2011 Applied Global Business Learning trip

Posted on April 7, 2011 by ruosi.wang

For the second year in a row, the Applied Global Business Learning (AGBL) program sent students to St. Xavier’s College, a Jesuit university in Ahmedabad, India. The AGBL program is supported by the Center for Global and Economic Studies.

This year’s trip took place during the first two weeks of January 2011, and included nine students, (Mr. Mike Hallberg, Mr. Nick Leak, Ms. Emma Lynch, Ms. Jasmine Madlock, Ms. Karen Martinez, Mr. Ryan Mehaffey, Mr. Mark Mueller, Mr. Emery Nelson and Ms. Kelsey Siebert) and their faculty advisors (Dr. David Clark and Dr. Steven Crane). The team consulted on two St. Xavier’s student run companies. The XPlant company is located in St. Xavier’s Biotechnology department, and it produces a decorative desktop plant cloned from plant tissue and sealed in a sterile test tube. The XOIC company is in the Chemistry department and it produces chemical products ranging from cleaning soap to decorative candles. Both companies are run by enthusiastic hard-working students and the Marquette team examined issues ranging from product development and safety to sales and marketing and made numerous recommendations to improve the operations of these companies.

The team also traveled to Bhiloda and Dediapada in rural India to provide business expertise to two new startups being sponsored by the St. Xavier’s Jesuits. In Bhiloda, a project supervised by Fr. Vincent Braganza, President of St. Xavier’s College is underway to empower women villagers by having them grow flowers in a greenhouse setting. These flowers which can be grown year round are then sold to visitors to local religious temples which generates a steady income source for their families. A second project located in Dediapada, a rural village in northwestern India is overseen by Fr. Lancy d’Cruz. This project encourages rural Indians to grow, market and sell high margin medicinal products from indigenous plant species. This effort protects local forests by limiting the foraging of indigenous species, and uses sustainable methods to grow these plants in small, easily irrigated farm plots. The project keeps the Adavasi (i.e., tribal) Indians on their land, and just as important, their children in school rather than necessitating that they migrate to urban areas for work during certain times of the year. In both of these projects, the Marquette students analyzed their markets and helped the two groups develop marketing plans for their products.

The AGBL team and driver/translater Edwin at the inauguration of the Bhiloda greenhouse.

All who participated in this trip came back enlightened by the experience, and inspired by those they met on the trip. The AGBL Program Director, Dr. Heather Kohls is already working on the next India trip to New Delhi and Ahmedabad, scheduled for January of 2012.

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Team-Econ Takes 7th Place in 2010 Al’s Run

Posted on December 3, 2010 by joseph.daniels

This year Team Econ scorched its way to 7th place out of 43 registered teams for the 8K Al’s Run event. Team-Econ was led by undergrad Patrick Malloy who recorded a final time of 30:28. (For us humans that is a 6:07 mile pace.) MSAE students David Keppen and Ben Petry finished second and third for the team (respectively) notching times of 36:23 and 40:59. Alum Steven Names secured the fifth place spot on the team. As Keppen stated, “Malloy has some quick!”

Team-Econ

Though the team finish was impressive, it still didn’t match the unbroken team record of best post-race tailgate. Please join us next year for Al’s Run. All speeds are welcomed and fun is guaranteed.

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2010 Marburg Memorial Lecture

Posted on November 23, 2010 by ruosi.wang

Dr. Robert Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University was the CGES and Department of Economics 2010 Marburg Memorial Lecturer. The lecture was held on November 3 in the Weasler Auditorium on the Marquette campus with over 350 guests, students, and faculty in attendance.

In his lecture, Dr. Putnam discussed American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, his recent co-authored (with David E. Campbell of Notre Dame University) text on religion in America and its impact on social capital and politics. Earlier the same day, Professor Putnam and Professor Daniels, co-director of the CGES, were interviewed for the Marquette Difference Network. The interview is in two parts, both of which can be watched at  The Difference Network.

