Department of
Economics

Finding economic connections in the urban/rural divide

Identifying rural solutions to urban needs, and vice versa, has been a big part of Professor Stephan Weiler’s work for decades. With the Regional Economic Development Institute, Weiler and others are examining the many ways to bridge the urban-rural divide. Whether it’s malting barley, charter school supply and demand, or poverty and incarceration, rural and urban communities can learn from and benefit one another and provide opportunities for more people to succeed.

Spring 2019

Artificial Intelligence, the Future of Work, and Inequality

One of the most spectacular facts of the last two centuries of economic history is the exponential growth in GDP per capita in most of the world. This economic progress, unprecedented in human history, would be impossible without major breakthroughs in technology. Many believe we are on the verge of a new technological revolution that will see Artificial Intelligence (AI) automating a majority of tasks that are currently performed by humans. Should we see AI as liberating or as a destructive force?

Winter 2018

The Demand For Water: policy reform and new technologies offer solutions

Renowned CSU economist Edward Barbier has a few ideas about the world’s increasingly serious water crisis. He says we have mismanaged our freshwater supplies by not charging enough for the natural resource and by sticking to an antiquated system of determining water rights. By looking at governance, policy reform, and new technologies we could protect our freshwater ecosystems and secure sufficient water for our world’s growing population.

Spring 2018

The Dynamics of Development: How School Attendance Differs by Gender

A thoughtfully asked question from an Economics 101 student, – “How can we fix global poverty” – set Niroj Bhattarai on a journey that would be surprising and illuminating about what affects school attendance, while also serving as the dissertation research for his Ph.D.

Winter 2017

Resource economist reflects on international career

David Fischer, the first person to receive a Ph.D. in economics from CSU, taught natural resource economics around the world. Among other accomplishments, he developed a framework for studying large-scale environmental accidents.

Spring 2017

Teaching in Vietnam: Lesson on the markets of Hanoi

Dr. Alexandra Bernasek traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam in November of 2016 to teach Econ 202 at Foreign Trade University.

Winter 2016

Student Spotlight: Tyler Olson

When Tyler Olson thinks about his degree in economics, he doesn’t think of the money he could make with it; instead, he thinks of how he can use it to better the world.