Top young economists to lecture at Cornell symposium May 17

MOUNT VERNON — Cornell College’s Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy will host an Applied Economics Symposium on Thursday, May 17, featuring two speakers playing a significant role in shaping the future of economic research.

Keynote speakers Jesse Shapiro and Emily Oster are inaugural fellows at the University of Chicago’s Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. The duo was recognized in a New York Times list of 13 young economists making innovative use of economic analysis to develop unique perspectives on contemporary issues.

Shapiro will speak on “The Economics of News Media Content” from 3-4:30 p.m. in Hedges Conference Room of The Commons. Oster will talk about “The Economics of HIV/AIDS in Africa” from 7-8:30 p.m. in Ringer Recital Studio of Armstrong Hall. Both sessions are open to the public; admission is free.

Shapiro has written on the roots of obesity, the effect of incarceration on inmates and party affiliation and religious values. He is a Faculty Research Fellow in Labor Studies at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and has published in major academic journals on topics including advertising, media bias, crime, politics and public health. This summer he will join the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago as an assistant professor of economics. He earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard.

Oster’s work focuses on the economics of infectious diseases, and gender and public health issues in developing countries. She earned bachelor’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard. She has been appointed assistant professor of economics in the University of Chicago’s top-ranked economics department.

The University of Chicago’s Becker Center is led by Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and Steven Levitt, co-author of the bestseller “Freakonomics.”

Cornell’s Berry Center provides distinctive academic enrichment programs in applied economics and public policy. Students extend theory into practice through internships, visiting speakers, undergraduate research and off-campus study.