Political Economy and Public Policy Lecture Series

The Political Economy and Public Policy Lecture Series, as initiated by Prof. Ramon Borges-Mendez, has been a great addition to our program this year.

We are pleased to announce the schedule for the rest of this semester, and hope you will be able to join us. All talks will be held in McCormack 3-415 (PPOL classroom) and light refreshments will be served.

Thursday, April 10, 11:30am-1pm

Alan Clayton-Matthews will be speaking on The Role of Migration in New England's Educational Advantage.

How has New England managed to achieve higher rates of educational attainment among its youth? This paper explores how migration flows of college students and college-educated adults raised the educational attainment of the population in New England and each of the New England states during the period 1970 to 2005.


Thursday, April 24, 4:00-5:30pm

Christian Weller and Manita Rao will be speaking on Progressive Income Taxation as a Tool for Economic Development.

How can progressive income taxation be linked to economic development for industrializing nations? This paper explores a possible solution to the dilemma that industrializing economies often find themselves in: trying to attract more capital into their economies from overseas while having to manage the growing economic and financial risks that often are associated with greater capital mobility.

May 7 or 8 (TBD), 4:00-5:30pm

Juliet Schor (Dept. of Sociology, Boston College) will be speaking on Achieving Sustainability: A Macro Perspective. Abstract to follow.

The Political Economy and Public Policy Lecture Series is sponsored by: the Dept. of Public Policy; Public Policy Forum; Dept. of Economics; Dept. of Political Science; and the Center for Social Policy.

Keith Wailoo

Wood Professor Event & Request: April 28

This year's Wood Professor is Dr. Keith Wailoo. Save the date for Dr. Wailoo's public lecture on the evening of April 28. We are also working to arrange a student session during the day with Dr. Wailoo.

Dr. Wailoo is Director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity, Professor of History, and jointly appointed in the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University. He is the author of several books examining how patterns of disease change over time in America, and focusing especially on the ways in which scientific and technological understandings have interacted with health care politics, racial and ethnic relations, and cultural politics to inform responses to disease in the 20th century and into the 21st century.

As part of this event, we are putting together a handout that highlights PPOL students' research on issues related to health policy and or racial/ethnic inequalities. While at UMB, have you done any research focused on either of those areas? Please let us know by April 14 so we can include you in the handout! Your research can be completed or ongoing. Email the following information to publicpolicyforum AT gmail DOT com:

• Title of Project/Publication


• Your name and any co-authors. Identify if any are UMB faculty/staff/students.


• 1-3 sentence description.


• Focus on health policy and/or racial/ethnic inequalities?