Presents
The Revival of Political Economy
An all-day conference with distinguished scholars in Political Economy
Saturday February 9, 2008
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Hall of Sciences, HS 4
Drew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ 07940
Student Research Poster Session
Yasin Abbak (CLA' 09) & Bradley Mendelson (CLA' 10): "Functional Finance in Practice: The Drew Volunteer Dollar Story"
This presentation will explain the Drew Volunteer Dollar (DVD) program and how it follows the model of functional finance. Students in the Economics Department were engaged in this innovative program designed to establish a mock economy based around volunteer work. Students collect their income through the amount of hours that they volunteer at community based institutions. At the end of the semester, each student is required to pay a tax in the form of DVDs. This program shows that if the entire total debt were to be paid off, there would be no money left in the private sector. Our poster will show how the mock economy is still thriving even though there is a large government deficit. We will also show that it would be impossible for the private sector to accumulate wealth without a government deficit.
Richard Everill
(CLA' 08): "Peak Oil and Global Capitalism"Abstract: This presentation will show how the coming peak in the global production of oil will have serious and long term consequences for the current structure of the globalized economy. As oil becomes more expensive and less plentiful, transportation costs will rise and a larger percentage of income will be diverted away from consumerism to basic commodities like food. This will force the economy into recession after recession as we fall down from the material prosperous heights provided by cheap oil.
Jessica Hubbard
(CLA’08) “Microfinance and the Macroeconomy”Abstract: This thesis examines a microfinance institution in Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank, and attempts to link successes of the bank to the Macroeconomy. After discovering that numerous studies prove microfinance positively affects the individual’s quality of life, the next step is to evaluate the impacts beyond the household at the overall village, region, or country level. Program participation indirectly promotes the same characteristics of health and education needed to build human capital and create a stronger labor force. The impacts of improved human capital could be positively linked to macroeconomic indicators.
Brittany Nosher (CLA' 08): "Cities of Ruins: An Evaluation of the Contemporary Art Market in Context of International Trade Theory and Veblenian Economics"
Abstract: The thesis project analyzes value determinants in art, contrasting conventional aesthetics with contemporary profit motives. Increased liquidity in the market has transformed many galleries and auction houses into trading floors, while past appreciations of financial investment in works have promoted strong consumer tendencies toward speculation in art that could potentially trigger severe, adverse implications in the market. This type of speculation, however, may be moderated and in time counteracted by the very institutions through which it is now enabled. In understanding its current components and dynamics it may be possible to modify the existing structure of the art market, strengthening investment prospects by re-emphasizing artistic standards.
Nestor Pura (CLA' 08): "An Economic Approach to Capital Punishment"
Abstract: This paper explores the ethical and practical aspects of capital punishment by analyzing morality and justice from a utilitarian perspective. The legitimacy of the death penalty is determined by the effect it has on the utility of society as a whole. In order to do this, several empirical questions must be tackled first. Does capital punishment have a deterrent or brutalizing effect on the homicide rate? Can capital punishment be implemented without discrimination and arbitrariness? This paper reviews economic and sociological studies, primarily in the form of multiple-regression analysis, to answer these perplexing questions.
Stephanie Rees (CLA' 09): "Conflict and Economic Development: The Importance of Military Keynesianism"
Abstract: The paper presents current examples of countries which have based their economies around military spending and how that choice led to economic growth or collapse. The central example will be the Cold War era economies of Russia and the United States.
Maria Rodrigues
(CLA' 09): "Veblen's Institutional Perspective: Business Principles and Higher Learning"Abstract: Perhaps his most important contribution, Thorstein Velblen's dichotomy is still used today to explain social and economic behavior. The conflict between instrumental and ceremonial behavior, the two branches of the dichotomy, explains the inefficiencies of society and the impediments of progress. In his work The Higher Learning in America, Veblen analyzed the contradictory management of the contemporary university by business-minded individuals. This presentation will show that the passage of nearly a century has led to little change in the administration of higher education.
James Rossi (CLA' 09): “A Historical Look into the Policies and Ideas Effecting Income Distribution”
This presentation traces the history of economic thought pertaining to income and wealth distribution. Particular focus is given the Classical, Keynesian, Post Keynesian, and Austrian schools of thought. The argument states that the most efficient and equitable distribution scheme can only be achieved through the free market.
Tracy Verrier (CLA' 08): “Ever Inferior: The History of Women in Work”
Abstract: The history of gender roles in labor is riddled with debate, mostly between feminism and chauvinism. For centuries, economists have argued over the causes of gender segregation in work, as well as the proper role of women as unpaid laborers, the types of paid labor that were appropriate for women, and the reasons for wage inequality between genders. From tax responsibility to remuneration, men have historically been seen as superior to women in the market sphere. Despite much progress in women’s ability to acquire education, training and diversified opportunities, it is the social expectations that have been engrained in many communities that must change in order to truly accomplish gender equality in work.
This event is free and open to the public, and is co-sponsored by the Economics Department, the Economics Club, and The Presidential Initiative Fund of Drew University.
For more info please contact Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, 973-408-3764, fkaboub@drew.edu