2007 “Spring” NEWSLETTER
Department of Economics
Texas Christian University
Vol.7 Spring 2007
Fort Worth, Texas
Lattitude 32° 50' N, Longitude 97° 3' W
no doubting that this has been a great year
for the TCU Economics department.
VOLUME SEVEN
Here are some highlights of our year:
Hello and welcome to the 2007 TCU
Economics Department newsletter! This is a
truly exciting time. In the very same summer
we’re witnessing the release of the seventh
Harry Potter book and the seventh edition of
our Economics Newsletter. Coincidence? I
prefer to call it magic.1 While some of you
may not agree with me about that, there is
•
FACULTY AWARDS! Among
them, Dr. Steve Quinn was selected
as the 2007 Honors Professor of
TCU. Congratulations, Dr. Quinn!
•
NEW ENDOWED CHAIR! This
fall marks the start of the Hal Wright
Chaired Professorship in Latin
American Economics. Dr. Charles
Sawyer is the first holder of that
chair. Welcome, Dr. Sawyer!
•
GREAT
STUDENTS!
Our
economics majors and minors are
racking up awards and honor society
memberships. Good work, gang!
1
And did you notice that recently we experienced the
date 7/7/7? Eerie, isn’t it?
Our department chair, Dr. John “Dumbledore”
Harvey, has further evidence that this is indeed a
magical summer:
“Not only do we get a Harry Potter book (and
movie) this summer, but in a few days the first
Simpsons movie will be released in theaters!”
You’re beginning to believe, aren’t you?
1
Magic or not, if there were an annual House
Cup awarded at TCU, the House of ECON
definitely would have won it this year!
As you can see, there’s no doubting it’s been
a good year. Even if we had not received our
teaching awards or our endowed chaired
professorship, there would still be cause for
celebration in our department due to our fine
group of economics majors and minors.
They’ve got us very excited about the future.
But don’t take my word for it. Listen to what
the experts are saying!
Economics Faculty
Later I will have more to say about our
illustrious students, but at present please
allow me to work in a few words regarding
our faculty. After all, TCU depends on both
students and professors. The fact that the
importance of both these groups cannot be
overemphasized reminds me of a slice of
wisdom I once received from my
grandmother. She said that when schools
attract good students, they blossom.2
“We appear to be at an all-time high in
terms of majors” – Dr. Harvey, Chair of
TCU Economics Department
“This year there are 7 econ majors being
inducted into Phi Beta Kappa…this seems
like an extraordinarily high number.” –Dr.
Klopfenstein, TCU Economics Dept.
Just as grandma’s model predicted, the rise
in our majors appears highly correlated with
a subsequent increase in TCU economics
professors. After all, somebody has to teach
these students! Hence, last year we were
“The past three academic years, we’ve
had 26, 21, and 22 graduates, and those
numbers include August and December
grads as well. Now we’ve got 30 in May
alone!” –Dr. M. Butler, TCU Economics
Dept. and Associate Dean of AddRan
2
Actually, grandma went into slightly greater
detail:
“Dear child” she began, as she handed me a freshly
baked cookie, “if life has taught me anything about
education it’s that students and teachers are like
each side of the classic equation of exchange,
MV=PQ. Students are MV and teachers are PQ.
With the assistance of our friend Mr.Calculus, we
can see that:
As stated in the annual report, our
economics majors and minors “are at an
all-time high in both quantity and
quality.” –TCU Economics Department
2006-07 Annual Report
Still not convinced? Then feast your eyes on
these numbers:
and
TCU Economics Students, 2006-2007:
• One-third of economics majors are on
TCU Academic Scholarship
• Forty percent of Spring economics
graduates had greater than 3.5 G.P.A.
• Over one-fourth of econ grads
graduated with Honors
• There were sixteen new Honor Society
o
o
o
where t is time.” She paused to hand me another
cookie, then continued her lesson. “That, sonny
boy, means if the number of students (i.e., the
money supply) grows faster than the number of
teachers (i.e., nominal GDP), then a rise in the
number of teachers (i.e., inflation) will eventually
follow. In other words, if you attract good
students, your educational program will grow.”
Winking, she added, “I can also prove it
graphically!”
Inductees:
One Mortar Board Inductee
Seven Phi Beta Kappa Inductees
Eight Omicron Delta Epsilon Honor
Society Inductees
[note: Admittedly, when grandma gave me this
lesson, I was too young to fully appreciate it. This
fact was reflected in my initial response, which
went something like “Cookie good. Want more!” ]
2
joined by Asian Economies scholar Dr. Kiril
Tochkov, who speaks German, Bulgarian,
and Chinese(!), while this year we are proud
to welcome distinguished International
Economics professor Dr. Charles Sawyer
into our burgeoning family. The addition of
these fine faculty members allows us to
offer a wider selection of courses to our
majors and it bolsters our growing
International Economics program. And
there’s more faculty good news…
OUR BRILLIANT STUDENTS
You’ve already gotten a flavor of the quality
of our economics majors, but I would like to
expand a bit on that, particularly by adding
names (and sometimes even faces) to the
facts and figures you’ve already seen.
Phi Beta Kappa Inductees:
This year we are proud to announce that
seven additional economics majors were
inducted into the prestigious honor society,
Phi Beta Kappa. This is a hard-earned honor
indeed.3 This year’s inductees are:
TCU Economics Faculty, 2006-2007:
At TCU we follow the teacher-scholar
model, which means we put emphasis on
both research and teaching. Read below and
you will see that it has been a good year for
the economics department in both of these
areas.
Faculty Teaching Achievements:
• 2007 Honors Professor Award
• Chancellor Award for Creative
Teacher
• Dean’s Teaching Award
• Mortar Board Preferred Professor
• Nomination
for
Texas
Piper
Teaching Award
• Center for Teaching Excellence
Fellowship awarded
Faculty Research Achievements:
• Articles
and
book
chapters
published: 8
• Papers presented: 14
• Book projects nearing completion: 2
• Grants earned: 4
• Articles completed (or nearly so): 15
• Referee: 12 journals
•
Lynn Bergeland
•
Tori Hutchens
•
Kevin Inman
•
Beth Mayberry
•
Stephen O’Neal
•
Jenny Prentice
•
Brandon Smith
Phi Beta Kappa inductee, Beth
Mayberry, on one of her many
expeditions to Latin America; these
trips helped her to master Spanish and
international economics, both majors
of hers. Muy eficiente!
You can read more about these faculty
accomplishments in the Faculty News
section, but now I would like to return to …
3
What is even more impressive is that all seven of
these inductees have at least 2 majors!
