Microeconomics Exam to be held Jan. 12th

From Prof. Conning:

Hi,

Since it is now past midnight and there is no sign of the transit strike ending by tomorrow morning, I will simply follow Hunter's contingency plan and hold the exam on Thursday January 12th.

Most of you who wrote have told me that you prefer January 12th as the date for holding the exam. For the few of you who will be out of the country and absolutely cannot make the 12th, I will have to assign an INComplete by the January 18th grading deadline. We can change that to a grade as soon as you can take the exam in early February on a date to be announced.

Obviously this all makes everybody's life a bit more complicated, but on the bright side now you can spend even more time enjoying studying for Eco 701 ; )

Have a nice break,

Jonathan

P.S. -- Since several of you have already told me how your studying has been disrupted by all this uncertainty, let me commit to this announcement. In other words, if we all wake up and find the strike is off tomorrow at 8am, we will still just stick to the January 12th makeup date.

Finals Update - Micro and Econometrics

From Prof. Conning:

The transit strike has complicated everything.

Since it looks quite likely that the strike will extend into tomorrow Thursday, we need to consider contingent strategies to find a solution to what could be a complicated coordination game (which as you know can have multiple and inefficient equilibria).

These are the strategies we should be focusing on:

1) If the strike ends before noon on Thursday, proceed with the exam as scheduled for Thursday evening.

2) If the strike does not end before noon on Thursday, then either:

2.A) Follow Hunter's instructions and reschedule the exam to January 16th.

2.B) An exam in early February.

I could offer both 2A and 2B, but they would be different exams.

If you have received this email could you please email back to give me a sense of your preferred alternative. Please also let me know if you have access to blackboard. I will then dictatorially decide based on the feedback I get and report back.

Please understand that I have about 125 students this semester and like you many other work commitments in the month ahead. I cannot offer individualized exams and test dates. We need to find a focal point (or two) for the class.

Thanks,
Jonathan Conning

P.S. -- No evening review session tonight.

From Prof. Deb:

Enough people are in favor of an exam tomorrow (with another one in late
Jan. or early Feb inevitable). You can decide, but for tomorrow, start anytime from 12noon - 5pm tomorrow - earlier is better for me. From my experience yesterday and from what I've heard, you are better off travelling after 11am and trying to leave before 4pm (avoid normal commuting traffic).

Otherwise, there will be another chance in late Jan. or early Feb.

No exam on Jan 12.

Econometrics Update

From Prof. Deb,

Hi folks,

Here is the official word on Finals. If the strike is on Thursday morning, the exam is officially postponed until January 12. Some of you have already indicated Jan. 12 is not good for you. It is not good for me either as I am out of the country. I also do not intend to give (make)more than 2 exams, which is what would be certain if I honored the Jan. 12 date. So, here are some options I'd like your feedback on.

1. Give exam on Dec 22 as scheduled or earlier in the day (which might be easier) if the strike continues. I'm willing to be around most of the day to accommodate multiple times

2. Give "makeup" exam in early February, i.e., after spring classes start.

Please tell me if this works for you. If there is consensus, I'll make further arrangements. If not, we'll all suffer by taking an exam in early February.

Finally, please spread this word by forwarding to any group emails you have. I want to ensure everyone sees this.

Partha

Book update number 1 - Development Economics

The required text will be:

Ray, Debraj. Development Economics. Princeton University Press, 1998.

Here's the link to the book on half.com. I'll post other books as they become available.

Tamara's office hours for today......

Have been cancelled. Depending on whether the strike continues or not, she will be holding review sessions at the following times tomorrow:

701 - Microeconomics 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
721 - Econometrics 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Obviously, if the transportation situation remains the same tomorrow as it is today, all bets are off. Look to your e-mail and to the blog for updates regarding the rescheduling of finals.

Strike!

As of 3 a.m., the NYC Transit Worker's Union has voted for a system-wide strike. Apropos the post below, Prof. George's class will have a take-home exam posted at 5 p.m., due 5 hours later.

As I receive announcements from other economics courses, I'll post them right away.

