
If you have special accommodations from ODR/Disability, WE ARE TAKING OVER THE RUNNING AND PROCTORING OF YOUR EXAM
Do NOT go to ODR, we are arranging it
You are to email both Katherine and myself with what your arrangement is and the times you are available.
Our expectation is that you schedule the exam so that you can FINISH at the same time as the rest of the class. We have rooms reserved from 7:30am all the way through the end of the exam time.
If you do not contact us, you are NOT going to be able to take it at ODR or under our accommodation. In other words, if you do make arrangements with us, you will be required to take the exam at 2pm in Hoyt with the rest of your classmates.
If you do not require any equipment from ODR, please inform us of your arrangement by the end of the day on Wednesday, October 29th. If you DO need equipment that we do not have ourselves, please contact us by Monday morning.
If you have a class or other college conflict, and have completed the Google Doc that is on Blackboard, the make-up exam will be on Friday morning, October 31st, from 7:30am to 10:30 in Harkness 115. Students who have not filled out the Google Doc will not be admitted to the room.
The Google Doc sign up in on Blackboard under Exams.
The Google Doc sign up CLOSES BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY. No late sign-ups will be accepted.
We DO HAVE CLASSES on the day of the exam.
The exam will be open note/open book but we will not be permitting any use of electronics. So, no phones, no laptops, no calculators or other devices. No headphones. No internet. No ChatGPT.
Make sure you have your Student ID on you, you will not be permitted to turn the exam in without it.
Make sure you know the name of your recitation TA, as you need to include this information on the exam, and you will lose points for not including this information on your exam.
The exam materials will cover everything I do through the final seconds of class this upcoming Wednesday, October 29th. All exam policies can be found on Blackboard under the exam section. It is your responsibility to have read and understood them. Be well rested as the exam will require considerable reading, and require you to write out your answers. Yes, “it is on the test,” and be prepared to explain your thinking in clear, concise writing. I will be posting some example questions to blackboard as I begin my preparations to write it. The TAs have several review sessions planned and they have in their hands an old exam with my answers … but do not come to those passively, please come with questions, and think about how you would write exam questions based on what we are discussing in class.
Recitation information
There will NOT be any formal recitation this week or the week after the exams. Rest assured, when recitations return, they will return with a flourish! Be sure to come.
Other class admin, TA hours
TA Office Hours: Look for an announcement from Katherine!
My Availability: Call or text me if you would like to chat. I can be reached at 585-478-2677. I’ll probably be very out of touch into Sunday night. Will be traveling to see my Freshmen year college roommates in Boston. Despite me making fun of graduation speeches in classes, your relationships are probably the most important thing in your life.
Stay up to date with office hours at tiny.cc/RizzoHours. There is lots of other information on that site beyond office hours times.
INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Braddock Bay Raptor Research (this is the place we gave our donation to start the year) announces the availability of two internships for the spring 2026 season.
A PDF version of the information can be downloaded here: BBRR 2026 Internships
To apply for either internship, send a letter of interest, resume and references to Daena Ford at information@bbrr.org . Applications will be accepted until all positions are filled.
Raptor Research Internship
Up to two positions available.
Objective: Provide an opportunity for an individual interested in a career in avian research to gain hands-on experience working with raptors in the field. Interns will learn about and participate in raptor banding, and raptor migration counts and surveys.
Duties/Opportunities:
Raptor Banding –
Assist with raptor banding operations, including lure bird care, station set up and maintenance, data collection, photo documentation
Assist with trapping and banding raptors under the supervision of a licensed bird bander
Assist with raptor banding data entry
Interpretation and education on site for public visitors and organized groups
Hawkwatch –
Assist with the raptor migration count by spotting and identifying raptors in flight
Assist with data entry, both live on-site and at day’s end into the HawkCount database
Learn proper raptor identification and count techniques
Interpretation and education on site for public visitors and organized groups
Owl Roost Survey –
Collect data and observations during a daily survey of the Owl Woods portion of the management area. Focus species are Northern Saw-whet Owls and Long-eared Owls, but other species can be encountered.
Timing
March through mid-May; start and end dates flexible.
Part-time – Minimum of about 10 hours/week. Schedule will be set based on applicant’s availability.
Requirements
Ability to work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions. Proper outerwear and footwear for cold weather is essential.
Good communication skills and readiness to work with others.
Must have own transportation.
Optics in the form of binoculars (at least 8x) will be needed. Spotting scope is helpful as well, but not required. BBRR may be able to provide if needed.
Bird, especially raptor identification knowledge a plus. More training will be provided.
Raptor Education Internship
Up to two positions available.
Objective: Participants will gain knowledge of and experience caring
for and working with captive raptors that are used in educational
programs. 
Participants also have the opportunity to gain experience in conducting presentations and leading educational programs and lessons.
Duties/Opportunities:
Learn to care for non-releasable captive birds of prey used for educational purposes. This includes activities such as preparing food, cleaning enclosures, and assisting with health and maintenance checks on the birds.
Learn handling and training methods for captive raptors used in education.
Assist with outreach programming in the community utilizing education raptors.
Lead or assist with programs at Braddock Bay, including owl prowls, banding station tours, and organized field trips.
Participate in Bird of Prey Days event held in April.
Timing:
mid-February-mid May. Start and end dates are flexible.
Part-time – Minimum of about 4-6 hours/week, possibly more during the month of April. Flexible scheduling.
Opportunity is there to extend internship into June if applicant is available.
