He's tall. He's ranked in the top 20 at IDEAS. He blogs. He's a macro-wonk.
The Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (aka the Nobel Prize in Economics) will be announced on Monday, October 11, 2010. Of the 63 men and 1 woman who have won the award outright or shared in it since the prize began in 1969, 44 have been Americans. The leading university homes of the winners include the University of Chicago (10), followed by the University of California-Berkeley (5), Columbia (4), Harvard (4), and Cambridge University, England (4).
Appearing in 2009, James Cameron's Avatar has generated $2,768,529,651 in world-wide gross revenues (according to this link). It is not, however, the highest grossing film of all time when you take into account inflation. 
She's been an Engineer (MIT), a Tiger (Princeton), and a Bear (Cal-Berkeley). Primarily a macroeconomist, her research focuses on the determinants of business cycles and the impact of fiscal and monetary policies.
The Worldwatch Institute regularly predicts an increased scarcity of grain worldwide in the coming years and warns that the world is about to run out of food. How could you use the commodity futures page in the newspaper to evaluate this prediction? If professional speculators disagree with the forecasts of the Worldwatch Institute, in who forecasts would you have more confidence? Why?
Do you know who I am? I am a bestselling author of advanced microeconomics textbooks and a former Golden Bear academic official. I now work as the top economist for a private sector company on the West Coast.
Suppose the government raises the fuel economy standard for automobiles from its current 27.5 MPG to 35 MPG by 2020. Will this necessarily mean that Americans will use less gasoline in 2020? Explain why or why not.
An economist friend of mine made the following claim: "Criminals are uglier than law-abiding people--it's simple economics at work."
Alcohol is illegal in the dorms at Abstinens College. Why are students more likely to sneak in a couple bottles of, say, tequila, rather than cases of beer, even though most would rather drink beer than tequila?
While Keynes is often thought of as the "father of modern macroeconomics," this Scandinavian economist could also lay claim to the title. Known for his socialist leanings, he favored the development of a welfare state that sought to redistribute income to those less fortunate. Our mystery economist was also known to espouse provocative views on various social issues...even leading to some time in jail because of his views.
The price of gasoline is now exorbitant. A good scheme for solving the problem is for consumers to boycott gasoline, driving down its price; when the price is low, consumers can resume their higher purchases.
Here is a haiku to describe the mystery economist:
Professor Neo Klassikle asked his research assistant to find out if the average wage of women rose or fell over a ten-year period. The following morning, the assistant returned and said, "I wasn't able to find anything on women, but I found out that the average wage for all workers fell during that period while the average wage for men rose. It must, therefore, be true that the average wage for women fell." "Not necessarily," said the professor. "It's possible that the average wage for women rose during that period, too." How could that happen? Use a numerical example to support your answer.
If doctors became better at curing lung cancer what would happen to the number of people who smoke cigarettes? What would happen to the overall number of people who died from lung cancer? Explain.
Imagine that starting next year, professors' salaries become determined entirely by student evaluations. Professors with the highest ratings will earn around $140,000 a year, while those with the lowest scores will receive about $30,000 a year. What will happen to teaching quality?
Detroit and Philadelphia were my playgrounds when I was younger, but Washington D.C. is where I play now.
