AUAL EWSLETTER
2011 Edition
Department of Economics
Texas Christian University
horned frogs. And now we’d like to share with
you the other new developments in the TCU
economics department:
Edition Eleven 2011
Fort Worth, Texas
Lattitude 32° 50' N, Longitude 97° 3' W
Welcome to the 2011 TCU Economics
Department newsletter! It was a hot year for
Fort Worth. In fact, we tied our record for
consecutive 100 degree days. But our campus
was even hotter. After all, admissions
applications reached an all time high, pouring
in from across the land, and showing that TCU
is now a household name. What has caused
this popularity surge? We in the econ
department have pinpointed 83 key factors,
but for now we’ll just focus on the consensus
top five, in no particular order:
I. Our Brilliant Students……………..…page 1
II. Department Events………………….....page 3
III. Our Brilliant Graduates…….....…..page 4
IV. Faculty News…….…....…………........page 6
V. Holiday Photos........................................page 16
I. OUR BRILLIA(T STUDE(TS
Economics Senior Scholar: The Senior
Scholar award goes to the year’s outstanding
graduating economics major. This year the
honor goes to Kerry Seaver. Kerry faced stiff
competition but edged out the others with an
impressive resume of accomplishments.1
1. TCU’s appearance in the January 2011
Rose Bowl game
2. Defeating Wisconsin in that Rose bowl
3. Beating #5 (and previously undefeated)
Boise State
4. Did I mention the Rose Bowl already? Or
Boise State? Great games, huh?!
5. The long anticipated relocation of the TCU
Economics Department from a mere trailer to
stately, hi-tech (and tornado proof) Scharbauer
Hall.
More than one Senior Scholar? It turns out
that some of TCU’s Senior Scholars have
something in common: they love economics!
Sarah Kline, a triple major in economics,
1
Kerry’s resume includes the following: she was
inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior; she was in
the Chancellor’s Scholars Program, which accepts
about 30 students each year. She was president of
TCU’s Relay for Life Club and she graduated with
just a hair under a 4.0 GPA. But I could go on!
While we can debate endlessly about which of
these 5 events have meant the most for TCU,
we can all agree it’s been a great year for
1
political science and French was awarded
Senior Scholar by the department of Modern
Languages. Magnifique! And Jose Sandoval,
an economics minor, was selected as the
management department’s Senior Scholar. As
they say, great minds think alike!
Above are AddRan Festival award winners
Jack Enright and Emy Kapiamba.
Alumni Scholarship: This year the TCU
Excellence in Economics Alumni Scholarship
went to Kerry Seaver. 2
Honors College Presentations: As part of the
TCU Honors program Emy Kabiamba and
Jose Sandoval each gave a presentation
during Honors Week. While Emy spoke of
prospects for economic development in
Congo, Jose explained his plans for
construction of a vast Guatemalan canal.
“You’d smile, too!” Kerry Seaver is our
Senior Scholar and the recipient of our
Alumni Scholarship.
AddRan Festival of Scholarship and
Creativity: This year two of our economics
majors won awards in the AddRan Festival:
•
•
Jack Enright won the Judges’ Award
($100) in the poster competition for
The People v. Leo Frank: A Study of
Anti-Semitism and Racism in the Jim
Crow South.
Emy Kapiamba made an oral
presentation on Inequality and
Underdevelopment: the Case of the
Democratic Republic of Congo. She
won the Chairs’ Choice Award ($100)
and the Economics department award
($100), sponsored by TCU alumni
Lane and Erin Smutz.
“Two can play that game!” Jose Sandoval
explains how Guatemala can build its own
version of the Panama Canal.
2
The alumni economics scholarship was
initiated in 2009 by George Henderson (class of
’70). To learn how to contribute, please contact
the economics department at 817-257-7230.
Above: Honors student Emy Kapiamba
discusses challenges to economic development
in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
2
Omicron Delta Epsilon Honor Society: This
year we were proud to see the following
students inducted:
•
Sarah Fulkerson
•
Josh Grannan
•
Sarah Kline
•
Kevin Lioi
•
Patricia (icholson
•
Kerry Seaver
•
Connor Wiginton
Under the fearless leadership of its officers,
the Econ Club has had a year of diverse
interests and accomplishments. The club
marched in the Homecoming parade,
participated
in
LEAPS,
sponsored
presentations, played intramural soccer,
designed a great t-shirt, and made some
money to boot!