3
Brett Flodder is a top student majoring in
both Economics and Finance. He is active in
several
professional
and
service
organizations on campus. Last fall he was
Director of Finance for Frog House, TCU’s
Habitat for Humanity project. He is also an
officer in the Economics Club, where he has
played a vital role in promoting the
organization and in helping it to create and
accomplish its goals.
Another Phi Beta Kappa
economics major! Stephen
O’Neal has the additional
honor of being inducted while
only a junior.
Magic jokes aside…
perhaps this more
distinguished photo is
the one Brett would have
chosen for the
newsletter.
Mortar Board Inductee: Mortar Board
is a national honor society that “recognizes
college seniors for excellence in the areas of
scholarship, leadership and service.”4 This
spring, economics major Brett Flodder was
inducted into Mortar Board. 5
Brett Flodder, Economics major and 2007
Mortar Board Inductee. Here Brett (far left,
wearing what appears to be a wizard’s hat)
stands with other Habitat for Humanity
volunteers.6
Economics minor Whitney Grey proudly
showing off one of her prized academic
medals.7 Whitney inducted economics
major Brett Flodder into Mortar Board this
Spring.
4
http://www.mortarboard.org/
Mortar Board has a neat way of revealing their
inductees. A Mortar Board rep comes to the
inductee’s class, and then publicly taps the student. I
was very happy to witness the ceremony when Brett
Flodder was tapped. The experience was particularly
rewarding because it was one of our celebrated
economics minors, Whitney Grey, who conducted
Brett’s ceremony.
6
Judging by Brett’s wardrobe, I’d say this photo
was taken just after his Potions class!
5
7
Legend has it that the medallion draped around
Whitney’s neck bestows upon its bearer special
protection from dark magic…and a 25% discount
on all Hertz rental cars!
4
Our majors made a fine showing in the
Festival. They even collected $700 in prize
money! Congratulations, young scholars!
AddRan Festival of Undergraduate
Creativity and Scholarship: This
spring marked the second annual AddRan
Festival and it was another success.
Economics was well represented with five
economics majors competing. Consistent
with the title of the festival, the research
topics of our students were indeed both
creative and scholarly. Economics was
applied to understand such diverse subjects
as the 2006 French Riots, human trafficking,
and trade in air pollution permits.
We are very proud of our majors who
participated in the AddRan Festival, for they
not only conducted research, which they had
to submit in a paper, but they also had to
orally explain their findings, fielding
questions from a live audience!
Brian Andrew smiles after delivering his
AddRan Festival talk. Drawing upon the famous
Napster case, he examined the role of
information in capital markets. Brian was
awarded a $100 prize for his presentation.
Scholarly and Creative! Three of our economics
majors pose for a photo after their AddRan
Festival presentations. From left to right are Carli
Klaeveman, Tori Hutchens, and Brandon Smith.
Carli discussed pollution markets, Tori spoke
about recent French rioting, and Brandon
examined determinants of happiness.
Congratulations, Jenny Prentice! Professor
Harvey, Chairman of the 2007 AddRan Festival,
congratulates economics major Jenny Prentice.
Her poster presentation, "Seduced, Imported,
Sold: A Review of Current Policies and Changes
Needed to Halt Human Trafficking," won two
first place awards at the Add-Ran Undergraduate
Research and Creative Activity Festival. (She
received the top money prize of $500.)
This year’s participants were:
•
Brian Andrew
•
Tori Hutchens
•
Carli Klaeveman
•
Jenny Prentice
•
Brandon Smith
I’ve bragged about our economics majors
who took part in the AddRan Festival, but
let me not forget about our minors!
Economics minor Whitney Grey gave a
presentation at the festival: “Modern Hukou
and Beijing’s Migrant Community.” Her
5
presentation, and then approached Brandon
afterward by greeting him as "Professor
Smith"!
presentation drew upon her Senior Thesis
project. (That project is part of the Political
Science department’s Distinction Program.)
Whitney employed a great deal of economic
analysis in her research. In fact, TCU Asian
Economies professor Dr. Tochkov was a
member of Whitney’s Senior Thesis
Committee, where he assisted her with data
gathering and analysis.
(Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re all
calling him ‘Professor Smith’ in a few more
years.)
National Finalist in Entrepreneur
Competition: In November a national
collegiate competition was held in Chicago
to recognize the best original business ideas.
Here is the task that was set before the
contestants: “In 2 minutes time, tell the
judges about your business idea, why it
solves a need, why and how it creates value,
and why it would be successful.
Communicate well and leave the judges with
more answers than questions.” Obviously,
that’s not an easy task! Making winning
even more difficult, there were over 1,100
students participating in the competition,
representing over 100 colleges. Despite
these significant odds, when the dust cleared
TCU economics major Jacob Watson
discovered that he was a top 10 finalist. 9
TCU Journal of Undergraduate
Scholarship Selects Economics
Entry: This year two papers submitted by
AddRan students were deemed worthy for
publication
in
TCU’s
Journal
of
Undergraduate Scholarship. One of those
papers, "Think Big, Lend Small: Developing
Latin American Economies Through
Microfinance," was written by economics
major Jenny Prentice. We congratulate the
journal editors for wisely recognizing
Jenny’s good work…but most of all we
congratulate Jenny!
Economics
Student
Obtains
Research Grant, Presents Findings
at Conference: This year Brandon Smith
received an Undergraduate Research and
Creativity Grant to conduct an independent
research project. He undertook the research
under the supervision of TCU economics
professor Dr. Rob Garnett during the Fall
2006 and Spring 2007 semesters. Brandon
presented his paper, "Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness in the Post-Cold War
World," at the Add-Ran Undergraduate
Research and Creative Activity Festival in
April; he later presented a revised version to
an audience of professional economists at
the ICAPE conference in Salt Lake City in
early June, where it was very well received!
Please note that there was special praise
given to Brandon from Dr. Deirdre
McCloskey, an internationally known
economics professor. Dr. McCloskey sat in
the front row listening to Brandon’s
Future “Captain” of Industry, economics major
Jacob Watson. This summer he’s “vacationing” in
the state of Washington for some grueling ROTC
field training.
9
6
http://www.tcuceo.org/competitions.html
More kudos: Jacob is very driven. He is
active in many organizations at TCU, among
them the CEO club and BUX. He is also an
officer in the TCU Economics Club. Like
Brett Flodder, mentioned earlier, Jacob is an
integral part of our Economics Club.
three months she has discussed immigration
policy on The Today Show, Fox and
Friends, Hannity and Colmes, and
MSNBC.11
Journalist
Michelle Wucker
(left), spoke to the
Economics Club
about U.S.
immigration
policy.
DABE Competition, 2nd Prize: In
April the Dallas Association for Business
Economics (DABE) held their annual
student competition for the Arthur A. Smith
Memorial Award. Competitors must
demonstrate excellence via a research paper.
