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A new study co-authored by a UC Berkeley public policy professor debunks the idea that cyclones have no long-term, lasting economic impacts, and suggests the urgent need for revamping disaster policy around the world.
Tag: economics
New Yorker profile: Fed’s Janet Yellen (and her Berkeley roots)
July 29, 2014:
“Economic misfortune for ordinary people, and its connection to the financial system, has been on [Janet] Yellen’s mind for most of her life,” says a New Yorker profile of the new Federal Reserve chair, a longtime professor at Berkeley along with her husband, George Akerloff.
Two economists earn grants for income-inequality research
July 24, 2014:
UC Berkeley economists Jesse Rothstein of the Goldman School of Public Policy and Danny Yagan of the Department of Economics have been awarded grants to study income inequality. Rothstein will research school finance reform and educational equity; Yagan will examine the U.S. tax structure.
Still waiting for change: tipped workers and the ‘subminimum wage’
July 23, 2014:
Before she was a UC Berkeley economist, Sylvia Allegretto earned her living in a variety of low-wage jobs, including seven years as a “tipped worker,” waiting tables and tending bar. Her latest report documents the challenges faced by millions of such U.S. workers, most of them women, for whom even the federal minimum-wage law doesn’t apply.
Tapping real-time financial data can improve economic policymaking
July 11, 2014: Measuring the nation’s economic health has long been a slow, costly and imprecise exercise. Now, researchers at UC Berkeley have helped develop a new way to measure real-time consumer behavior.
Researcher calls report on economic impacts of U.S. climate change ‘like a flashlight at night’
June 24, 2014: Solomon Hsiang, a Berkeley researcher on a study of economic impacts of U.S. climate change, reports that the South, the Midwest and the Great Plains will bear the largest economic burden, while states like Oregon and Washington are likely to benefit economically. The study examines climate impacts on mortality, crime, energy, agriculture and labor productivity down to a county-by-county level.
Berkeley economist Maurice Obstfeld named to White House Council of Economic Advisers
June 4, 2014: Maurice Obstfeld becomes the latest UC Berkeley economist to offer his expertise to the White House, following in a tradition going back several administrations.
Jamaican study shows early childhood stimulation intervention yields later earnings benefits
May 29, 2014: Researchers led by UC Berkeley economist Paul Gertler report that early childhood development programs are particularly important for disadvantaged children in Jamaica and can greatly impact an individual’s ability to earn more money as an adult. Their study appears to be the first long-term, experimental evaluation of an early childhood development program in a developing country.
Could a modest investment expand Medi-Cal to state’s undocumented residents?
May 21, 2014: Legislation to expand health care coverage for undocumented residents would end disjointed health care at a relatively low cost, says a joint study by two University of California research centers.
French economist Thomas Piketty’s talk on inequality draws overflow crowd
April 29, 2014: What was conceived as a small seminar turned into an overflow event after the English translation of French economist Thomas Picketty’s book on economic inequality became a bestseller.
Bangladesh takes center stage with Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center
April 21, 2014: The Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, the first of its kind, will heighten awareness about globally important work being done by Bangladeshis in the United States, and by Americans in Bangladesh.
Buddhist economics: oxymoron or idea whose time has come?
March 13, 2014: After students expressed discontent with the traditional economic model and a pervasive “more is better” philosophy, Professor Clair Brown developed a new sophomore seminar featuring Buddhist economics.
Berkeley researcher examined, lived the life of a migrant farmworker
March 6, 2014: After the special screening of a new film about California labor leader Cesar Chavez, a UC Berkeley medical anthropologist who traveled and worked with Mexican migrants talks about life for today’s farmworkers.
Study finds 125,000 immigrant youth with “Deferred Action” may be eligible for Medi-Cal
February 25, 2014: Up to 125,000 young immigrants are estimated to be eligible for Medi-Cal (the state’s Medicaid program) under state policy, according to research by health and labor experts at UC Berkeley, UCLA and UCSF who say fear and a lack of information may impede coverage.
I School’s Tapan Parikh named a 2014 Sloan Research Fellow
February 18, 2014:
Tapan Parikh thinks information tools like mobile phones can help transform the lives of poor people in rural India, Guatemala and other countries. He’s a Sloan Foundation “rising star.”