DABE Smith Award (ominee: Econ major
Sarah Kline was honored with student
nominees from regional colleges at the DallasFt.Worth Association for Business Economics
annual luncheon. She was nominated for the
Smith Award for her paper Europe's Stability
and Growth Pact: History, Failings, and
Future.
The Dream Team: Above we have Econ Club
officers Gigi Haidar (president), Evan Langston
(treasurer), and Jaszime Bolden (secretary). Not
pictured is Nick Raper (VP) 3
Sarah Kline, Smith
Award nominee,
graduated with three
majors and a GPA above
3.9, while being named
Senior Scholar for the
dept. of Modern
Languages.
The Econ Club joined with Delta Sigma Pi
business fraternity to sponsor a talk by
Comerica Bank’s regional Senior VP, Tracie
Gusola. She shared valuable insights with our
students regarding career development.
The Econ Club was also excited to be visited
by 2007 TCU econ graduate Ambika
Sharma. Ambika, now in a Swiss
economics/finance graduate program, offered
much useful advice to our students.
II. Econ Department Events
Visiting Speaker: Economist John Siegfried
visited TCU to tell students about his book
Better Living Through Economics. He proved
to be a passionate speaker, enthusiastically
discussing chapter topics such as airline
deregulation and college enrollment strategies.
Re-visiting Speaker: The department was
pleased to have Georgia Tech economics
professor, Tibor Besedes, stop by to discuss
international trade, just as he did a couple of
years back. His visit was particularly
meaningful because Tibor is a graduate of the
TCU economics program.
TCU economics students at an Econ Club event.
3
Also not appearing in the photograph is every
other human being on the planet.
3
“More popular than the Beatles!” That’s what
TCU student Jose “Juan Lennon” Acevedo
(above left) says about the new shirts.
“Oooooooh! Ahhhhhhh!” Here is the new T
shirt our illustrious Econ Club members
designed. And they’ve raised a few hundred
dollars selling them!
OUR BRILLIA(T GRADUATES
ow that you’ve got your degree, what’s next?
Patrick Bibbb: Patrick’s putting his
entrepreneurial skills to the test. He will be
an “independent landman,” which is a sort
of liaison between an oil & gas exploration
company and a landowner.
Juan Gutierrez: Juan will working in
Carrolton, Tx for Turbo Chef Technologies
as the Coordinator of the Food Partner
Project.
Emy Kapiamba: Emy will participate in the
Teach for America for at least one year
before deciding her next step. She’ll be
teaching just north of us up in Tulsa,
Oklahoma.
Travis Galbraith: Travis is heading to law
school at Louisiana State University.
Greg Glimartin: will be working at
Environmental
Green
Group.
4
David Lamonte: will be a financial analyst
for VMG Health
Greg Laver: heading to University of
Arizona for law school
Zichuan Li: first doing some traveling to
Switzerland and France, then taking the
GMAT to apply to an MBA program
Above: Curt Mason, 2009-10 Senior Scholar, is
temporarily putting his dreams of playing for the
New York Yankees on hold to instead be a
financial analyst at Exterran energy company.4
Curt Mason: working as a financial analyst
for Exterran in Houston, Tx
Garrett Weaver: “I am currently working
in Allen, TX (just north of Dallas) at the
Allen
Economic
Development
Corporation...started out as just a summer
intern back in May… gaining valuable
experience to help extend my career in
economic development or in a related
field.” Garrett adds that he may pursue an
MBA in the future.
Taking Things a Bit too Literally? For recent
econ graduate, David Lamonte, having a small
primate on your back is not just a metaphor.
Greg Laver, who says he
laughs in the face of the
Texas heat, is now heading
to Arizona for law school.
Rohan Sarode: “Right after graduation, I
moved to Korea to teach English for a year
(and to avoid this economy). I'm enjoying
every minute of it. I plan on going to
graduate school after my year is over.”
Connor Wiginton: will be working for
BBVA Compass Bank as a LEAP associate
Jonathan Subash: “I accepted a job as an
internal auditor at Holly Frontier in Dallas.”
