tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29255186855719673052024-02-19T00:18:03.812-06:00Applying Social Science @StoutA blog of items of interest and an unofficial space for discussion for social science students and faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stout
(and anyone else who wants to join us!)Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-9221045089394226282013-08-07T14:35:00.001-05:002013-08-07T14:42:43.689-05:00Changing marketplaces and crowdfunding
Image Source: NYTimes Zoe Prinds-Flash
Is there anything we can't crowd-fund these days? I have a friend who recently raised almost $20K on Kickstarter for his art studio (Baker Prints Kickstarter). VolumeOne has funded the summer concert series in Eau Claire with a successful WePay campaign of community donations. One of our very own APSS majors has been raising money through Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-75562526457816635912013-07-31T10:01:00.001-05:002013-07-31T10:01:51.348-05:00Congratulations Dr. Kirby!
A belated congratulations to our very own Dr. Alec Kirby on the amazing reviews his new book is receiving.
Some highlights:
"This long-overdue study of the ambitious former Minnesota governor explains how his undeniable intelligence and ability were overshadowed by an outsized ego that left no room for introspection or self-criticism. The highlight of the book is an illuminating, Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-77590777383677783772013-07-19T14:21:00.000-05:002013-07-19T17:32:06.444-05:00Recent SCOTUS Ruling on the Indian Child Welfare Act<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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Tina Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11977807878231523187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-72983781136665822682013-05-10T20:31:00.001-05:002013-05-11T16:34:15.927-05:00Class of 2013***Updated 5/11*** (Sorry Jesse and Clay!)
_________________________________
Tomorrow one of my favorite groups of students ever will take the big step across the stage wearing funny costumes and enter the next phase of their lives. I will miss each and every one of them.
I've had the privilege and honor of teaching every member of this year's Applied Social Science graduating Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-4954416845225013812013-05-01T11:04:00.002-05:002013-05-01T11:04:50.895-05:00Crowd-sourcing everyday decisions
For once I'm going to actually keep it (relatively) short with a blog post. I recently stumbled across this new smartphone app called "Seesaw" which allows you to crowd-source your everyday decisions.
I'm kind of fascinated by this for a couple of reasons, but mostly I'm thinking about it because I spend every day teaching students how to model decision making using economic theory, andChris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-10133360269957276512013-04-26T11:57:00.001-05:002013-04-26T11:59:54.753-05:00Memories of a Mama: Joydeb Mukherjee
Inspired, in part, by Nels' recent "Bricolage" homage to his friend Dave Conz, we are blessed with the following guest post today from Dr. Lopa Basu, Director of the Honors College and English Professor at UW-Stout.
_____________________________________
Memories
of a Mama: Joydeb Mukherjee
In Bengali, the term for a maternal uncle is Mama,
phonetically a repetition of Ma the Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-34276885758604620392013-04-22T20:15:00.000-05:002018-08-04T11:46:58.236-05:00Bricolage
"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself."
–MacGyver
Well, this might be the most difficult blog post for me to write yet. My office-mate from graduate school and one of my closest friends, Dave Conz, died last week. When something like that happens you end up thinking a lot about the person's life and what it meant, to you and to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07655689469686095950noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-25266057094384862422013-04-16T21:49:00.002-05:002013-04-17T07:44:42.425-05:00Debt, Growth, and the great Excel debacle of '13
Today news broke about an influential economic study being "de-bunked" on several levels, both due to some selective data decisions and also the sexier headline of a mistaken Excel code. (note, the de-bunked link above is to a more readable summary ... for economists or others in the audience that want to read the original critique, that can be found here)
The particular study in question is Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-80693535268857238842013-04-11T14:55:00.000-05:002013-04-11T21:54:11.781-05:00Why pick on gender studies?
In another post, my colleague Chris Ferguson made excellent
points about the value of higher education that goes beyond very narrow job
training while still keeping in mind that education is an investment in the
future (but an investment of a particular kind). In that post, he quoted Governor Pat
McCrory’s comments about his desire to use public money to fund education that
trains people Tina Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11977807878231523187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-4994018659962447262013-04-08T11:52:00.002-05:002013-04-10T21:30:16.093-05:00Rethinking the cost of higher education
I am late getting around to posting this, but if you follow higher education policy at all, quite a bit of attention has paid recently to the latest governor to weigh in on education reform. North Carolina's Gov. Pat McCrory (am I the only one that has trouble pronouncing that name?) has caused quite a stir with his comments regarding the value of liberal education.
One thing you shouldChris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-10814446653716409572013-02-05T21:21:00.000-06:002013-02-08T09:20:02.922-06:00Gender, Names, and Fraud ChargesToday in my Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective class we
were discussing a classic article about gender-based naming practices among
some segments of Chinese society. The
basic point of the article is that names provide important clues to ideas of
personhood which are profoundly gendered.
Men gain and choose for themselves a series of names throughout their
life that continue to markTina Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11977807878231523187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-90792826554637884732013-01-28T16:24:00.000-06:002013-02-02T18:20:49.077-06:00Open for Business
When Governor Walker was elected a few years ago, one of the first things he did (even before some of the more, shall we say, controversial moves) was to commit to supporting business growth in Wisconsin. The slogan "Open for Business" was a key part of the governor's new platform to create 250,000 new jobs. Personally, I'll admit I found it tacky to slap the bumper-sticker like Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-53368582042003137182013-01-26T09:28:00.002-06:002013-01-27T12:17:34.248-06:00The utility of the coin flip?
