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Click and register today to attend the C. Malim Harding Lecture in Political Economy 2024 by Professor Suzanne Mettler on March 21, 2024 from 3-5 pm.
“Polarizing by Place: How the U.S. Rural-Urban Divide Emerged and Why It Threatens Democracy,” is the topic to be addressed by Professor Mettler, the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions. [Read more…]
Does an unfair economy lead to bad behaviour? It’s generally understood that economic inequality makes people more likely to accept and expect unethical behaviour. According to a new study by Adrian Schroeder and his co-authors, those expectations aren’t limited to predictions of other people’s behaviour. When faced with making unethical choices that might benefit them, people even predict they would behave unethically themselves.
In preparation for his master’s studies, Schroeder, now a PhD student in the Department of Economics, University of Toronto, worked with Steven Heine and Anita Schmalor on a series of experiments to examine what they call “expectations of everyday unethical behaviours.” Examples include keeping the extra when a salesclerk makes a mistake when giving change, or keeping an online purchase delivered to the wrong address. These are the “everyday transgressions that violate social norms, although they aren’t necessarily against the law,” the authors explained.
This annotated list of influential Black African economists is not exhaustive in nature, but intended as a starting point for further inquiry. Supplied by Marlène Koffi, the list was annotated to support the article Black Economists of Influence in honour of Black History Month, 2024.
Updates and suggestions for additions to this list can be submitted by email to communications.economics@utoronto.ca
Economics touches every aspect of society. This is no less true in February, designated as Black History Month, or more recently, as Black Heritage Month. Whichever the preferred name of the observance, Black economists, both historical and contemporary, are major figures in the discipline.
Names of thirty-two Black economists populated a non-exhaustive list of contemporary, influential Black African practitioners provided by Marlène Koffi, Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics. Accomplishments of the group include senior appointments to the Center for Global Development, the World Bank, and one served a term as a head of state. They also represent academic appointments at the world’s most prominent universities, including three at the University of Toronto.
Koffi herself joined the University of Toronto in 2020. Her research interests are broadly concerned with the Economics of Innovation and Science with a more specialized focus on equity issues that is evident in both her scholarly publications and her editorial contributions to media outlets like the Globe and Mail and the Hill Times. She also examines the application of deep learning, machine learning and Artificial Intelligence techniques to both research studies and to the creation of public policies. To that end, she is affiliated with National Bureau of Economic Research, the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, and the Forward Society (FOS) Lab. [Read more…]
It’s mid-February. The good news is that there are only as few as 4 to 6 weeks of grey and cold weather to left to endure. Some get through it by taking omega-3s and vitamin D, others by jetting off to an all inclusive resort and pretending there is nothing to do during reading week, while others spend the Family Day long weekend complaining about the weather with their closest relations. [Read more…]