The pro-con-caveat activity is a quick and easy way to engage students through a more interactive lecture experience.
Examines alternative economic, political, and social perspectives of property rights and their policy and planning implications. Focuses on institutional and governance structures, power and control mechanisms, distributional consequences of different property rights arrangements, and problems of incomplete contracts as presented in theory and practice. Deals with property-rights issues related to two or more of the following: land, natural resources, infrastructure, or industrial organization.
This course covers theory and evidence on government taxation policy. Topics include tax incidence, optimal tax theory, the effect of taxation on labor supply and savings, taxation and corporate behavior, and tax expenditure policy.
Theory and evidence on government expenditure policy. Topics include the theory of public goods; education; state and local public goods; political economy; redistribution and welfare policy; social insurance programs such as social security and unemployment insurance; and health care policy.
Explores the role of government in the economy, applying tools of basic microeconomics to answer important policy questions such as government response to global warming, school choice by K-12 students, Social Security versus private retirement savings accounts, government versus private health insurance, setting income tax rates for individuals and corporations.
In this experiment, students must decide how to divide their "endowment" of a good between private consumption and a public good. The private consumption provides a benefit (earnings) to only the individual and the public good provides a benefit to each person in the group, even those who do not contribute to the public good. This hand-run experiment is suitable for use in small classes in the range of 5 to 40 students. Some variations on this basic experiment are also described.
Discrete and continuum modeling of diffusion processes in physics, chemistry, and economics. Topics include central limit theorems, continuous-time random walks, Levy flights, correlations, extreme events, mixing, renormalization, and percolation.
Students will be able to
-Learn tips for using their checking account effectively, including the use of mobile alerts
-Read a checking account agreement and identify the fees associated with a checking account
-Understand how overdraft protection works and how to avoid high fees attached to the service
-Read a bank statement to verify its accuracy and interpret how their money is being used
This half-semester course introduces and surveys the major public capital market real estate vehicles, REITs and MBS (with primary emphasis on CMBS). Some background is also included in basic modern portfolio theory and equilibrium asset pricing. This course is primarily designed to provide MSRED students with a basic introduction to the public capital market sources of financial capital for real estate, and how those markets value such capital investments.
" This course, offered by the MIT Center for Real Estate, focuses on developing an understanding of the macroeconomic factors that shape and influence markets for real property. We will develop the theory of land markets and locational choice. The material covered includes studies of changing economic activities, demographic trends, transportation and local government behavior as they affect real estate."
This subject is on regional energy-environmental modeling rather than on general energy-environmental policies, but the models should have some policy relevance. We will start with some discussion of green accounting issues; then, we will cover a variety of theoretical and empirical topics related to spatial energy demand and supply, energy forecasts, national and regional energy prices, and environmental implications of regional energy consumption and production. Where feasible, the topics will have a spatial dimension. This is a new seminar, so we expect students to contribute material to the set of readings and topics covered during the semester.
" The seminar is designed to provide advanced graduate students with a thorough understanding of selected regional economic theories and techniques and with experience in using alternative socioeconomic impact assessment models and related regional techniques on microcomputers. Discussions will be held on particular theoretical modeling and economic issues; linkages among theories, accounts, and policies; relationships between national and regional economic structures; and methods of adjusting and estimating regional input-output accounts and tables. Examples from the Boston area and other U.S. cities/regions will be used to illustrate points throughout the seminar. We will also examine how such models are used in other countries. New material on analyzing regional development issues will be covered."
Through this independent research project, students experience the process of doing real economics research using appropriate econometric methods.
Research paper on the economics of population using international census data.
Students will be able to:
-Explain key strategies to maximize the effectiveness of a resume and cover letter
-Analyze real examples of resumes and cover letters to determine their effectiveness
-Create their own resume and cover letter that meet the criteria for success
Published in 1986, this Kennedy School case tells the story of Harley-Davidson's application to the ITC for temporary relief from high levels of imported Japanese motorcycles. The case lays out, in considerable detail, Harley's justification for protection and the Japanese manufacturers' counterarguments. The case is presented in two parts, the first focusing on the extent of the "injury" an the second on the nature of the relief Harley requested.
What exactly is a carbon price, and how does it work? What would it look like and how would it change everyday life? In this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), MIT economics professor Christopher Knittel joins host Laur Hesse Fisher to break down the complexities of carbon pricing. Together, they explain different types of programs, give us a sense of how much it would cost, and explore how countries and U.S. states are experimenting with carbon pricing now.
As state and local education agencies increasingly focus on serving educators with their data systems, a common challenge has arisen: identifying the critical knowledge and skills needed by teachers and administrators to use data effectively. Many states are creating data literacy and data use training programs for pre- and in-service educators without a common foundation on which to base the content. In addition, several state education agencies and educator preparation programs have begun communicating about how to create a stronger alignment between pre- and in-service training for educators regarding data use.
In a sales transaction, both the selling and buying entities have economic events that must be recognized in their accounting information system. Students enrolled in a principles of financial accounting course often confuse the accounts to be used by the seller and buyer. This problem-based learning activity helps students practice recording a business-to-business sales/purchase transaction that included credit terms from both perspectives. The problem applies the gross method for recording sales and purchases for a perpetual inventory scenario.
Students will be able to:
-Explain how saving is linked to overall wealth
-Describe how saving and investing are different
-Understand fundamentals of saving such as reasons for saving, how much to save, and strategies to enable saving
-Acknowledge the role of delayed gratification in saving