Recently Freakonomics guru Steven Levitt announced a new research project of his on strategic decision making. He argues that when we really cannot make a definitive decision between two things then the only logical choice is to flip a coin. With that he launched a new website that is dedicated to Freakonomics Experiments. You send in your decision that you cannot make, flip Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07655689469686095950noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-23692236519961743572013-01-13T22:00:00.001-06:002013-01-16T12:12:53.613-06:00Monetizing Trolling?
It seems that Facebook is experimenting with a new business model ... they are quietly rolling out a pilot that will allow you to send a direct message to someone for a fee, whether you are friends with them or not. The extreme version seems to be $100 bucks to email Mark Zuckerberg. However, they also seem to be experimenting with a $1 charge to message "regular people." ThisChris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-69796112703001423192013-01-11T19:31:00.000-06:002013-01-11T19:31:57.576-06:00Getting into (Blue) Heaven ... 20% at a time
There has been a proliferation of "Tipping" stories in the news in the last few months, and I thought I'd weigh in on the topic as it's one of those fascinating questions that economists (and social scientists in general) puzzle over that force us to think more carefully about our models of human behavior. That, and because one of my favorite under-rated movies of all time provides this&Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-25826706322343017112013-01-10T14:29:00.001-06:002013-01-10T19:32:03.190-06:00Trillion Dollar Coin
It seems that the country (or at least the portion of the country that follows wonky economic policy issues) is getting more and more interested in the possibility of using a "Trillion Dollar Coin" to avert the debt ceiling showdown - an idea first proposed by the Simpsons as a method of WWII recovery aid. Yes, that's the world we're living in now - perhaps we can use Spider-pigChris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-73622964908059156032012-12-17T15:44:00.000-06:002012-12-18T09:31:10.039-06:00Actuaries to the rescue? A market-based solution to an externality problem
I promise I'll go back to our regularly scheduled program of topics that are non-gun related soon enough (sneak preview: coming soon will be topics on the economics of the star wars 'death star', state tax subsidies and their effect on business, and an interesting new pricing strategy for drinks in bars), but I ran across a kind of brilliant market-based solution that might bypass some of the Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-56802764027942962142012-12-05T11:10:00.000-06:002012-12-05T11:14:07.771-06:00Game Theory, Externalities, and Vaccinations
One of the problems with having an economist in your family is that, no matter how hard you try to fight against it, you get sucked into looking for interesting questions about human behavior. Such is the burden that my wife bears.
Yesterday, our son had his one-year old round of vaccinations at the doctor's office which sparked a question from my wife, Katie. But first, a little Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-20716556002780161742012-12-03T13:38:00.003-06:002012-12-03T13:42:25.078-06:00Internet governance, international trade, and the future of the web
Today in Dubai a meeting will be held that may, in part, shape the direction of the internet in the future. While we all take for granted now that it's just "there," in actuality the protocols and standards for the internet are governed and directed by policymakers in the U.S. and around the world.
This article in the Economist lays out the situation quite well:
"THE rulesChris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-3448601944182625102012-11-19T22:15:00.000-06:002012-11-20T12:19:34.072-06:00Twinkies, Pizza, Health Care, Hockey, and Black Friday Economics
There has been no more divisive topic in Wisconsin over the last two years than the words "union" and "collective bargaining," which made me hesitant to write this post. However, over the last few weeks there have been some really interesting economic events in the news surrounding labor issues. Besides that, we are about to start a unit on monopoly in my Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-37829118661662183402012-11-16T12:20:00.000-06:002012-11-16T14:13:59.210-06:00Data Visualization
As students are churning toward the end of the semester, many are starting to get to the point where they are thinking about how to present the results of projects they've been researching for the last few months. I thought this would be a good time to highlight another growing trend (and career path) in social science: creative data visualization.
As our collective societal attention Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-71097335439778954352012-11-15T10:24:00.000-06:002012-11-15T10:24:33.230-06:00Carbon ranching
Externalities and market failure have been on my mind lately - partly because we just finished that unit in my intro econ class, partly because I'm a public economist and that's a good chunk of what we spend our time thinking about, and partly because I've been reading a lot about California's new greenhouse gas emissions permits which went into place yesterday.
For those unfamiliar with the Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-51875056250943647542012-11-07T13:11:00.002-06:002012-11-07T13:42:47.283-06:00The economics of campaign finance
So you're an applied social science student and are interested in advocating for issues you believe in, but you want a high paying job? Here's a career path for you: Political consulting.
One of the stories that comes out towards the end or shortly after every campaign season is always about the amount of spending done leading up to the election. (See a really Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-89362683090853556012012-11-04T11:32:00.000-06:002012-11-04T11:35:55.294-06:00Chili Parlors, Community, and Geography
This weekend I made my son Cincinnati Chili for the first time. If you've never heard of Cincy chili, wikipedia has a pretty good brief summary or if you're up for something a little more complete, here is an ethnographic - type study of chili and it's importance in Cincinnati culture: The Story of Cincinnati Chili. From the picture above, you can see that he is perhaps a little Chris Fergusonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07536741850473152932noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2925518685571967305.post-68862528679500254252012-11-01T12:08:00.001-05:002012-11-02T15:13:36.023-05:00The Productivity of the Waterfront and Two Hearted Ales
I'll let the secret out now: I spend my happy hours at the Waterfront Bar and Grill with colleagues in the social science department. Regularly. We like the atmosphere and the food. Sitting outside in the summer is nice, even with the algal bloom off the lake. And they always have Bell's Two Hearted Ale (a Michigan IPA) on tap. However, what is most important to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07655689469686095950noreply@blogger.com0