Law and Economics Announcement

Apologies to everyone for my being late in posting the following:

From Prof. George:

Dear Law & Econ students,

You should all plan on taking the Law and Econ final tomorrow in class as scheduled.

However, in the event of a full transit strike that shuts down the whole system (not a partial shutdown), we will have a take-home exam. I will post the exam at 5:00 pm and ask you to email it back by 10:00 pm.

Please check the BB site for updates.

Lisa George

Econometrics Announcement

From Prof. Deb:

Answers to HW 6 are now online.

Exam 2 is graded. You may pick yours up starting Monday at 11am. Please
do not email me for scores tomorrow. I will not respond.

Partha

Microeconomics Announcement

From Prof. Conning:

Several Eco 701 updates:

(1) TODAY'S CLASS (last class). I will cover some more game theory material and material from Chapter 18 (on risk sharing). Better that we cover this material properly than rush to start something entirely new (so I've cut out chapter 20). We will also talk about content and study strategies for the final.

(2) NEW ONLINE MATERIALS: via the reading schedule: http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/~conning/eco701/index.htm#read
(refresh your cache if you don't see the new links)

(a) A practice final exam (an actual exam from a few years ago). As you can see, it's cumulative. You should recognize a problem or two from the midterm.

(b) updated lecture notes from last class. These are somewhat more detailed than the slides I used in class (reflecting material I wrote on blackboards or things that came up during discussion).

(c) I have prepared answers to the last problem set and will post them tonight after you turn in your assignments.

(3)OFFICE HOURS NEXT WEEK.

Tamara has offered to hold office hours Monday from 5-7 and Tuesday from 3-5.

I will hold office hours next week Tuesday 2-3:30pm and Wednesday 6-8pm. I have also been answering several questions via email. I will start posting some of these answers to blackboard (I'll make the question poser anonymous).

(4)EXAM: From what I can figure out our final exam will be at 7:30pm on December 22 (check registrar's final exam schedule and tell me if you read it differently: http://registrar.hunter.cuny.edu/subpages/academic_calendar.shtml)

See you in class tonight.

Jonathan

Pre-exam 721 Study Session Tomorrow

There will be a pre-exam study group convening in the Economics Department conference room at 2:00 pm tomorrow. The room number is 1537 (15th floor) in the Hunter West building.

A few suggestions to get you ready:

• Go over the first exam. This will be a good refresher for the analytical portion of the test.
• Go over the all of the previous homeworks. You'd also be well-advised to review the "Stata - Basics by Example I and II" on Professor Deb's website.
• Whatever you do, don't freak out and make things too complicated. I recall one student last year created quadratic terms for what should have been a linear term.......a few parabolas later, he ran out of time, and failed to complete the test.

Also, the answers for homework 5 have been posted. Homework 6 will not be available until tomorrow, but IV estimations will not be on the exam.

Good luck tomorrow.

Job Market presentation this coming Wednesday

Anne Royalty, a professor of economics at Indiana University, will be presenting a job market paper this Wednesday at 11:30. It will be held in the Economics Department conference room (HW 1537) on the 15th Floor. She will be discussing the following paper:

Estimating workers' marginal valuation of employer health benefits: Would insured workers prefer more health insurance or higher wages?

The paper can be downloaded from the following link:

http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/RePEc/seminar/hbdiscch_1205H.pdf

Additional MA class for the Spring

From Prof. Filer:

Dear all:

I just wanted to let you know that Professor Roberts from the Politics Department and I will be teaching a seminar on the Post Communist Transition in Central and Eastern Europe (including the former Soviet Union) for the Thomas Hunter Honors Program this spring.It looks as if there will be a few extra seats in the class. I am, therefore, prepared to enroll students in the course as an independent study (either Econ 390 or, with additional readings, Econ 790).

The course would, therefore, count for an economics elective at either the undergraduate or graduate level. If you are interested please e-mail me back or drop by to see me.

Summer Internship at Goldman Sachs

There will be an information session for people interested in interning at Goldman Sachs this summer. It will be held on Wednesday, January 11th at the Hunter Career Center. Pre-registration is required for you to attend.