Requirements
Ability to work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions. Proper outerwear and footwear for cold weather is essential.
Must have own transportation.
Good communication skills and readiness to work with others.
Good presentation skills.
Experience working with animals a plus.
Experience presenting in an educational setting (school, nature center, etc.) a plus.
Optics in the form of binoculars (at least 8x) will be needed. BBRR may be able to provide if needed.
Bird, especially raptor identification knowledge a plus. More training will be provided.
Daena Ford, President
Braddock Bay Raptor Research
Upcoming Special Events
Politics and Markets Project Annual Fall Panel
What: “The Robots Are Coming: Will AI Take Your Job?
When: Wednesday, November 5th
Time: 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Where: Wegmans 1400
The Panel: The panel will feature experts with diverse perspectives on technology and the economy. Molly Kinder of the Brookings Institution studies how automation affects workers and inequality. Will Rinehart of the American Enterprise Institute focuses on how innovations like AI shape job creation. Moshe Vardi, a computer science professor at Rice University, has warned that AI will be a net job destroyer. They’re coming to Rochester to discuss how AI is changing the future of work—and what that means for young people entering the job market. There will also be an opportunity for students to ask questions during the panel.
(we will do a office hours PRIOR to this event and then walk over together, see next week’s announcement for details)
The Department of Economics will be hosting several additional events this fall, TBA, coming soon!
Expected Guests/Topics: Paul Bloom on Empathy/Compassion; David Livingstone-Smith (philosopher); Victor Haghani (money manager)
Some Items That Caught Our Attention
A Short Trip Through Your Woods: “Golf no longer defines who he is, a refrain among pros who have gone through every up and down and have decided to accept the fact that the party is winding down. Trahan, 42, credits plant medicine for his improved mental health, especially ayahuasca. This is normally the point when conventional people tune out and assume he’s crazy. “Plant medicine gets an unfortunate reputation because people look at it as drugs,” Trahan says. “They’re not honoring it for what it is …”
University of Rochester at Punxatawney? “Can a University From Tennessee Help Accelerate Growth in West Palm Beach? "Instead of serving a limited population, Mr. Stokes said, “the new model is about taking an academic portfolio to the market niches that need it.”
A Better Way to Do College Rankings? “However, such rankings seem to entirely miss the broader matters of wisdom, leadership, integrity, or indeed overall flourishing. If colleges and universities aspire to form students for public-spirited flourishing lives, then surely it would be worth knowing whether their students think they are succeeding”
The US is Playing 1D Chess? “So shocking is the one-dimensional chess Western leaders are playing that it raises serious doubts about their appraisal of China’s economic, geopolitical, and military might. Let’s explore why”
Our Own Professor Figlio on School Cellphone Bans: “fewer student suspensions, higher test scores, fewer unexcused absences”
Birding Culture: 
How Many Bullets to the Foot Can We Tolerate? “Chinese master’s students generated positive spillovers, driving the birth of new master’s programs, and increasing the number of other international and American master’s students”
You Hate it When Your Boss Misses Your Birthday: “We study what appears to be a very minor workplace mistreatment—failing to deliver an expected birthday gift and greeting card on time— we find that this small slight leads to over a 50% increase in employee absenteeism and a reduction of more than two working hours per month.”
Flying Cars are Here
Did the Mercantilists Get Anything Right? Dani Rodrik believes so.
Gloves are Off: Fighting about first world cash grants
Miracle on the Han River: “South Korea, an East Asian country about a quarter the size of California, is the 13th-largest economy in the world, emerging as a major player on the global stage in a remarkably short span of historical time.”
Horror Show: “US tariffs to cost global businesses at least $1.2T this year, with most costs passed on to consumers”
How the Minimum Wage hurts Undergraduate Research: “we show that state minimum wage increases reduce employment of undergraduate research assistants in labs by 7.4%. Undergraduates exposed to these minimum wage increases graduate with 18.1% fewer quarters of lab experience.”
Listen to UR Alum Alex Armlovich on the Senate and Housing Policy
Chart of the Week
It’s Not the Seatbelts. Or the cellphones. Or beer. Or weed. Or SUVs. Or bicyclists. What is it?
Photo of the Week
My favorite space when I was in college.
Film, music, cultural item of the Week
Adam Smith’s “Pin Factory” Japanese Screw Making Edition.
They Said It
"To every individual in nature is given an individual property by nature not to be invaded or usurped by any. For every one, as he is himself, so he has a self-propriety, else could he not be himself; and of this no second may presume to deprive any of without manifest violation and affront to the very principles of nature and of the rules of equity and justice between man and man. Mine and thine cannot be, except this be. No man has power over my rights and liberties, and I over no man's. I may be but an individual, enjoy my self and my self-propriety and may right myself no more than my self, or presume any further; if I do, I am an encroacher and an invader upon another man's right — to which I have no right. For by natural birth all men are equally and alike born to like propriety, liberty and freedom; and as we are delivered of God by the hand of nature into this world, every one with a natural, innate freedom and propriety — as it were writ in the table of every man's heart, never to be obliterated — even so are we to live, everyone equally and alike to enjoy his birthright and privilege; even all whereof God by nature has made him free."
– Richard Overton, An Arrow Against All Tyrants, 1646
(The Leveller pamphleteer Richard Overton could not stop himself from denouncing the tyrants who put him in jail for speaking his mind. His “arrow” was “shot from the prison of Newgate into the prerogative bowels of the arbitrary House of Lords and all other usurpers and tyrants whatsoever)