But Jonny adds that he’s always got his eye
on new potential business ventures.
Richard Wooten: “I work for Chesapeake
Midstream Partners (Chesapeake Energy's
subsidiary) with their Finance Group, as an
internal consultant for the executive
management team, though I am occasionally
called on for ad hoc operational analysis.”
Caroline Throckmorton: “I am working
for Cumulus Media Networks (the 2nd U.S.
largest radio broadcasting company) in the
Dallas Advertising Sales office. I help
schedule ad times, draft contracts, and
coordinate recording of ads by radio
personalities.”
4
Actually, Curt says Exterran could be a stepping
stone to a baseball career. He’s hoping to really turn
some heads at the annual company softball game,
where the Yankees often send a scout.
5
Faculty (ews!
Where the MAGIC happens….
The 4th floor of Scharbauer Hall is the new home of the TCU Economics department.
6
Faculty Updates:
Dr. Bucila and mom enjoying a Chicago sight,
one of many stops on their cross country voyage.
Laura Bucila, Lecturer: Dr. Laura Bucila
has made the US her home for the past decade,
but she was born and raised in Romania. The
day she first arrived in the US was, as fate
would have it, July 4th. She said she saw a
fireworks display after leaving the airport and
it moved her. Says Dr. Bucila, “I knew it
wasn’t for me, but having just arrived, it still
made me feel special.”
Doug Butler, Instructor: This year I’ve
really been enjoying the pro-active
involvement of our Economics Club members.
Their enthusiasm even prompted me to
participate in campus activities that were
previously foreign to me. As a result, I found
myself marching in the Homecoming parade.
(Honestly, I had never even watched the
homecoming parade before, much less be part
of it!) I also found myself fishing with
children when the Econ Club participated in
the TCU LEAPS program. (LEAPS is a
campus-wide day of service sending
volunteers to help out in our community.)
What’s more curious is that her experience
wasn’t the first in her family. Her brother, who
also lives in the US, first arrived here on July
4th as well, albeit a couple of years prior to Dr.
Bucila. Amazed? Wait, there’s more! This
summer Dr. Bucila nixed her usual plans to
visit Romania. Instead, she coaxed her mother
into visiting America. Guess what day her
mother flew into the US? Hint: It falls
between July 3rd and 5th. No, I am not kidding!
Our Econ Club members even designed a shirt
to promote economics at TCU. Not only do I
enjoy wearing the shirt myself, but I also
bought a handful of them to give out to my top
performing intro students.
The Grand Tour: Dr. Bucila drove from Fort
Worth to New York to meet her mother,
stopping at the homes of several friends along
the way. After picking up mom, the two of
them toured New York City, Toronto, Canada,
and Chicago. Then they headed to South
Carolina and Washington, DC…all by car.
Dr. Bucila says her trip lasted 5 weeks and
covered 7,500 miles! Among the highlights
were visits to Rockefeller Center, Niagara
Falls, and the Museum of American History.
Honored to honor Jose Sandoval: A special
moment for me this year was being given the
opportunity to hood student Jose Sandoval
(right) at the spring Honors Laureate Ceremony.
7
Krakow, Poland and Berlin, Germany to
attend seminars in faculty development. 5
Conference: Speaking of teaching, I traveled
to New Orleans for the Cengage University
Economics Teaching conference. There I was
exposed to intriguing new teaching ideas. We
were also treated to lectures by Stanford’s
John Taylor (of Taylor Rule fame) and
Harvard’s Greg Mankiw.
Third Time’s a Charm: I am now the faculty
advisor of three different TCU student
organizations. And they said it couldn’t be
done!
More Family news! Dr. Butler’s daughter,
Erin, is now enrolled in a graduate program in
the Baylor school of Psychology. His son,
Alan, graduated from high school. So, where’s
he going to college? To Butler, of course!
That’s Butler University in Indianapolis,
Indiana. (This stuff practically writes itself!)
Grandad! This year Dr. Butler got his first
grandchild. Her name is Annabelle Jennifer.
“I think a handshake will suffice.” Here I am
with Harvard economist, Greg Mankiw. I asked
him for a lock of his hair, but he preferred this
more conventional gesture.