Paula Wicklow from the Center has offered to critique cover letters and resumes prior to the session. If you are interested, e-mail me and we'll get you set up.

Many, many thanks

A big debt of gratitude is owed to those graduate students that have volunteered to moderate the undergraduate study sessions for next week. Special recognition is due to Ken (who had this task dumped into his lap just two weeks ago -and much to my delight- took off running) and Tamara for coordinating the times.

To fully appreciate the sacrifice that they're making, keep in mind that most of them are carrying a full load this semester and have their own studying to do.

They are:
Ryan Murphy
Ken Lord
Nathaniel Wright
Enkeleda Gjeci
Tamara Gurevich
Melanie Kim

Thanks again.

Study Group for 721

Tamara has agreed to moderate a study group for 721 this coming Wednesday from 2 pm to 4 pm. It will be in the economics conference room (HW 1537) on the 15th floor. If this time doesn't work for you, e-mail her.

Marketing Intern

Marketing Intern
Position Title: Marketing Intern
Type of position: Intern, unpaid
Minimum Time Commitment: 20 hrs/week
Duration: One semester Location: New York City Objective: To assist the Marketing Team in developing, maintaining, and organizing marketing materials, while providing a practical learning experience to students interested in marketing and fundraising for a large non-profit organization and in the general workings of a large international humanitarian aid organization. Overview: The Marketing Intern will support the activities of a Marketing Team. S/he will learn how an organization maintains donor relations, markets itself to donors and the public, and the general activities of a Development department. S/he will also have the opportunity, through working in the office, to learn about MSF's programs, and how it operates in the United States. This internship is ideal for anyone interested in fundraising for a non-profit, as well as the administration of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Duties: The Marketing Intern will be expected to perform the following tasks:
Update and maintain MSF USA’s marketing files, both paper and electronic, on current and past MSF projects (20%)
Assist Marketing Coordinator with direct mail quality control projects (15%)
Conduct analysis of industry marketing materials and trends (15%)
Develop and maintain “creative wall” of MSF marketing materials (10%)
Assist Marketing Coordinator with organization and dissemination analytic reports to development team (10%)
Support Director of Marketing and Marketing Associate and Coordinator on other miscellaneous projects (10%)
Fulfill requests for marketing materials from various parties(10%)
Attend brown bag lunches, public education events, and staff and department meetings as often as scheduling allows (10%) Skills: Applicants should have:
Excellent organizational skills.
Ability to work independently, with guidance from staff members. Preferred Skills:
Strong Word, Excel, and database experience.
Excellent verbal and written communication.
Genuine commitment to the principles and work of MSF.
Any one is interested should visit the following web
http://www.idealist.org/en/internships/32197-168/98114-184

Reminder: Society for Economics Meeting Tomorrow

It will be in the 15th floor conference room (Room 1537) at 2 p.m. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.

Hope to see you there.

Partha Deb Presents......

for the brownbag seminar tomorrow. From Prof. Conning:

Dear all,

Just a reminder that Monday's brownbag seminar will at 11:30 will feature Partha Deb presenting his own paper (with Eugenia Priedane) on:

The effects of parent's cigarette and alcohol consumption on their children's time use and and educational attainment

The paper is available at http://urban.hunter.cuny.edu/RePEc/seminar/

Also, for those of you that were not in class on Thursday, the due date for the Microeconomics problem set has been changed to December 15th.

Society for Economics Meeting this Wednesday

The Society for Economics will hold its last official meeting for the semester this coming Wednesday (12/7). It will be held in the 15th Floor Economics Dept conference room (1538) in the Hunter West building at 2 p.m. Pizza and refreshments will be provided.

The meeting agenda will be:

• Setting up activity goals for the spring semester (seminars, speakers, etc.)
• Scheduling pre-final cram sessions for both graduate and undergraduate economics classes
• On-the-spot peer advisement for undergrads registering for the spring semester

If you have any questions / comments, please feel free to e-mail me.