TCU economics major Jenny Prentice
presented her paper, "Think Big, Lend
Small: Developing Latin American
Economies Through Microfinance," to the
DABE and received second prize in the
competition! The DABE held a special
ceremony to recognize the excellent work of
Jenny and the other finalists. Congrats for
yet another award, Jenny!
Federal Reserve Speaker. This spring the
Economics Club invited Dallas Federal
Reserve economist Fiona Sigalla to speak on
the TCU campus. Attendance was very good
and the presentation was well received. I’m
happy to report that our speaker gave high
marks to the economies of both Texas and
the nation. For a version of her talk
(including graphs and tables!), go to the
following web link:
http://dallasfed.org/research/swe/2007/swe0701b.cfm
Due to the active involvement of several of
our majors and minors, the Economics Club
couldn’t help but have a good year. The
Club sponsored visiting speakers in the fall
and spring semesters, held an internship
forum, sponsored two intramural sports
teams, and successfully acquired funding for
club t-shirts. Thanks go out to all of our
students who took part in these successes!
Federal Reserve
economist Fiona
Sigalla (left),
spoke to the
Economics Club
in the spring.
Internship Forum: In the spring the
Economics Club held an internship forum.
Economics majors and minors with
internship experience were recruited to form
a discussion panel. Panel members talked
about their internship experiences, offered
advice, and fielded questions from curious
younger students. Thanks go out to all of
you panel members, for you selflessly gave
Immigration Policy Presentation:
In the fall the Economics Club sponsored a
presentation on US immigration policy by
Michelle Wucker10, an accomplished
immigration policy expert. Perhaps some of
you have seen her on television! In the past
10
Wucker is a former Latin America bureau chief for
International Financing Review and has written for
many publications including Newsday, The
Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
11
The Economics Club would like to thank the TCU
SGA for providing funds that helped us to sponsor
Michele Wucker’s presentation.
7
of your time to help others.
economics majors they had not previously
met. Therefore, we’ve reached an easy
decision: The Econ Club will continue to
sponsor sports teams in the coming year!
Intramural Sports: In the fall the
Economics Club sponsored two co-ed sports
teams. We had a flag football team and an
indoor soccer team. Both squads were
competitive, advancing to the playoffs and
winning a few playoff games. (No, neither
team won the championship.) Most
importantly, however, the students had fun
playing! And several students said that being
on the teams allowed them to meet other
FYI: In case you’d like to check out some of the
fast-paced action of co-ed intramural football and
soccer, you need only go to the following links,
courtesy of TCU’s Recreation Services:
http://www.campusrec.tcu.edu/intra/Pop_Ups/FlagFootball_Highlights.html
http://www.campusrec.tcu.edu/intra/Pop_Ups/Soccer_Highlights.html
Sink Your Teeth into This! FACULTY NEWS
Why? With so much attention being given to
the environment as of late, I chose to
allocate a larger amount of class time to
examining how markets for air pollution
permits function. We covered the market for
sulfur dioxide emissions, in particular. Then
I showed the class how the general theory is
applicable to such things as the use of tradeable fishing quotas, as are used in parts of
Canada and the U.S. We all know, of course,
that when we study how a particular market
functions, even if it’s a market for polluting
Doug Butler, Instructor (a.k.a Butler
the Younger): (prepared by Dr. D. Butler)
Teaching, in chronological order: Last
summer I oversaw completion of an
independent study course taken by one of
our economics majors. In the fall it was all
microeconomics for me. I taught it at both
the introductory and intermediate levels. In
the spring public finance took the place of
intermediate micro. However, even that
public finance course was a bit micro-heavy.
8
rights or fishing quotas, we are studying
microeconomics. Hence, the public finance
class had a strong micro flavor to it this
year. This summer I continue my apparent
obsession with microeconomics, as I am
scheduled to teach the intermediate micro
course. 12
conditioning did not pose an insurmountable
obstacle for our team. How do I know?
Because we won the game!
To my delight, I was later approached by an
economics major who asked if the Econ
Club could also sponsor an intramural
soccer team. Inspired by this display of
interest, I started up the recruitment
machine. Many students actively recruited,
too. And soon we had a team. As far as I
know, it’s the first Economics Club soccer
team ever. In case you’re wondering, I did
not play on the soccer team. Way too much
running is involved!
Economics Club: I am the faculty advisor
for the Economics Club, or Econ Club, as
we often call it. And let me tell you, it has
been a real pleasure to work with the
organization this year. This is largely for
two reasons. First, several majors have
shown a high level of interest in club events.
Second, there are two very motivated
officers who have done a fantastic job of
planning and promoting our events, plus
raising club funds. These two gents are Brett
Flodder and Jacob Watson. To them I owe a
debt of gratitude for their selfless
contributions of time and energy to the Econ
Club. Thanks, guys!
Research: I am currently working on a
research paper that concerns the factors
leading to passage of the seventeenth
amendment of the U.S. Constitution. When
trying to test a theory, we economists
jokingly say that we need only “torture the
data until it confesses!” Well, after torturing
my seventeenth amendment data for a while
now, I believe I have elicited at least a
partial confession. So, I’m putting my
findings down on paper. Then I’ll find out
whether the world feels like I’ve discovered
anything interesting. Wish me luck!
Sports: As you read earlier, the Econ Club
fielded an intramural football team this year.
I contributed to this endeavor by recruiting
players for the team. I made a second
contribution during the season when I
sacrificed my body for the team! I, an outof-shape faculty member, actually played in
one of our football games. I didn’t play for
just one quarter, nor for one half, but for the
entire game… on offense and defense! I did
it because we were short a player. The
missing player had to study or work on a
project, you know, something more
important than football. So I courageously
took the field. It wasn’t long before I was
huffing and puffing and praying for halftime. I am happy to report that my inferior
Departmental Contributions: In the Fall, I
assisted the Economics department with the
annual Major/Minor Fair. And last summer I
served as the editor for a little something I
like to call the TCU Economics Department
Annual Newsletter. (Yes, I’m doing that this
summer, too…even now as I type this
sentence!)
Personal stuff: I’m still making slow but
steady progress in my attempt to learn
Spanish. I have discovered that I can do a
decent job reading some Spanish books—
storybooks written for children, that is!
Recently, I got a chance to practice my
conversational Spanish. My dad and I spent
a very pleasant week showing our Mexican
12
It should come as no surprise to the reader that I
recently got a tattoo that reads “Microeconomics
or Bust!” This is not to be confused with Dr.
Lovett’s tattoo, which reads “Macroeconomics:
Boom and Bust.”