Horned Frog (ation’s newest member: Even
at her young age, Annabelle somehow manages
to form the popular horned frog salute. Just look
at her left hand. She’s doing it, I tell you!
Michael R. Butler, Associate Professor
and Associate Dean of the AddRan
College of Liberal Arts: After years of
living just a couple of miles south of campus,
the Butlers moved to new home in Colleyville.
Upon settling in, they decided to host a party
for the department last winter. Hooray!
However, Mother Nature had other plans.
Booo! Fort Worth experienced quite a
snowstorm, followed by five days of below
freezing temps. TCU was forced to cancel
several days of classes… but there was also a
downside. What?! Yes, sadly the Butlers had
to cancel the econ department party.
Noooooooooooo!
“Elvis has not left…” the newsletter wouldn’t
be complete without a photo of Dr. Butler’s
favorite singer.
Travel (ews: Dr. Butler saw a lot of Europe
this year. He traveled to Athens, Greece for
the International Atlantic conference, then to
Vienna and Freiburg for IES Study Abroad
Faculty Familiarization. Dr. Butler also visited
5
The seminars were sponsored by the Council on
International Educational Exchange, or C.I.E.E.,
not to be confused with E.I.E.I.O., an agricultural
development program begun by O. MacDonald.
8
Invited Speaker: In April 2011, Dr. Elliott
was the invited keynote speaker at the
conference
"Strategies
for
Enhancing
Jamaican Competitiveness in the Global
Knowledge Economy". The conference and
Dr. Elliott's presentation were featured in an
article in the Jamaica Observer.
What’s that, you say? You wish you could
watch a video recording of Dr. Elliot’s
keynote address? Well, dear reader, you are in
luck! Go to this web address and you will not
be disappointed: http://vimeo.com/23492106
Dawn R. Elliott, Associate Professor:
Making an International Impact: In
December 2010, Dr. Elliott was invited to
present a paper at the Mobile Financial
Services Conference in Jamaica, which
brought together academics, policy makers
and development experts. The conference,
which featured Jamaica's Minister of Finance
as keynote speaker, attracted media attention
and was covered in Jamaica’s newspaper, The
Gleaner. As a result of the conference, Dr.
Elliott was appointed lead consultant for a
USAID project on the impact of mobile
financial services on the unbanked in Jamaica.
Robert F. Garnett, Professor: Lately, Dr.
Garnett has been focusing on three subjects:
1) undergraduate economic education, 2)
pluralism in economics, and 3) the economics
of philanthropy. Dr. Garnett’s efforts have
been fruitful, as you will now see!
On undergraduate education: Dr. Garnett
wrote “Big Think: A Model for Critical
Inquiry in Economics Courses” (with
KimMarie McGoldrick). He presented the
paper at the Allied Social Sciences
Association meetings in Denver, Colorado.
Kudos! Dr. Elliott has been appointed as
Research Associate at the Sir Arthur Lewis
Institute for Social and Economic Studies
(SALISES) at the University of the West
Indies at Mona, Jamaica.
On economic pluralism: Dr. Garnett
contributed two papers to the journal Review
of Austrian Economics, “Why Should Austrian
Economists Be Pluralists?” and “Specialists
and Citizens All: A Reply to Boettke, Koppl,
and Holcombe.”
Financial Literacy Project Receives Funds:
Dr. Elliott's financial literacy project More
Than Budgets has secured the financial
support of Comerica Bank for the academic
year 2011-12.6 This funding will allow
financial literacy to be offered in at least two
homeless shelters in the DFW area. This
project has been featured on NBC! To see the
feature go here:
On the economics of philanthropy: Dr.
Garnett wrote “Philanthropy and the Invisible
Hand: Rethinking Commercial Society after
the Cold War.” He traveled to beautiful
Nassau, Bahamas to present the paper at the
Association for Private Enterprise conference.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/business/Balancing_the_Bud
get_With_a_Little_Frogs_Help_Dallas-Fort_Worth.html
Flexing his mental dexterity, Dr. Garnett even
combined two of the above 3 themes in his
paper “Pluralism in Economics Education”
(written with Jack Reardon). This article was
included in the International Handbook on
6
For additional information on the More than
Budgets project, please visit the website:
http://www.morethanbudgets.com/
9
Teaching and Learning Economics.
