DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

The consumer welfare standard has been a subject of intense interest and debate recently in the U.S., punctuated by the 19-hour debate session in Congress in late June, the July executive order aimed at promoting competition in the U.S. economy, the Federal Trade Commission’s 3-2 vote on Sept. 15 to withdraw its approval of the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines and the Sept. 22 memo from the FTC Chair Lina Khan regarding her vision and priorities for the organization.

It's no longer a man’s world. Pundits have speculated for more than a decade about the end of men. After centuries of dominating the economy, most of the job growth is in industries where women traditionally work. And those jobs require more education. The latest piece of data is that women are dominating college enrollment. In a few years, two women will earn a degree for every one man.

Northwestern University economics professor Joel Mokyr today (Sept. 22) was named a 2021 Citation Laureate™, for his studies of the history and culture of technological progress and its economic consequences.