If you need a reason to be hopeful, look to the University of Michigan’s Department of Economics. At least, that’s the message in the most recent issue of the LSA Magazine, where three of their “24 Reasons to Feel Hopeful About the Future” are connected to Economics. This level of inclusion is a powerful reminder that our researchers, students, faculty, and alumni are doing important work.
The first Economics connection comes in the second reason for hope, which details the work of the Paani Project. Paani is a non-profit that primarily provides access to clean drinking water to rural communities in Pakistan, although they additionally provide access to healthcare, famine relief, and other important resources. One of the cofounders of Paani, Arhum Arshad, graduated with a degree in Economics in 2019 and remains at Michigan as a Product Manager for the Alumni Association.
Another Economics contribution comes from the work of the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics (RSQE) as the seventeenth reason. RSQE provides economic forecasting services for southeast Michigan, the entire state of Michigan, and the whole United States. Their work has garnered acclaim since their founding in 1952. More recently, they projected that the city of Detroit would see increased employment in the blue collar industries that built it, more payroll jobs, and a declining unemployment rate.
Finally, the eighteenth reason for hope recognizes Economics (and Spanish) alum Chloe Collon. Chloe who, as part of her honors thesis, led a global reading exchange program between students in Michigan and Naranjito, Puerto Rico. Students in both communities were able to gain a global perspective and improve their reading comprehension in both Spanish and English.
In these uncertain times, we can take comfort that the work of people in and from Michigan Economics is having a tangible impact in making the world a better place. Make sure to read the rest of the LSA Magazine article for more reasons for hope including the recovery of the Kirtland Warbler, a digitization project focused on centuries of Islamic art history, and new information about how humans ate thousands of years ago.