Guest Editor: Dr. Garnett served as guest
editor for the International Journal of
Pluralism and Economics Education in their
special issue on Contending Perspectives. In
that volume Dr. Garnett also contributed an
article (with Andrew Mearman) entitled
“Contending Perspectives, Twenty Years On:
What Have Our Students Learned?” Dr.
Garnett was a natural choice for the journal,
having taught Contending Perspectives at
TCU several times.
John T. Harvey, Professor (prepared
Speaking Invitations: Dr. Garnett traveled to
New Jersey to be a guest lecturer in Dr. Roger
Koppl’s History of Economic Thought course
at Farleigh Dickinson University. Don’t be
surprised if TCU gets a bunch of transfer
students from Farleigh Dickinson!
by Dr. Harvey): It was another busy year! I
had two articles published (with two currently
under review), two selected for inclusion in a
volume on theories of money and banking,
and I started a blog at Forbes.com. The last
came about because I was so tired of all the
doomsday talk about the debt and the deficit.
I wrote a rather long piece explaining how it
really works, and TCU circulated it. At first,
no one was willing to look at it because it was
about three times as long as what opinion
pages usually accept. However, the editor of
the leadership section at Forbes read it and
accepted it despite it’s length. You can find it
here:
http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/18/deficitcut-danger-budget-jobs-leadership-managingemployment.html
Editorial Board: Since the fall of 2010 Dr.
Garnett has served on the board of editors for
Studies in Emergent Order.
That led to them offering me a permanent blog
there, which I called Pragmatic Economics. I
wrote eighteen entries over 2011, received
over 100,000 views, and now have 85
followers. I’m not quite sure what the latter
means and I hope it doesn’t imply that I’m
about to be the next David Koresh! My
Forbes blog is here:
http://blogs.forbes.com/johntharvey/
The family of the prolific Dr. Garnett: That’s
his wife, Lisa, and two sons, Ben and Gabe.
(Gabe is the really, really short one.)
Phi Beta Kappa: TCU’s chapter of Phi Beta
Kappa celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.
Always willing to help those who esteem
undergraduate education, Dr. Garnett served
as Co-Organizer for the event.
In other news, I gave three talks on the debt
and deficit (one to my daughters’ high school),
served on the board of editors of several
journals, co-chaired the AddRan Festival of
Undergraduate Research and Creativity,
Congratulations are in Order: This year Dr.
Garnett was promoted to full Professor.
Bravo! Huzzah!
10
presented papers at the Association for
Evolutionary Economics conference and for
the Department of Economics at the
University of Missouri at Kansas City, and
wrote a ton of book reviews.
In terms of current research, I am shifting
gears to devote all my time to my book on
different schools of thought in economics.
This year was, incidentally, my first time to
use the draft of that volume as the main text in
my Contending Perspectives in Economics
class. It worked well and I am enthused about
it! My contract says it should be done by June
2013–that feels very, very close!
John Lovett, Instructor: Good news! Dr.
Lovett’s
introductory
macroeconomics
textbook is now coming out in its second
edition! The title is Horizons in
Macroeconomics: An Introduction to the
Macroeconomy. Look for it at Walgreens
everywhere…but actually find it at
Kendall/Hunt Publishing company.
My classes last year were really fun–well, for
me, anyway! Over the course of the year, I
did two Contending Perspectives, one
International Monetary, one Econometrics,
and one Junior Research course. This spring,
I’ll be teaching a class I haven’t done in three
years: Perspectives in Macroeconomics. It’s
one of my favorites because during the last
third, we spend all our time talking about the
US economy and all the expansions and
recessions since 1970. It’s the class I always
wanted to take but didn’t exist!
Writer’s Bug: Dr. Lovett said he’s also been
putting together an undergraduate primer on
colonial economic development. Could that
primer one day turn into another textbook?
We’ll be watching.
(ew Class: Dr. Lovett has introduced a new
course. It’s an economic history class whose
theme is the Industrial Revolution. It examines
the transformation of England, and later the
world, to an industrialized society. In the
course, students investigate the technological,
economic, and social changes that took place
during this period.