9
requirements, it makes perfect sense that he
also serves as the Chair of the AddRan
Curriculum Committee and the Chair of
Undergraduate Council. (The latter handles
all
university-wide
undergraduate
curriculum changes.) In these roles, Dr.
Butler can channel his expert knowledge to
benefit the university… in the short and the
long run!
in-laws around south Louisiana (where I was
raised). The week culminated in an authentic
Cajun meal of crawfish and boiled crabs.
Everyone had mucho fun, although my inlaws were probably a bit freaked out by
some of the food!
AddRan Periodical: Dr. Butler is happy to
announce the first ever College of AddRan
newsletter! Plans have been made to make
this an annual publication. Dr. Butler
oversaw production of the newsletter, but he
humbly insists that many people were vital
to its success. Congratulations, Dr. Butler!
New Dean Transition: After seven years as
the Dean of AddRan, Dr. Volcansek decided
to return to full-time teaching. The College
of AddRan has now hired a new dean.
Judging from his name alone, he should be
perfect for the job. It’s Dr. Andrew
Schoolmaster! Our Dr. Butler has been
working hard to ensure that the new dean
makes a smooth transition at TCU.
Oak Alley: Louisiana Plantation located
outside of New Orleans. I snapped this photo
while touring with in-laws. Incidentally, the Oak
Alley staff asked that we spread word that they
have reopened (post Katrina), which means they
really need your tourist dollars!
Michael R. Butler, Associate
Professor and Associate Dean of the
AddRan College: (inspired by a true
story)
Dr. Butler has kept busy this year. He
teaches introductory microeconomics to
freshmen and he teaches an advanced
microeconomics course to our economics
majors and minors. In addition, he has
several important positions at TCU. Dr.
Butler is the Associate Dean of the college
of AddRan. In that capacity he oversees
advising for all first year AddRan students.
Dr. Butler knows his stuff, too. Whenever
any of us has a tough question about
advising or the core curriculum, we can
always go to Dr. Butler for the answer.
Research: Besides carrying out his teaching
and administrative duites, Dr. Butler has
been busy preparing a paper for publication.
He and fellow TCU economist Dr. Garnett
have worked in tandem to write “Academic
Freedom in Undergraduate Economic
Education: Challenges and Opportunities.”
Dr. Butler has actually presented the paper
several times—once to the TCU economics
department and other times at professional
conferences—in order to get feedback so
improvements might be made. The authors
say they are about ready to submit their
paper to a professional journal for
publication. Good luck!
Dr. Butler represents a classic case of
efficient resource allocation. Being the
expert he is on advising and curriculum
This year Dr. Butler took a break from
attending
the
International
Atlantic
10
Family news: In the fall Dr. Butler’s
daughter, Erin, will embark upon her college
career. She will be studying Special
Education at Baylor. And the twins will start
high school! Good luck, everyone!
another paper, "Caribbean Integration and
the Expectation of Greater Trade: Insights
from a Time-Series Gravity Model”, coming
out soon in the Journal of International
Trade and Economic Development. Dr.
Elliot also has a work in progress,
tentatively titled “Beyond the Rhetoric of
the State and the Market: Explaining
Caribbean Growth Performance.”
Dawn
R.
Elliott,
Associate
Professor: Dr. Elliot has been busy in
Note: Dr. Elliot did all this despite being a
devoted mom of two bright daughters! Go,
Dr. Elliot!
Economics Society annual conference.
However, he does plan to be at their spring
2008 conference in Warsaw, Poland.
professional organizations this past year.
She’s an active member of the Southwestern
Social Science Association. (Try saying that
3 times fast!) The SSSA, as it’s also called,
is the oldest interdisciplinary social science
association in the United States. Dr. Elliot
serves on not one, but two of the
organization’s committees: the General
Program Committee and the Membership
Committee.
Robert F. Garnett, Assistant Professor
(prepared by Dr. Garnett):
Personal
This has been a very happy year for me.
Last May I became engaged to the nicest
person I’ve ever met: Dr. Lisa Vanderlinden
(anthropologist, teacher, artist, and hearty
Minnesotan); my son Ben (now 13 and in
love with his guitar) had a great 7th grade
year; and last summer Ben, Lisa, and I
migrated to a beautiful 1939 home in
University West, 10 minutes (by foot!) from
our offices.
Dr. Elliot is also in the Southwestern
Economics Association. Does she do
anything for them? Yes! She’s the President
and the Program Chair! That means she was
responsible for organizing this year’s
meeting. It was held in March in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. The meetings
gave scholars, students, and policy-makers
from all fields of Economics an opportunity
to present their research findings and
participate in interdisciplinary sessions.
(And as if that’s not enough, Dr. Elliott is
also a reviewer for the Southwestern
Economic Review!)
Scholarship
This year I published three articles and a coedited volume: “Paradigms and Pluralism in
Heterodox Economics” in Review of
Political
Economy;
“Philanthropy,
Economy, and Human Betterment: A
Conversation with Kenneth Boulding” in
Conversations on Philanthropy; “Using a
Computer Simulation Model to Help
Students ‘Think Like Economists’ in
Intermediate Macroeconomics” (co-authored
with Dr. Ed McNertney) in Computers in
Higher Education Economics Review; and a
University of Michigan Press volume,
Future Directions for Heterodox Economics
(co-edited with Dr. John Harvey), with my
own introductory chapter, “Pluralism and
the Future of Heterodox Economics.”
Research: Dr. Elliot hails from Jamaica and
her research interests reflect this fact. This
year Dr. Elliot published a research paper
entitled "The Jamaican Female Skills
Surplus and Earnings Deficit: A Holistic
Explanation Suggested” in the Journal of
International Womens Studies. She has
11
(“Seduced, Imported, Sold: A Review of
Current Policies and Changes Needed to
Halt Human Trafficking”) and a paper
(“Think Big, Lend Small: Developing Latin
American
Economies
Through
Microfinance”).
I presented two conference papers: “The
Postmodern Road to Socialism, After
Hayek” at the Eastern Economics
Association meetings (New York City,
February), and “Academic Freedom in
Undergraduate
Economic
Education:
Challenges and Opportunities” (co-authored
with Dr. Michael Butler) at the ICAPE
conference on Economic Pluralism for the
21st Century (Salt Lake City, June).
Within the Department, I organized a oneday retreat last August (co-sponsored by the
Office of Assessment and the Center for
Teaching Excellence) at which the
Economics faculty rewrote the requirements
for the Economics minor and for each of our
three majors. Outside the Department, I
served as a member of the Provost’s Quality
Enhancement Council.
Service
As of January 1, was promoted from
Associate Editor to Editor of the University
of Michigan Press book series, Advances in
Heterodox Economics.
