| U of M Humphrey Institute panel discusses taxes: more or less?
What: Discussion of the effect of America’s economic situation on taxes
When: 4 p.m., Wednesday, April 8
Where: Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis
The U of M's Humphrey Institute will host a panel discussion about the effects that the current financial crisis may have on the taxes citizens pay at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 8, at the Humphrey Center 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis. America’s troubled economy is on the minds of policymakers and taxpayers alike. With each new headline brings a renewed call for solutions to our economic woes.
This panel of experts will tackle the ongoing question: Will the solution be cutting spending, raising taxes, or a combination of the two?
Panelists include:
- Hal Lofgreen, professor emeritus of economics, St. Cloud State University
- Laura Kalambokidis, professor of applied economics, University of Minnesota.
- Jay Kiedrowski, moderator, former commissioner of finance for the State of Minnesota and senior fellow at the Humphrey Institute.
- Arthur Rolnick, vice president and research director, Federal Reserve Bank
- Alan Wilensky, a tax attorney and adjunct faculty member, Carlson School of Management
The event is free and open to the public, although space is limited. This is one of a series of programs designed to bring together experts to talk about the current state of the economy.
U of M will host statewide high-school economics challenge
What: Minnesota’s state high school Economics Challenge
When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, April 15 (Quiz Bowl competition begins at 12:45)
Where: Northstar Ballroom, St. Paul Student Center, 2017 Buford Ave., St. Paul
Minnesota’s most knowledgeable high-school economics students will show off their expertise at the statewide Economics Challenge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, at the Northstar Ballroom, St. Paul Student Center, 2017 Buford Ave., St. Paul.
Students from 16 high schools across the state will compete in the nation’s only national economics challenge, which includes both written tests and a quiz-bowl style competition. The two highest-scoring teams will advance to a regional tournament, where the winning teams can advance to the national championship.
Each team consists of 3 to 5 members who participate in three rounds. For rounds 1 and 2, the top three individual scores on each team are combined for a team score; in round 3, the team answers questions together. The top two schools in each division after the first three rounds then compete in a winner-take-all, “lightning round” buzzer competition.
“The Challenge is very exciting to watch,” said Claudia Parliament, executive director of the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, which is housed at the university. “It forces students to solve difficult problems based on real life issues. I am awed by the brilliance of these students. ” Minnesota has had more teams advance to national competition in recent years than any other state.
The National Economics Challenge, sponsored by the Council for Economic Education and The Goldman Sachs Foundation, is the only national economics competition for high school economics students. Its purpose is to honor and reward high-achievers through competition and to showcase outstanding high school economics courses and teachers.
Congratulations to Kristine Lamm West, Applied Economics Ph.D. student, and Assistant Professor Elton Mykerezi, winners of National Council on Teacher Quality's TR3 Research Competition.
On March 26, 2009 finalists from universities across the nation defended their original research papers before a jury of national experts competing for a top prize of $15,000.
All of the papers derived data from NCTQ's new database entitled TR3, which provides unprecedented access to collective bargaining rules and regs for every state.
The title of their paper is "Effects of Teachers' Unions on Qualification-Specific and Incentive Based Teacher Compensation." Read the paper
"The American Academy of Arts & Sciences (AAAS) today announced the 2009 election of leaders in the sciences, the humanities and the arts, business, public affairs, and the nonprofit sector. The 210 new Fellows and 19 Foreign Honorary Members join one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a center for independent policy research."
Stephen Polasky, Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological and Environmental Economics, was elected Fellow in the AAAS, Section 4: Evolutionary and Population Biology and Ecology.
“These remarkable men and women have made singular contributions to their fields, and to the world,” said Academy President Emilio Bizzi. “By electing them as members, the Academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us.
The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on October 10, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Since its founding by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots, the Academy has elected as members the finest minds and most influential leaders from each generation, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the eighteenth century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the nineteenth, and Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the twentieth. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners."
For more information visit http://www.amacad.org/news/new2009.aspx
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