In personal news, my daughters are now 17
and looking at colleges. Even though TCU is
free for us, THEY DON’T WANT TO GO
THERE!!! Idiots. Meg wants to go to Tulane
and study anthropology and Alex is thinking
about Southwestern (near Austin) for English
(as preparation for music journalism). We
shall see. Meanwhile, Melanie is still teaching
4th grade and her students continue to score
brilliantly on the state achievement test. Is she
cheating? Hmmm...
Enchantez! Dr. Lovett has been sitting in on a
first semester French class. He says he enjoys
French because it has a certain je ne sais quoi.
But, he adds, it isn’t easy. As far as
remembering the gender of all those nouns,
Dr. Lovett laments that he rarely experiences
déjà vu. (Sacre bleu!)
I tried something new in fantasy sports:
English Premier League Soccer! Out of
fourteen teams, I finished second–ahead of all
the owners who lived in England! The only
guy ahead of me was an American and, dang
it, I was ahead of him until the last few
weeks!!! Well, there’s always next year!
Child Labor news: Dr. Lovett has two young
daughters, Amanda (10) and Sarah (7). He has
no sons, but this doesn’t stop him from
11
passing on his metal shop skills to his
progeny. (Dr. Lovett won awards for his metal
shop projects in high school.) Dr. Lovett is
even trying to teach his daughters to weld. He
says his family is a “two welding helmet
family.” That way you can get twice as much
done at the same time!
Dr. Lovett pressured us to include the
following quote: “My wife, Julie, still trusts
me with the kids!” 7
Dr. McNertney’s passion for the new TCU
core shows in his research and conference
participation. He wrote “Core Curriculum
Revision at TCU: How Faculty Created 59
and Are Maintaining the TCU Core
Curriculum” (with TCU’s Dr. Ferrandino). In
the paper he and Dr. Ferrandino explain the
creation and adoption of the new core. The
paper was published in the journal 3ew
Directions for Teaching and Learning.
Dr. McNertney traveled to Orlando, Florida
with two TCU colleagues to the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
annual Commission of Colleges conference to
make a presentation about TCU’s new core.
The presentation was called “Integrating
General
Education
and
Professional
Programs.” The co-presenters were TCU’s Dr.
Catherine Wehlburg and Dr. Blaise
Ferrandino.
Edward M. Mc(ertney, Associate
Professor and Department Chair: Past
readers of the newsletter may recall that Dr.
McNertney is passionate about TCU’s new
core curriculum, having seen it through from
inception to implementation. It’s no surprise
he was made Director of the new core. (His
official title is Director of the TCU Core
Curriculum.) Now he’s got his own Director’s
office and everything! But all that fame hasn’t
gone to his head. Dr. McNertney still takes
time to visit the economics department now
and then to see how we are doing (and to
occasionally borrow money). 8
The SACS Conference was held in the
Orlando Hilton Hotel: That’s Dr. McNertney
waving from the 3rd floor window, far right side,
green shirt, looks like he’s got some food stuck
in his teeth...
Dr. McNertney, Core Curriculum
Director and former Dept. Chair.
Changing of the Guard: After twelve years
of service to the economics department as the
Chairman, Dr. McNertney is stepping down to
focus on his position as core director. Thanks
for your time, Dr. McNertney!
7
The newsletter staff failed to reach Julie for
comment at the phony number Dr. Lovett
provided. We asked him if there is another
phony number we can call, but he couldn’t think
of one. We find this all a bit suspicious.
Family (ote: Dr. McNertney’s wife, Marilyn
Hallum, manages the TCU Health Center. She
asked Dr. McNertney to pass on a special
message to our readers: “Get a flu shot. Wash
those hands. And stop biting your
fingernails!”
8
I don’t want readers to get the wrong impression.
The only time Dr. McNertney asks to borrow money
is when he gets a “really hot tip on a horse race. I’m
talking about a sure thing! Don’t call it gambling. It’s
money in the bank!”
12
From the Mouths of Babes: Dr. Quinn says
his two boys, Peter and Jack, do not share his
own appreciation for privacy. Hence, the boys
can often be heard announcing to anyone
within earshot “My dad is 45! My dad is 45!”
Stephen F. Quinn, Associate Professor:
Dr. Quinn has been in high demand this year.