I also served as chief organizer and
fundraiser for an international conference on
“Economic Pluralism for the 21st Century,”
held at the University of Utah, June 1-3,
2007. The Utah mountains, weather, and
beer were all fantastic, and the conference
wasn’t bad either! The final program
included 200 scholars from 27 countries,
thanks in part to the $11,000 donated by
individuals,
economics
departments,
professional associations, and research
institutes to subsidize the travel costs of
Ph.D. students and scholars employed
outside the U.S.
Professional Development
I was invited to participate in several
external workshops and Socratic seminars
this year: a Global Equity Initiative
workshop on “How Economic Ideas Spread”
(Harvard University, September); a New
Philanthropy Studies colloquium on “The
Hoover-Roosevelt
Conversation:
Philanthropy, Government Action, and the
New Deal” (Philadelphia, November); a
Liberty Fund colloquium on “Property
Rights and Liberty: Is Intellectual Property
Different From Physical Property?” (San
Diego, October); and a Liberty Fund
colloquium on “Liberty and Responsibility
in Deirdre McCloskey’s The Bourgeois
Virtues” (Indianapolis, May). John T. Harvey, Professor (prepared
by Dr. Harvey):
2006-7 was my twentieth year at TCU! It’s
hard enough to realize that I’m not in my
twenties any more, let alone that most
current freshmen and sophomores weren’t
even born when I came to Fort Worth. Hard
to believe or not, it’s true!
During the Spring semester I worked with
Brandon Smith (one of our senior majors)
on an independent study, “Liberty and
Happiness in Modern Economics and
Economies,” for which he had received an
Undergraduate Research and Creative
Activity Grant from the University.
As a faculty sponsor for the second annual
AddRan
Festival
of
Undergraduate
Scholarship and Creativity, I worked with
two outstanding students: Brandon Smith
and Jenny Prentice. Jenny presented two
projects at this year’s Festival: a poster
Last year was pretty good to me. In terms of
my research, I had two articles published,
12
newsletter the huge bass I caught on
Christmas day 2005:
both in the Journal of Economic Issues
(and believe it or not, both are on exchange
rates!). As I mentioned last year, the edited
volume on which Dr. Garnett and I have
been working (a collection of papers from
the International Confederation of
Associations for Pluralism in Economics)
is done, but we are waiting on the
publishers. Apparently, it will come out in
2007 (people are predicting Harry-Potter
like numbers in terms of advance orders and
midnight release parties–be sure to come
dressed up as your favorite TCU econ
professor!). Meanwhile, I predicted in last
year’s edition of the newsletter that I’d have
a draft of my book on exchange rates
complete by June 2006. I am very pleased to
say that my forecast was dead on! I am
currently in negotiations with publishers.
http://www.econ.tcu.edu/harvey/pics/JTH_B
ass.jpg
Just last month I was fishing in that same
spot and got another huge fish on the line. It
bent my pole double and jumped from the
water–AND THEN MY LINE BROKE!!! I
almost cried. Today’s Lesson: always
replace your line before the new fishing
season!
Kristin Klopfenstein, Assistant
Professor (mostly prepared by Dr.
Klopfenstein):
2006-07 was another year of growth for Dr.
Klopfenstein.
Graduate Teaching: Dr. K taught a
graduate course on the Economics of
Education. The course was conducted
through the School of Education’s
Educational Leadership program. Dr. K also
served as a quantitatively-oriented faculty
resource for doctoral candidates interested in
empirical research. She looks forward to
continuing in this helpful role!
In the classroom, I did something in spring
2007 that I hadn’t done in fifteen years:
taught Econometrics! For those who don’t
know, it’s a statistics-based course that
requires access to a computer. To give you
an idea of how much had changed in a
decade and a half, my old lecture notes
included several pages on how to use the
mainframe computer (which TCU got rid of
five or six years ago)! It was incredible how
much more time I could spend on the subject
matter and how much less was required for
going over just how to use computers.
Education Policy: Dr. K continued her
work as a consultant with Fort Worth ISD,
and now she is also a consultant on a twoyear grant. The grant is funded by the
National Science Foundation’s Research and
Evaluation on Education in Science and
Engineering
program.
The
program
synthesizes research on the Advanced
Placement Program. Dr. K’s work on this
grant is done in tandem with Phil Sadler of
Harvard University and Robert Tai of the
University of Virginia.
Last, I was very fortunate to be nominated
for two awards, the Chancellor’s Award for
Creative Teacher and Scholar and the State
of Texas Piper Teaching Award. I made the
first cut on the former (winner of the Social
Sciences Division), but went down in flames
on the latter! Many thanks to Dr. Quinn for
nominating me for the former and Dean
Volcansek for the latter.
Conferences: In May Dr. K visited Harvard
University for a mini-conference of AP
researchers.
One last bit of info and a piece of important
advice: you may recall from the previous
13
not to mention his current state, remains
wedded to him. I guess she's into people
who refer to themselves in the 3rd person.
(Seriously, I'm a lucky boy.)
Amanda still thinks her dad is cool. I love
6 year olds ... enough to foresake that 3rd
person
thing.
Amanda
completed
Kindergarten and is a wonderful, fun,
creative girl.
Sarah thinks it's fun to go naked at least
50% of the time. Good thing she's 3. Sarah
is a lovely, spunky, and happily insane little
three year old. Now if the rest of the family
can just break that nudity habit.
Research: Dr. K will be a contributor to a
forthcoming edited volume of papers. The
edited volume of papers is from the Harvard
conference she attended in May.
Dr. K is also experiencing growth around
the middle - baby number two is due in
October! Congratulations, Dr. K!
John Lovett, Instructor: (mostly
prepared by Dr. Lovett)
Research: Dr. Lovett designs his own
software programs to help students
understand how markets work. In his
classroom the students become virtual
buyers and sellers of goods. It allows them
to see market prices arise before their very
eyes! Drawing upon this teaching technique,
Dr. Lovett published his paper “On-Line,
Time Interval, Competition Experiments:
Lessons from the Classroom” in the spring
volume of Perspectives on Economic
Education Research.
Dr. Lovett is shown above… in the
3rd person.
The Tree Update! Dr. Lovett assisted his
daughter Amanda in the planting of three
more trees this year! Of course, all of the
trees have names. There’s Grandpa Tom, III.
It’s a bald cypress. (Some of you may know
it simply as taxodium distichum.) Grandpa T
stands behind the house…on city land! The
second tree is also a bald cypress. It’s named
Tripper. Then there’s the third tree, Mr.
Tom. He’s a Schumard Oak. (Some of his
fans know him as quercus shumardii.) He’s
in the yard, too!
