Paper of the week (POW) this week definitely goes to N. Gregory Mankiw for firing totally reasonable and called for shots at "modern monetary theory".

The paper can be found at this link and is also reproduced below.

"In the end, my study of MMT led me to find some common ground with its proponents without drawing all the radical inferences they do. I agree that the government can always print money to pay its bills. But that fact does not free the government from its intertemporal budget constraint. I agree that the economy normally operates with excess capacity, in the sense that the economy’s output often falls short of its optimum. But that conclusion does not mean that policymakers only rarely need to worry about inflationary pressures. I agree that, in a world of pervasive market power, government price setting might improve private price setting as a matter of economic theory. But that deduction does not imply that actual governments in actual economies can increase welfare by inserting themselves extensively in the price-setting process. "

A sad day for the profession, former Chair of the Fed Paul Volcker passed on to the central bank beyond this plane of existence.

Among the great features of Paul Volcker to highlight are the fact that he is by all means an economist without having a Ph.D., the "Volcker Rule", his penchant for austerity, and the various cigar photos, my favorite of which is...

So today marks the finale of the Fall 2019 semester at Farmingdale State College.

I was touched when a group of students in my applied game theory course asked for a picture after the final lecture!
​
I have to admit I am really going to miss the class. Elective scheduling is somewhat a black box here, so I am sad to say I am unsure when it will be offered next. 

​Thanks for a fun semester !

I've been keeping up with my macroeconomic literacy (which if you know me, is a struggle) by listening to many audiobooks with the Libby app.Libby is an app that, with your library card information, will help you access free audiobooks. 

Living in NY certainly has its perks in this regard: The New York Public Library  has an extensive collection of free audiobooks available for checkout within Libby!

My 2019 reading goal, which I track through Goodreads is to read 24 books from cover to cover. This is a challenging task for me because my usual habit is to read an economics book half way, get super interested by an idea, and go pick up a different book on that. In turn, this leads to a shelf full of half read books.

What has been my favorite so far?

I wanted to read this on account of how much I enjoyed the movie. Great read! Highly recommended. 

Add me on Goodreads! 

Real earworms from Khalid below getting a lot of plays from me the past few weeks. Serious grooves!

Paper of the week (POW) this week goes to "Designing Difference in Difference Studies: Best Practices for Public Health Policy Research" by Coady Wing and coauthors published in the Annual Review of Public Health. 

​

It contains a lot of useful reminders on best practices for empirical strategies that rely on difference-in-difference estimators.

Very helpful! Used it this morning in exploring some preliminary results. 

"Persistent Political Engagement: Social Interactions and the Dynamics of Protest Movements " by Leonardo Brusztyn and numerous coauthors came up while doing some research this week, and is certainly now the paper of the week (POW).

A copy of the abstract, the thrilling bits of which are in bold: 

"We test whether participation in one protest within a political movement increases subsequent protest attendance, and why. To identify an effect of protest participation, we randomly, indirectly incentivize Hong Kong university students into participation in an antiauthoritarian protest. To identify the effects of social interactions, we randomize the intensity of this treatment across major-cohort cells. We find that experimentally-induced protest participation is significantly associated with protest attendance one year later, though political beliefs and preferences are unaffected. Persistent political engagement is greatest among individuals in the cells with highest treatment intensity, suggesting that social interactions sustained persistent political engagement."

A working paper version that is publicly available through Google may be found below.

My 30 mile drive to work leaves me with ample time to listen to audiobooks and podcasts.

So why not just compile a list of great economics, finance, and business podcasts!

(in no particular order)

General Economics

1. Freakonomics Radio with Steve Dubner and Steve Levitt
2. Capitalisn't by Luigi Zingales and Kate Waldock.
3. Planet Money by NPR
4. London School of Economics Public Lectures & Events
5. EconTalk with Russ Roberts (tends to dwell on philosophy)
6. Economics Amplified by the Becker Friedman Institute

Trade and Macro

1. Trade Talks with Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown
2. Macro Musings with David Beckworth

Behavioral Economics

1. Behavioral Grooves
   
2. The Brainy Business
   

​​

I have the honor of being "Faculty Senator" for Farmingdale State College, which means that I represent Farmingdale at the "University Faculty Senate" (UFS). UFS is the legal channel through which the faculty influences system-wide SUNY policy. It meets once per semester to vote on resolutions and get policy updates from administrators.

The UFS trips are always a joy for numerous reasons:

1. The colleagues that attend are fantastic people. They are like-minded in their desire to make SUNY as great as it can be in about all dimensions: accessibility, quality, diversity, etc.
2. The networking opportunity is fantastic, you will always meet someone new. This Plenary I met the Chancellor, the chair of the Board of Trustees, and a mission-oriented CDO from College at Brockport who I think has many tools to help some challenges facing our campus. 
3. The travel - Meetings are upstate more frequently than not. I am totally fine with this because I currently love  just about anything upstate New York. UFS travel, so far, has allowed me to visit Syracuse, Saratoga Springs, Cooperstown, and most recently Albany.

Pics below of the incredible SUNY System Administration building .

A more centered view from the front shows there are flags for each campus decorating the plaza.

So naturally, I had to find where our flag is. It turns out we are right near the entrance!

It's also exquisite at night:

What a building!