Not only was he invited to speak at several
events, here at TCU he was asked to take the
reins of the economics department.
In Good Company: Dr. Quinn was the author
of one of the three White Papers presented at
the third annual Mortimer Caplin Conference
on the World Economy, hosted by the
University of Virginia’s Miller Center of
Public Affairs. The other two white papers
were presented by renowned economists John
Taylor of Stanford and Charles Goodhart of
the London School of Economics. 9 You can
view Dr. Quinn’s white paper, “Politics More
Than
Technology,”
at
this
link:
http://web1.millercenter.org/conferences/caplin/quinn.pdf
Exactly How Did Amsterdam Get its Fiat
Money? It’s a question that has haunted
mankind for millennia. But that was before
Dr. Quinn (working with Will Roberds)
finally put the matter to rest. Their paper
“How Amsterdam Got Its Fiat Money”
explains it. The world wants to know what it
says, so Dr. Quinn has been doing his part to
get the word out. He has presented the
findings on the east coast at the Federal
Reserve Board of Governors in Washington,
DC, on the west coast speaking to the faculty
of Caltech, and in the Midwest at the Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Summer
Workshop on Money, Banking, Payments and
Finance.
Charles Sawyer, Hal Wright Professor in
Latin American Economics (prepared by
our Latin American correspondent):
“If you want something done right, then..”
Dr. Sawyer has completed a new book with
fellow economist Javier Reyes. The title is
Latin American Economic Development.
(That’s a photo of the front cover just above.)
Being TCU’s endowed chair of Latin
American Economics, Dr. Sawyer teaches a
course on Latin America. Unfortunately, he
wasn’t completely satisfied with the available
textbooks. So rather than complain, Dr.
Sawyer teamed with Reyes to write an entirely
new book. What initiative!
Book Review: Drawing upon his financial
history expertise, Dr. Quinn wrote a review on
Anne Murphy’s The Origins of English
Financial
Markets:
Investment
and
Speculation before the South Sea Bubble, in
EH.net.10
Research Papers: Dr. Sawyer published
“Intra-industry Trade in Latin America and the
Caribbean” with colleagues Thomas Fullerton
and Richard Sprinkle. It was published in the
International Trade Journal.
Dr. Sawyer joined with TCU economist Dr.
Tochkov (and the aforementioned R. Sprinkle)
to publish another paper on intra-industry
trade, but this time in the Journal of Asian
9
Dr. Taylor and Dr. Goodhart are known for the
Taylor Rule and Goodhart’s Law, respectively:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_rule
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart's_law
10
EH.net is operated by the Economic History
Association
13
Economics.
World Travels: Dr. Sawyer flew to Israel this
summer for the International Trade and
Finance Association conference. It was
originally scheduled to take place in Malaysia,
but plans fell through. Thankfully new
arrangements were made in time. The
conference was held in the city of Eliat near
the Red Sea. One day Dr. Sawyer was able to
take a bus trip to Jordan where he spent the
day.
Kiril Tochkov, Associate Professor and
World Traveler: Dr. Tochkov is our resident
Bulgarian, so perhaps it should be no surprise
that he traveled to his homeland this year. He
flew to the capital city of Sofia to present his
research "Small Open Economies' Policy
Options in the Global Economic Crisis" at a
special conference sponsored by the Central
Bank of Bulgaria. It was a special conference
whose theme was the recent worldwide
financial crisis.
Positions of (ote: Dr. Sawyer is an editor for
Global Economy Journal. This year he’s also
serving on the board of directors for the
International Trade and Finance Association.
Advice for Students: Dr. Sawyer taught
Honors Macroeconomics this year. He was
particularly pleased with the crop of students
in that class because they were not only
hardworking, but refreshingly mature. He said
“they seem to realize already that there’s more
to success than test results.”
Dr. Tochkov may be from Bulgaria, but the
focus of his research has been the Chinese
economy. So, when the Chinese Economists
Society held their annual conference this
summer in Beijing, Dr. Tochkov was among
them, just as he was in Xiamen for last year’s
gathering and in Nanning in 2009.
A Renter (o More! After resisting for three
years, Dr. Sawyer finally gave in and bought a
home.
