Christina Romer ECON 490 Fall 2017 Blog

Through my experiences in student government, there have been many people that I have encountered that have either acted opportunistic or not acted opportunistic. Through this, I have learned there are many reasons that people act the way that they do. What I have found to be consistent though is that if someone acts opportunistic once, it is much more likely that they will do it again. The reversal is true if someone does not act opportunistic, they are less likely to act opportunistic in the future. It appears those who act opportunistic fall down a slippery slope in which it becomes easier to justify their rationale. A specific example comes to mind in terms of a few individuals who acted opportunistically. For the sake of anonymity, some parts of this is going to be left out but the situation is the important aspect. A few years ago, there was a situation that the student government was working on an initiative that gave students items during a specific campus holiday. The stu...

On campus, I am very involved in two different RSOs. The one that I generally dedicate more time to on a weekly basis is the Illinois Student Government. In ISG, I hold multiple elected leadership roles. I have been involved in the student government beginning my freshman year when I served as an executive assistant. Through my time in the organization, I have worked with multiple executive boards as well as seen the organization change, both directly and indirectly. In working with different executive boards, some of the challenges have been figuring out peoples’ leadership and communication styles. Additionally, over the past year we have transitioned into a new structure including separating branches to mimic the federal government, a popularly elected President / Vice President ticket, as well as a name change. With the separating of branches, there was a lot of work done in determining the structure of the organization. Separation of powers was a goal of the structure change, whi...

Christina Romer is a renowned Professor of Economics, currently teaching at University of California Berkley. She is currently serving as the co-director of the Program in Monetary Economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She previously chaired the Council of Economic Advisers for a period during the Obama Administration, specifically due to her previous research and understanding of the Great Depression. Other research interests of hers include effects of fiscal policy, monetary shocks, and short run fluctuations over the 20th century. She has written for many journals and is regarded as one of the preeminent macro-economists. Christina's work as an economist is very important. Her assistance in the Obama administration's navigation of the time after the financial crisis as well her work as a researcher and professor is both renowned and respected. Additionally, her published work has been important in both educational and professional utilizations. While I...