Economics 191, Topics in Economic Research

Spring 2012

Lecture: Tuesdays, 6:30-9:30 p.m., 105 North Gate Hall
Instructor: Professor Barry Eichengreen
Office: 603 Evans Hall
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1-3 p.m. Please call or email Cheryl Applewood for an appointment: 510.643.9044 / capplewood@berkeley.edu
E-mail: eichengr@econ.berkeley.edu

Course Information

This course discusses recent research and policy developments. The core objective is to expose students to different aspects of research in economics and how it influences policy. The course is taught jointly by a number of faculty members in the Economics Department and by two acting instructors. The course consists of 42 hours of lectures, one 20-page paper, and required weekly readings.

Lecture Notes

April 24: "Review of the Semester's Themes"--Barry Eichengreen
April 18: "Fiscal Policy in a Depressed Economy"--Brad DeLong
April 3: "Coping with the Zero Nominal Bound"--David Romer
March 20: "Presenting Results"--Issi Romem; Prep lecture for "Monetary Policy at the Zero Lower Bound" --Issi Romem
March 13: "The Economics of Corruption"--Prof. Fred Finan
March 6: "General Comments on Research Questions and Literature Reviews"--Dawn Powers; Prep lecture, "The Economics of Corruption"--Dawn Powers
February 28: "The Economics of Platform Competition and Online Markets"--Prof. John Morgan
February 21: "Building a Model"--Issi Romem; Prep lecture for "Platform Competition"--Issi Romem
February 14: "The Economics of Integration"--Prof. David Card
February 7: Writing a Literature Review--Issi Romem; Prep lecture for "Economics of Integration"--Issi Romem
January 31: "The View from China"--Prof. Barry Eichengreen
January 24: Background for 1/31 Lecture “The View from China"--Dawn Powers
January 17: Introductory Meeting; How to Write a Research Paper in Economics; Library Research Sources and Strategy

Handouts, Links and Readings