Edward M. McNertney, Associate
Professor:
The Core Curriculum: Dr. McNertney
continues to play a critical role in TCU’s
undergraduate core curriculum. He first
served as a member of the Core Curriculum
Committee, the agency that designed the
new Core Curriculum. Later, he became
Chair of the Core Implementation
Committee. He was named Coordinator of
the Core Curriculum in 2004 and then he
achieved his current position of Director of
the TCU Core Curriculum in Fall 2005. Dr.
McNertney is responsible for oversight of
the course approval processes for the new
TCU Core Curriculum. The new core has
finally been implemented at TCU. This fall
even transfer students will be incorporated
Family Stuff:
Warning: Dr. Lovett occasionally refers to
himself in the third person. Only in rare
instances does he refer to himself in the 4th
person.
Julie Lovett, despite have a reasonably
accurate knowledge of Dr. Lovett's past ...
14
into it.
Editorial Function: Dr. McNertney
continued to serve as the editor of the
Southwestern Economic Review. He also
carried out editorial duties for the spring
2007 edition of Southwestern Economic
Proceedings.
Assessment: Now that implementation has
taken place, Dr. McNertney is increasingly
interested in methods of assessing the
effectiveness of the new Core. He is
actively working with other TCU faculty to
design systems of assessment. They have
established Faculty Learning Communities
for this end. Dr. McNertney has met with
faculty and administrators at other colleges
to share experiences creating and
implementing new core curricula. It is good
to know that we have people as dedicated as
Dr. McNertney to ensuring that TCU’s
students receive a valuable education!
ICAPE: Dr. McNertney served on the
Organizing Committee of the 2nd
International Conference of the International
Confederation of Associations for Pluralism
in Economics (ICAPE) in June. The
conference was held at the University of
Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. There were at
least two other TCU economists in
attendance plus one of our majors!
Dr. McNertney presented at the Southern
Association
of
Colleges
and
Schools/Commission on Colleges Annual
Meeting in Orlando, Florida in December.
His paper, co-authored with other TCU
faculty, is entitled “The Creation of an
Assessable
and
Meaningful
Core
Curriculum: A Faculty-based Participatory
Process.” The paper was based on TCU’s
experience establishing a new core,
implementing it, and devising an assessment
process.
I almost forgot, Dr. McNertney was also Cochair of the TCU University Budget
Advisory Committee in the spring. (Is that
why tuition went up again?!)
FYI: Dr. McNertney and his wife, Marilyn,
generously throw at least one departmental
party at their home each year. This year was
no different, but there was a twist. This time
Dr. McNertney didn’t know about the party
before hand. Why? Because it was a surprise
party thrown in honor of his birthday! We
economists were there along with TCU
faculty from across the university. Dr.
McNertney is very popular!
Research: Dr. McNertney published a
paper, co-authored with TCU economist Dr.
Garnett, entitled “Using a Computer
Simulation Model to Help Students ‘Think
Like
Economists’
in
Intermediate
Macroeconomics” in Computers in Higher
Education Economics Review.
Stephen F.
Professor:
Quinn,
Associate
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to
announce that Dr. Quinn was selected as the
TCU Honors professor of the Year!
Congratulations, Dr. Quinn!
That award is recognition of Dr. Quinn’s
excellent teaching skills, but he’s also quite
a scholar, as is evidenced by the
presentations he made throughout the year.
Invited Speaker: Dr. McNertney had the
honor of being the keynote speaker at the
Phillips University Leadership Foundation
Scholar
Leadership
Conference
in
November. The theme of the conference and
Dr. McNertney’s talk was “Global
Awareness: Economic Development and
Change.”
15
In the fall Dr. Quinn traveled to the
University of Colorado, Boulder to speak at
the International Society for New
Institutional Economics. There he presented
his paper “Securitization of Sovereign Debt:
The Case of Early Modern Britain, 16881775.” Then in October Dr. Quinn presented
at UCLA economics department. In January
he traveled to England to the prestigious
Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge to
present his research on the Bank of England.
That same month found him in Chicago
presenting at the American Economics
Association meetings. Dr. Quinn presented
“The Bank of Amsterdam and the Leap to
Central Bank Money”, a paper co-authored
with William Roberds, economist at the
Atlanta Federal Reserve. This latter paper is
to be published in the May 2007 issue of
Papers and Proceedings of the American
Economic Review!
an award at the festival of undergrad
scholarship and is currently a doctoral
student in political science at the State
University of New York at Albany.
Family news: Despite all those scholarly
accomplishments of Dr. Quinn, his two
young ones, Pete and Jack, do their best to
keep him humble, continually reminding
him of such things as the fact that that no
matter how big you are, you can’t make
your kids go to bed hours before you do and
then expect to sleep in the next day!
In other family news, Dr. Quinn is taking his
mother to see Paris this summer. Enchantez!
I am taking piano lessons at TCU and am
working hard on learning to play Mozart's
Symphony No 40.
I was invited to present my research at
seminars at Sam Houston State University,
Baylor University and UT Arlington.
I organized and presented at a session at the
annual meeting of the Association for Asian
Studies in April in Boston.
I taught International Trade and Payments
for the first time in the Spring semester.
I was honored as an Exceptional Honors
Professor by the Honors Program at TCU
for my work with Brian Andrew who
graduated in the Spring and is currently
working in Washington DC.
Linda Martinez, Administrative
Assistant.
(prepared by Dr. Tochkov):
My first publication ever appeared in the
January issue of China Economic Review.
The paper is about the impact of fiscal
decentralization on interregional transfers in
China.
Unlike most summers, there was no trip to
Mexico for Linda this year. However, she
did travel to New York with her daughter (a
TCU student) in March. They went during
the St. Patty’s Day celebration! They visited
Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, and
almost all of the 171 Manhattan’s Starbucks
locations. They apparently attempted to visit
all of them, but as Linda laments “we were
only there for five days.” (Does anyone
besides me suspect they were serving Irish
coffees?)
I was a member of the Senior Thesis
Committee of Whitney Grey, a student in
political science who is writing on the
economic and political consequences of
China’s demographic policies. She also won
I asked Linda what she thinks of our
students, now that she’s been our
administrative assistant long enough (one
year) to garner a solid opinion. Sounding a
bit like Tony the Tiger of Frosted Flakes
Kiril Tochkov, Assistant Professor
16
department décor, providing a much more
home-like feel to our offices. Already
thinking like an economist, she says her
grand decorating goals are hindered by a
scarcity of time and space. TANSTAAFL!
fame, she described our students thusly:
“They’re great!” She elaborated, saying
they are “quite self-sufficient, very
competent.”