Report: Offshoring and outsourcing a mixed bag for American jobs, wages
February 18, 2014: A pilot study of U.S. companies’ domestic and international sourcing practices — and the characteristics of domestic jobs — tells a story of two economies, say researchers from Berkeley and MIT.
Remembering Suzanne Scotchmer, expert in economics, law, public policy
February 6, 2014:
Suzanne Scotchmer, a Berkeley professor of law, economics and public policy and an internationally renowned economist, died Jan. 30. She was 64.
Free screening of ‘Inequality for All,’ followed by Q&A with its makers
February 4, 2014: Members of the campus community and public are invited to see the new documentary on economic inequality, featuring Berkeley professor Robert Reich, on Wednesday, Feb. 5. A Q&A session with Reich, along with director Jacob Kornbluth, will follow.
Crisis in Ukraine: A personal view
February 4, 2014: Berkeley economist Yuriy Gorodnichenko, a native of Ukraine, calls on the international community to push for a peaceful exit for that nation’s embattled president. Help Ukrainians “turn this dark page of our history and modernize,” he says in a Q&A with Public Affairs.
Study looks for reason, solutions for voters’ short-term view of economic returns when casting their ballots
January 28, 2014: A new study shows that when voters cast their ballots for president, they mean to consider the economic record of the commander-in-chief’s full term, but really focus on the last six months, and concludes it doesn’t have to be that way.
Labor experts’ new book shows “When Mandates Work”
January 21, 2014: A new book edited by UC Berkeley labor experts examines San Francisco’s bold experiment over the last 15 years to raise low-wage workers’ pay and improve benefits in San Francisco, and shows no negative impact on employment despite warnings to the contrary.
Senate confirms Yellen as first woman to lead Federal Reserve Bank
January 6, 2014: With a vote of the U.S. Senate, economist and Haas School of Business emeritus professor Janet Yellen made history as she became the first woman ever to take the helm of the country’s Federal Reserve Bank.
Science authors seek better social science research transparency
January 2, 2014: More transparency in social-science research gets a boost from a nationwide group of 19 scholars, writing in the journal Science. Berkeley economist Edward Miguel is the lead author.
First Science for Solutions Award goes to a new professor exploring answers to economic/environmental issues
December 11, 2013: Solomon Hsiang’s deep curiosity about the intersection of the environment, economics and public policy and answers to the serious problems emerging in that realm has netted him a brand new prize.
Gratitude or guilt? People spend more when they ‘pay it forward’
November 26, 2013: As shoppers move into the winter-holiday season, UC Berkeley researchers look at what happens to commerce when there’s no set price tag. Consumers spend more when engaged in a “Pay-if-forward” chain of goodwill than when they can name their own price, the study finds.
Report details high costs of Philippine typhoons for families, baby girls
November 19, 2013: Research on the economic and human impacts of typhoons in the Philippines has produced stunning findings, including the greatly elevated risk of death for baby girls even two years out. The findings may prove valuable for post-disaster recovery efforts, such as those in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the islands Nov. 8.
Peace Corps seeks help via UC Berkeley Social Innovation Hackathon
November 8, 2013:
ATTENTION: Reporters covering technology, higher education, economic development and developing nations WHAT: Organizers of the 2013 Social Innovation Hackathon at University of California, Berkeley’s School of Information (I School) are inviting students, professional or aspiring hackers and others interested in making a difference to develop solutions to Peace Corps real-world challenges. The Peace Corps is sponsoring the collaborative event and […]
UC Berkeley report raises alarm about falling wages, outsourcing at U.S. airports
November 3, 2013: The outsourcing of airport jobs, which once sustained middle-class careers, has left many airport workers with job insecurity and low wages, according to “Course Correction,” a new UC Berkeley study. The trend poses problems for workers, the communities surrounding airports and the flying public, the report says.
Low-wage fast-food jobs leave hefty tax bill, report says
October 15, 2013:
Fast food may seem cheap, but a new UC Berkeley report says the fast-food industry costs American taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually because its jobs pay so little that 52 percent of fast food workers are forced to sign their family members up for public assistance.
Business school’s Janet Yellen named to lead Fed
October 9, 2013: President Obama has nominated Haas School of Business professor emeritus Janet Yellen to become the first woman to head the nation’s Federal Reserve Board of Governors. If confirmed, Yellen will succeed current Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, who will step down in January 2014.