Grant Awarded! Dr. Tochkov teamed with
TCU economics major, Justin Bass, to apply
for a research grant for the project "Economic
Growth and Institutional Quality: A CrossCountry Empirical Analysis." Through TCU’s
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity
Initiative, they were given a $1,250 grant to
support their research.
Family (ews: In the spring Dr. Sawyer’s
daughter graduated from TCU with a degree
in supply chain management. She’s been
accepted into Lockheed Martin’s Leadership
Development program. At the end of 2011 his
son is graduating from the University of
Arkansas.
According to an anonymous source Dr.
Sawyer was asked how it feels to see his kids
moving on with their own lives. His reply:
“It’s sad when they leave home, but it’s even
sadder when they don’t leave home.”
Congrats! Dr. Tochkov has been promoted to
Associate
Professor.
Bravissimo!
11
Поздравления!
(ew Home! Dr. Tochkov and his wife bought
their first home. They had it repainted and
then moved in, but there was one tiny glitch:
11
This unusual looking word is, according to Google,
Bulgarian for ‘congratulations.’ (I hope the number
three is silent.)
14
Dr. Tochkov soon noticed that one of the
gutters was blocked. Upon exploration, he
found that a squirrel had chosen the gutter as
its final resting place. Ironically, Dr. Tochkov
then removed the squirrel. Yuck! I mean, “Ah!
The joys of home ownership!”
Finger Exorcises: After a long hiatus from
the piano, Dr. Tochkov is once again facing
his demons. He’s tackling the 3rd movement of
Mozart’s Piano Sonata #11, better known as
the Rondo alla Turca. Even if you don’t know
it by name you’ll no doubt recognize the
melody:
(ew Lecturer, Dr. Maria Sarigiannidou:
In August 2011 we were joined by Dr.
Sarigiannidou. She’s originally from Greece
and she holds a Ph.D. in economics from the
University of Tennessee. Her interests are
theoretical macroeconomics and dynamic
analysis. She’ll be teaching intermediate
macroeconomics, development, and intro
courses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yomi0-WL5Pg
Linda Martinez, Administrative Assistant:
Linda is a real asset to the department. She
keeps us stocked with candy treats and
occasionally surprises us with cupcakes or
bagels. Her Christmas decorations bring a
festive spirit at the hectic end of a fall
semester. And she’s probably cut the number
of econ faculty colds in half with that jug of
anti-bacterial gel she keeps filled for us.
She’s been quite helpful to the Econ Club,
selling several t-shirts for them, as well as
lending them her camera to take group photos.
And she was first to suggest that Econ Club
members take part in the homecoming parade.
Thanks, Linda!
First Impressions of TCU: Dr. Sarigiannidou
said her first visit to TCU reminded of her of
Disneyland because of the lovely landscaping
and abundance of flowers. She describes her
experience teaching here as “the opposite of
miserable.” She says TCU students are
“refreshingly polite and respectful.” And she’s
happy to report that she’s befriended other
Greek faculty members at TCU, including two
engineering professors. Not only do they meet
for coffee on occasion, but they gathered for a
Thanksgiving meal. Opa!
Family (ews: Linda’s daughter, Lauren, got
married this year. And Marc, her youngest,
graduated from high school. Congrats go out
to Lauren and Marc! And Linda, too!
************************************************************
Well, that’s about it for this year’s newsletter. But before you go, please
be sure to check out the Fort Worth photos (below) plus info on how
you can get past editions of the newsletter!
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Christmas Spirit or Reverse Photosynthesis? This is a holiday scene near downtown Fort
Worth just outside the Chesapeake Energy building (formerly the Pier One Imports building).
The reader may be happy to know that Chesapeake has continued Pier One’s earlier practice
of paying homage to TCU with purple and white light displays on their rooftop.
Earlier Editions of the (ewsletter
If you’d like to check out copies of our newsletter from previous years, go to this web address:
http://www.econ.tcu.edu/news.html
You can also check out current research of our faculty in the Working Papers section:
http://www.econ.tcu.edu/papers.html
Please contact us if you have suggestions for the newsletter or if you have some news you’d like to
share!
Department of Economics
TCU Box 298510
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas 76129
(817) 257-7230
www.econ.tcu.edu
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Happy ew Year from the TCU Economics Department!
Best Wishes,
The Editorial Staff
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