Research

Resources

Lectures

Samuel Levin Lecture and Award

The Professor Samuel M. Levin Endowed Award Fund was created by donations to the university to honor the distinguished educational leadership and scholarly contributions of the late Professor Emeritus Samuel M. Levin. Each year, the Fund gives out two awards and hosts a lecture.

Learn more about the Samuel Levin Lecture and Award

Waino Pihl Lecture

The Waino Pihl Lecture in Applied Economics is given annually by a distinguished scholar on a topic in applied economics. It was established through the generous support of Waino Pihl who received his Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State in 1977.

View upcoming Waino Pihl Lecture events

Economics news and interests around the world

2017

Evidence that robots are winning the race for American jobs: Examining the job race between humans and automation.
'Superstar firms' may have shrunk workers' share of income: Exploring a key element in the decrease of workers wages over the years.
When does political gerrymandering cross a constitutional line?: Examining the scope of political gerrymandering

2016

A sour surprise for public pensions: Two sets of books: Examining one public pension system in California to explain how these particular plans could be severely underfunded.
Can new technology bring baseball's data revolution to fielding?: How rigorous analytical skills are currently being used in sports.
In one corner of the law, minorities and women are often valued less: Disparity in the American legal system.
Solving the Yankee equation, one number at a time: How one man is able to use simple analytics and a background in mathematics to propel the New York Yankees to success in the MLB.
The mirage of a return to manufacturing greatness: How the economies of developed nations are beginning to evolve beyond an industrial focus.
The PhD degrees that pay off with the highest salaries
The world has a problem: Too many young people: Examining the challenges youth-heavy economies face.
Waiting in line for the illusion of security: How TSA checkpoints are becoming a drain on the economy
Why surging stocks may not mean the economy trusts Trump: How the economy may suffer under some of the President-Elect's proposed plans.
White House increases overtime eligibility by millions: A rule to be issued by the Labor Department will state that most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours.

2015

Cheap gas is a thrill, but a costly one: Examining the cons of recent lower gas prices.
Creating a market for refugees in Europe: A look at the struggle some refugees from various countries face when trying to get across Europe's Mediterranean frontier.
Eastern exchanges: With many Chinese companies feeing the sting of the country's struggling economy, how are some Chinese companies finding it possible to thrive in this situation? Exploring the current state of the Chinese economy and how these outliers are able to find success.
Daily fantasy sports and the hidden cost of America's weird gambling laws: A look at how a loophole in American gambling laws make it possible for daily fantasy sports sites to pull in a profit, possibly at the expense of casual sports fans and low-stakes gamblers.
How poor are the poor?: Why are American workers getting poorer while the rest of the world is getting richer? Examining this question by taking an in-depth look at the poverty rate in the United States.
In Missouri, fewer gun restrictions and more gun killings: A look at American gun laws and what may be the elements that contribute the gun-related crime rates.
Is college tuition really too high?: A look at the factors that have caused college tuition to rise over the years, and examines the question of if the cost of a college education really is too high in today's economy.
Taking on the drug profiteers: How F.D.A. regulations and American drug laws impact the pricing of drugs and allow companies to form monopolies on particular drugs
The key role of conservatives in taxing carbon: Exploring some of the reasons why environmental policies can be difficult to enact.
The math of March Madness: How some simple math can be used to predict a potential perfect bracket.
They told you so: Economists were right to doubt the euro: How Greece's problems have proven economists like Milton Friedman and Martin Feldstein correct.
What Hollywood can teach us about the future of work: The "Hollywood Model" of business that is becoming more prevalent in today's society.
What politicians mean by middle class economics: How policymakers attempt to help the middle class and what they mean when they refer to middle-class economics.
When family-friendly policies backfire: How some policies that are meant to assist women in the workplace in some aspects of their lives can be detrimental in some cases.

2014

A tricky transition from fossil fuel: How Denmark is pursuing the world's most ambitious policy against climate change. However, conventional electricity remains a problematic part of the mix.
Crooner in rights spat: Are copyright laws too strict?: Rod Stewart's lawsuit and the state of U.S. copyright law.
Shattering myths to help the climate
The great wage slowdown of the 21st century: The typical American family makes less than the typical family did 15 years ago, a statement that hadn't previously been true since the Great Depression.
The Super Bowl of Sports Gambling