George Ayittey (M.A. Economics 1970) Credits Western

George Ayittey (M.A. Economics, 1970) has dedicated his life to saving Africa. As president of the Free Africa Foundation, established in 1993 and based in Washington, D.C., Ayittey argues that although aid to Africa is sincere, proceeds are pointless until the continent rids itself of violent dictatorships. In 2008, Foreign Policy magazine named Ayittey one of the world’s 'Top 100 Public Intellectuals' and to this day, he credits Western for helping him both find his voice and making the necessary connections to spark his cause.

Further information, including an excerpt from his latest book, Defeating Dictators: Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World, can be found in the Winter 2012 issue of Western Alumni News.

University Students' Council - Teaching Honour Roll Certificate 2010-2011

Congratulations to Chris Robinson on receiving a USC Teaching Honour Roll Certificate for the 2010-2011 academic year. This award is given to instructors who receive an accumulated average of 6.3 or higher out of 7 on the first 14 questions of the Western Senate-mandated course and teacher evaluations. Robinson was also elected Undergraduate Professor of the Year for 2010-2011.

Todd Stinebrickner: Research in The Globe and Mail

A December 25, 2011 article in The Globe and Mail entitled "Universities tossing at-risk undergrads an academic lifebuoy," on post-secondary drop-outs, draws on Todd Stinebrickner’s continued research on why undergraduate students choose to leave university. Stinebrickner states, "There is a fairly big gap between university and high school, and students have to be prepared to deal with that. And when you perform poorly that also impacts how much you like your university and how much stress you're dealing with. When you look at all those factors together, it's clear how bad grades can derail their university education."

Lance Lochner – Research on Early Childhood Education and Crime

Lance Lochner, Director of the CIBC Centre for Human Capital and Productivity, and author of the Centre’s newly released Policy Brief 3 entitled "The Impacts of Education on Crime, Health and Mortality, and Civic Participation" reveals his research on ways in which education can reduce crime, lower mortality rates, and improve health. Lochner claims in a Western News article, that policies increasing high school completion rates, improving school quality and early childhood learning opportunities, "especially in disadvantaged communities," are likely to be more successful in reducing crime than policies aimed at increasing college and university attendance.

Michael Parkin: Canada's Economic Headwinds

Michael Parkin delivers a mini-lecture entitled Canada's Economic Headwinds to prospective students and their parents at Western’s Fall Preview Day on November 19th.

Todd Stinebrickner: The Globe and Mail

Todd Stinebrickner’s research is the basis for an article which appeared in The Globe and Mail, October 30, 2011, titled "Mid-term interventions reduce university drop-out rates," by Paola Loriggio. Stinebrickner suggests that 40 percent of students drop out of university due to poor performance, claiming that university drop-out rates are largely due to students being unprepared for heavier workloads and independent study time. More on Stinebrickner’s research can be found in the CIBC Centre for Human Capital & Productivity’s Policy Brief 2 which was released in June 2011.

Lawrence Summers Visits Western

Lawrence Summers, former U.S. Secretary of Treasury, will speak on a range of current economic, legal and media issues on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 in the Faculty of Law, Room 38 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. In addition to serving on the economic teams of three U.S. presidents, Summers has also been the Director of the National Economic Council, Chief Economist of the World Bank and the Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs. He is President Emeritus of Harvard University and holds the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. The fourth annual Beattie Family Lecture Series in Business Law will be moderated by Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large, Reuters News. All are welcome.

2011 United Way Stair Climb

The 2011 Economics stair climbing team, "Leading Indicators," raised $365 for United Way. Climbing to the top of One London Place were Jeremy Chambers, Karin Feulgen, Debra Merrifield and Leslie Kostal. Western Economics raised over $7,000 in total pledges to United Way this year. Many thanks to all the contributors.

John Whalley and Research on China's Growth

Professor John Whalley introduces Professor Shunming Zhang (Renmin University, China) to Western’s President, Amit Chakma, during Professor Zhang’s visit to Western October 9-15, 2011. Potential funding opportunities from the Chinese National Science Foundation were discussed regarding research on China’s growth and integration into the world economy after the financial crisis. President Chakma offered Western’s support as these joint research projects go forward.

Jim Davies: The Financial Post

Jim Davies' research forms the basis for a recent article in the Financial Post ("William Watson: U.S. Created Trudeau," September 30, 2011 by William Watson). Watson cites Davies' article with Stanley Winer (Carleton University) entitled "Closing the 49th Parallel," describing the work as "a fascinating new paper" in Canadian Public Policy. It argues that the increased difficulty for Canadians moving south, caused by the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965, facilitated the expansion of Canada’s public sector and higher income tax rates, since the discipline on governments caused by the threat of brain drain was reduced. The paper also shows that the increased mobility allowed by NAFTA and higher U.S. immigration limits in recent years, has partially reversed this effect, coinciding with some public sector shrinkage and reduced tax rates.

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