Linda continues to work on the economics
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF ECONOMICS
Earlier in the newsletter we showed you
abundant evidence of our students’ abilities
and hard work. While it is clear that these
students are serious about their education,
life at TCU, like life after TCU, is not only
about work. There should be times for
stepping back and resting and times for
actively rewarding ourselves for our hardearned achievements. In this section we’ll
get a peak at how some of our students
spend the moments between their hardearned academic achievements.
What do a zombie, a policewoman, and a
medieval warrior have in common? They all
study economics! (left to right) Felipe Alejos,
Jenny Prentice, and Santiago Nieto are shown
here enjoying a post-midterms Halloween
costume party.9 These three students also blew
off steam by playing on the Econ Club soccer
team.
9
OR was this photo actually snapped just as Felipe
returned from a Harry Potter book release party?!
Hmmm…
17
Economics minor Whitney Grey shows you can
have fun while excelling academically. She
graduated with distinction and begins her
doctoral studies in political science in New York
this fall. Whitney also distinguished herself on
the gridiron as a member of our Econ Club
football team. No surprise there. I mean, just
look at the toughness in those eyes!
Economics major Geren “F” Brown.
Clearly, Geren is a big fan of TCU football. But
this year he won’t simply be on the sidelines
cheering for others. On his bicycle Geren will
ride from coast to coast this summer. The
journey will take over 2 months. That’s
certainly a good way to blow off some steam
after the school year, but actually Geren is
doing it to raise money for charity. Go
Geren!!
TCU economics and football bring friends
together: Economics majors Kevin Inman (far
right) and Steve Hockett (second from right) and
other friends traveled to the TCU-Baylor game.
Steve has been accepted into the masters
program in International Studies at the
University of Denver. Kevin has been offered a
full scholarship from the George Washington
University School of Law. Go frogs! Go econ!
Economics graduates relaxing at our Spring
party. While savoring the fruits of their studies,
they also savor a few grilled burgers.
Spring cookout: At the close of the spring
semester the department of economics held a
party to honor our graduating seniors. Dr.
Mike Butler volunteered his home and
enlisted his cooking skills in the cause. The
food was quite tasty, the conversation was
18
upbeat yet relaxed, and we took a few
photos to show you!
Tackling the tough issues of the day: Dr.
Quinn and student Alina Tennie enjoy
stimulating conversation at our Spring party as
they debate whether the Fed should lower
interest rates, to what extent the mortgage crisis
will affect the stock market, and who would win
in a fight between Darth Vader and Voldemort.
“Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn,
and caldron bubble!” At our spring cookout
Dr. Mike Butler demonstrates his love for flame
broiling.
John Muellner, Farah Mandich, and Ali
McCullough at the Spring cookout. They said
the burgers were nice, but they mainly came for
Dr. Butler’s pyro-technic show. (They said they
weren’t disappointed!)
19
Our Brilliant Graduates
Economics major Lynn Bergeland (second from left) and economics minor Whitney
Grey (far right) celebrate spring graduation with friends. Lynn is our economics
Senior Scholar and Whitney graduated with Distinction in political science.
Last year I pointed out that there were many
students who deserved mention in the
newsletter, but I just couldn’t squeeze them
all in. Admittedly this year’s edition still
leaves some students out, but we think
we’ve made progress in that area. Apologies
to those of you I didn’t include! Take
comfort knowing that here at the newsletter
perfection is our ultimate goal. Being
realistic, however, we realize that may take
another year, or even two, to reach.
help themselves. Lynn will be spending the
first year after graduation donating her time
and skills to educating underprivileged
children in the program Teach For America.
(Fantastic!)
Top Spring Students: The Economics
department acknowledged our top five
Spring graduates with a paid advertisement
in the TCU newspaper, The Skiff. The
competition was fierce because we have so
many excellent students. (That’s why it’s so
difficult to choose a Senior Scholar!) The
winners of this proud accomplishment, in
alphabetical order, are as follows:
Senior Scholar: Each year we choose one
amazing graduating economics major and
bestow upon them the noble title “Senior
Scholar.” And each year it gets tougher and
tougher to pick just one. Hence, it is quite an
honor to be selected. This year the proud
recipient of that title is Lynn Bergeland.
Congratulations, Lynn! (She’s pictured above
with friends, celebrating graduation in full
regalia and a huge smile.)
Not only is Lynn a scholar. She is a positive
force in the world, helping those too small to
•
Lynn Bergeland
•
Tori Hutchens
•
Kevin Inman
•
Beth Mayberry
• Brandon Smith
20
Ajith, which appeared this spring in the Fort
Worth Star Telegram. James has traveled a
long and often unkind road to finally arrive
at TCU. He came to Texas in 2001 and was
able to eventually enroll at TCU. This spring
he realized a dream when he received his
college diploma. James has still more
dreams. The article tells us: “He wants to
find work either in financial research or
services. He wants to find a mother and a
younger brother, who he has heard are alive.
He wants to give back to his homeland by
promoting the need for Sudanese girls to get
an education.”
Two Graduates Who Traveled a
Long Road to TCU :
Jackson Langat: There are at least two
things that make Jackson Langat different
from the typical economics major. He’s
really really fast and he came here from the
other side of the planet. While we have a
healthy share of international students in our
economics program, almost all of them are
from the Americas. But Jackson is a
Kenyan, born and raised. And like I said
before, he’s fast. Jackson ran track for TCU.
His specialties are the 800 meters and the
4X400 meter relay. Jackson excelled at both.
In fact, he was crowned the 2006 NCAA
indoor champion in the 800 meters. That’s
number 1 in the entire country! He also
received an All-America certificate as part
of the men's 4x400 meter relay team at the
2006 national indoor championships.
Congratulations, Jackson!
James
Ajith
We are proud of James for how far he has
come. He has done what many could not,
maintaining hope in hopeless circumstances,
and responding to the inhumanity of others
not with bitterness, but with a desire to help
his fellow man.
Jackson Langat (above) has now graduated
and plans to run track professionally. We all
wish him the best of luck!
James Ajith:
“When he was 9, he fled his village in
southern Sudan when it came under attack.
He came of age walking to Ethiopia as one
of the Lost Boys of Sudan, an agonizing trip
filled with death and disease. Older boys
were his guides. A long trek from Ethiopia
to a Kenyan refugee camp was, simply put,
"terrible."
Dr. Tochkov and economics major James Ajith.
That passage is from the first paragraph of a
feature on TCU economics major James
21
America which is a subsidiary of the
fraternity Pi Kappa Phi.
Student Plans
Here’s what some of our current crop of
graduates (and soon-to-be-graduates) are up
to:
Matt Fisher, econ major: I'm currently
working for an options and futures trading
firm The Hanley Group at the Chicago
Board of Trade. During the day I'm a clerk
for a trader in the soybean options market.
