Three Outstanding Challenges for Economic Research

Abstract:     
The economic crisis of the past two years has brought a tremendous amount of excitement to the field of macroeconomics. Students are flocking into macro classes, PhD theses and seminar papers are becoming more creative and connected to the real world. It is a good bet that soon new approaches will emerge to think about macroeconomic phenomena. Harder to forecast is whether they will require a change in paradigm or a more intense use of existing ideas and models.

Either way, it is hard to think of a time in the evolution of economic science where funding research may get more bang for its buck. Applications to graduate programs are higher than ever, which will in a few years lead to more economists applying for grants than ever, and research is shifting towards the type of basic fundamental research that the NSF almost solely funds. In this report, I will present three areas or questions, where I currently see large outstanding questions, but where I also see active work.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 5

working papers series