The London Sunday Times has called Robert Putnam “the most influential academic in the world today.”  Putnam is the author or coauthor of ten previous books, translated into twenty languages, including the bestselling Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community and Better Together: Restoring the American Community, a study of new forms of social connectedness.  He has worked on these themes with Barack Obama, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush, as well as with British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and many other national leaders and grassroots activists around the world.

Putnam is the founder of the Saguaro Seminar, which brings together leading thinkers and practitioners from across America to develop actionable ideas for civic renewal.  His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, USA Today, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and many other publications.

For more information on the Marburg Memorial Lecture Series, visit the Marburg Lecture webpage at the CGES.

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Alum Speaks at Research Workshop

Posted on November 22, 2010 by ruosi.wang

On November 22 Michael Strain, Ph.D. candidate from Cornell, spoke at a Department of Economics Research Workshop sponsored by the CGES. The title of the presentation was “The Role of Ability in Understanding earnings Instability.” Approximately 30 undergraduate students, MSAE students and faculty attended the presentation. Using longitudinal data, Mike showed that the variability in earnings followed a “U” shape across income categories with volatility rising at both ends of the distribution. The work was preliminary in nature and Mike explained his next steps, using new and additional research data to establish the role of individual ability in explaining the pattern.

 

 

Mike is a graduate of Marquette with a B.A. in economics. He also has a master’s degree from NYU and served as a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Earlier in the day Mike took the 2010 Fed Challenge team to lunch.

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CGES Hosts Sixth Annual Dinner

Posted on November 21, 2010 by joseph.daniels

The CGES hosted its sixth annual fall dinner for economics students, faculty, and alumni. This year the dinner was held on November 17th at the Wisconsin Club on the edge of the Marquette Campus.

The purpose of the dinner is to bring together students of the three undergraduate majors, graduate students, past graduates of these programs, and faculty, for dinner and discussion. The dinner concludes with the alumni forming a panel to discuss their career paths and answer questions from students regarding coursework and preparation for the job market.

The dinner is “business casual” and gives students some practice on their soft skills. Students must also present a resume for admission to the event.

Undergraduate Business Economics major, Angela Schrubbe said of the event: “I thought the dinner was extremely beneficial. I had an opportunity to speak to alumni and current students of the MSAE program and build relationships that will enhance my future career path. The dinner allowed me to gain insight regarding different classes and it also illustrated how applicable the degree is. I learned that there are various jobs that find the degree to be a useful tool, and it will also help develop future success.”

If you are a graduate of the economics program and would like to attend the dinner next fall, please contact Professor Joe Daniels at joseph.daniels@mu.edu.

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CGES Offers Bloomberg Essentials Course to MSAE Students

Posted on October 29, 2010 by joseph.daniels

In the fall semester of 2010, the Center for Global and Economic Studies, in cooperation with the Applied Investment Management program (AIM), offered a new course to MSAE students on “Bloomberg Essentials.” In this course students learn how to use the Bloomberg platform to access and analyze economic and financial data.

Dr. David Krause, Director of the AIM Program stated: “I highly encourage the students to complete the Bloomberg Essentials Online Training Program – which is a self-directed introduction to Bloomberg Professional Services. Bloomberg core content will familiarize the students with basic Bloomberg functionality, while supplemental market sector content introduces them to major market fundamentals.”

MSAE student David Keppen

Dr. Joe Daniels, Co-Director of the CGES explained the purpose of the Bloomberg Essentials course in the MSAE curriculum. “The Bloomberg Essentials course is intended for those MSAE students interested in the finance specialization. The course should be taken between their second econometrics course and prior to the new Financial Econometrics course taught by Dr. Nourzad. In this way the students can use data and analytics from the Bloomberg platform for their course projects. I see this as great valued added for the students in both their coursework and preparation for the job market.”

To learn more about the MSAE program and curriculum, visit the Graduate School of Management webpage at http://business.marquette.edu/academics/msae.

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