During the night I trade soybean, wheat, and
corn futures.
Lynn Bergeland, econ major: I am headed to
Denver to do Teach For America. I will
be teaching high school math. 10
Brian Andrew, econ major: I am interning at
the National Foundation for American
Policy, researching immigration. I obtained
this internship through the Institute for
Humane Studies, of which I am a summer
fellow of their Koch Summer Fellow
Program.
Alexis Foster, econ major: I am in law
school at Baylor.
Tim Brady, econ minor: I am doing a 15
month training program with an insurance
company in St. Louis called Amerisure
Mutual Insurance. They are a commercial
company based out of Detroit that write
primarily mid-sized, privately owned
construction and manufacturing firms
insurance. Then I will journey back to Texas
to get into the sales side of the business,
working on as a commercial insurance
agent.
What can’t economics offer you? People find
different things in economics, whether it be
analytical skills for understanding human behavior,
strategies for investing, or tools for public policy.
Now we can add love to that list. TCU economics
majors Tori Hutchens and Brian Andrew (shown
above) are engaged to be married!Congratulations,
Tori and Brian!
Geren Brown, econ major: I am doing a
philanthropic bicycle ride from Seattle to
Washington D.C. which will take 65 days
and cover 4400 miles. We will be raising
funds and awareness for people with
disabilities through the organization Push
Tyler Fultz, econ minor: I'm going into the
US Air Force and moving to Germany with
my wife Katie.
10
Teach For America is a volunteer educational
program that was begun in 1990. Since then it has
become the nation's largest volunteer provider of
teachers for low-income communities. Some 17,000
individuals have done volunteer work through Teach
for America.
Note: Volunteers have an average GPA of 3.5 and 96
percent held leadership positions on their college
campuses!
http://www.teachforamerica.org/index.htm
Steve Hockett, econ major: This summer I'm
interning for an environmental campaign in
Chicago. Next year I'm attending the
University of Denver's Graduate School of
International Studies. I will be pursuing
22
school chemistry and soccer and golf for a
year. Then I will go to medical school and
become an anesthesiologist.
(editor’s comment: WOW!)
either a Master's of Global Finance, Trade
and Economic Integration or a Master's of
International Development.
Tori Hutchens, econ major: I will be
working this summer in DC as an IHS intern
with the Center for Religious Freedom. In
the fall, I'm not sure what I'll be doing: I'm
applying to work as an intern for a think
tank in St. Louis called the Show Me
Institute, but I may try to get a job in
publishing with Penguin books. They
offered me a summer internship, but I'd
already accepted the one with the Center for
Religious Freedom. On New Year's Eve, I'm
marrying Brian Andrew, so after that I will
move to wherever he is, which will probably
be in DC.
Kevin Inman, econ major: at this point it's
looking like George Washington University
School of Law for me…as the financial
offer is going to be impossible to match, I'd
say I'm about 65% sold on D.C.
Jenny Prentice discusses a research project.
After graduation she will intern with the Grameen
Foundation, an international microfinance
orgainization.20
Elizabeth Rozyskie, econ major: I'm
working at Textron for the summer. I'm in
the IT department.
John Kritser, econ major: I am going to the
Ranch Management program here at TCU.
Jenny Prentice, econ major: I will be going
to DC and interning with Grameen
Foundation!!! I am very excited.
Patrick Samuels, econ minor: I am currently
working for PKF Texas, a locally owned
middle market acct firm in Houston. I have
been interning and will continue my
internship until August, when I plan on
Richard Rigby, econ minor: I just graduated
with a BA in Biology and Chemistry and a
minor in ECON. I am working as a caddy
this summer at Vaquero CC. That money
and donations should be able to get me to
Nepal this September to volunteer at an
orphanage for 3 months, and then go to New
Zealand in January with Michael Haveman
(an econ major) to be migrant workers for 6
months. I will hopefully be a park ranger
for at least a month there, hiking the most
beautiful trails in the world but I may find
myself picking grapes for the wineries down
there. Then I plan to teach and coach high
20
Grameen Foundation's mission is “to empower the
world's poorest people to lift themselves out of
poverty with dignity through access to financial
services …we help the poor, mostly women, start
self-sustaining businesses to escape poverty. Founded
in 1997 by a group of friends who were inspired by
the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, our global
network of microfinance partners reaches over
3.6 million families in 22 countries.”
http://www.grameenfoundation.org
23
they have also employed me since March
2006.
coming back to TCU to do the 30-hr
Master's of ACCT program.
Earlier Editions of the Newsletter
Alina Tennie, econ major: I will be attending
the American Economic Association
Summer Program at Duke University. This
fall I will start an internship (research
assistant) at the Institute of Economic
Development at UTSA, and I will continue
there until I am accepted into a grad
program or something else better comes
along.
Please check out copies of our newsletter
from previous years. We have all issues
available at this web address:
http://www.econ.tcu.edu/harvey/workppr/working.html
At that site you can also find some of the
current research of our faculty. To do so,
just look at the Working Papers section.
Feel contact us if you have suggestions for
the newsletter or if you have some news that
you think is a good candidate for inclusion:
Scott Thompson, econ minor: I'm doing a
summer internship with BNSF Railway in
their Capital Investment Accounting
department. Basically it's their department
that deals with all their fixed assets like
locomotives, rails, bridges, etc. I'm hoping
it can become full time.
Contact Information
Department of Economics
TCU Box 298510
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, Texas 76129
(817) 257-7230
www.econ.tcu.edu
Geoff Tomlinson, econ major: I will be
moving to North Carolina to work for
Fountain Powerboats
(www.fountainpowerboats.com) as the
Production Manager.
Last year we pointed out that there were many
students who deserved mention in the
newsletter, but we just couldn’t squeeze them all
in. Admittedly this year’s edition still leaves
several students out, but we were able to
acknowledge more students than last year.
Apologies to all of you who were still left out!
Take comfort knowing that here at the
newsletter perfection is our ultimate goal. Being
realistic, we realize that attainment of that goal
may take another year…or even two. (Yes,
we’re very optimistic!) In the meantime, we
thank you for your patience.
Michael Vick, econ minor: I am going to
graduate School at Argosy University in
Dallas. I plan on getting a master of arts in
Professional Counseling and pursuing a
career as a profession counselor thereafter.
For the short term though, the economics
classes I took helped me land a job as a
supervisor at a bank. I will be working there
until a job opens up in a counseling/mental
health field.
Andrew Wooley, econ major: I'm working
over the summer as intelligence analyst for a
small firm that does research for major
financial clients. It's in Fort Worth and it
could be considered a internship/co-op as
And now for our final message:
24
“Thanks
for
reading!
Goodbye!”
-the editorial
staff
25