DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

How will the U.S. economy emerge from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? Will it struggle to return to prior levels of employment and activity, or will it come roaring back as soon as vaccinations are widespread and Americans feel comfortable travelling and eating out? Co-authored with Florin Bilbiie, Gauti Eggertsson, and Andrea Tambalotti

The 2020 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson for “improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats.” In this survey article, we review the contributions of the laureates, emphasizing the subtle interplay between deep theoretical questions and practical design challenges that resulted in one of the most successful fields of economics. Co-authored with Alexander Teytelboym, Shengwu Li, Scott Duke Kominers and Mohammad Akbarpour.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the status of women in the workforce, or perhaps more accurately out of the workforce. The labor participation rate for women was 55.8% last month, its lowest level since 1987. More women than men lost their jobs from February to May in 2020, as the nation locked down to contain the new virus, 11.5 million to 9 million, according to a report from the Pew Research Center. Pew notes that is in marked contrast to the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009, when 5.5 million men became unemployed compared with 2.5 million women.

William P. Rogerson and Howard Shelanski write about "Antitrust Enforcement, Regulation, and Digital Platforms." They raise the concern that the tools of antitrust may not be well-suited to some of the competition issues posed by big digital firms. For example, if Alphabet was forced to sell off Google, or some other subsidiaries, would competition really be improved? What would it even mean to, say, try to break Google's search engine into separate companies? When there are "network economies," where many agents want to be on a given website because so many other players are on the same website, perhaps a relatively small number of firms is the natural outcome.

The need for Northwestern’s new Womxn in Economics organization was proven in its creation. Weinberg senior Eliana Buckner said she met more female economics majors on the group’s executive board than she had since transferring to the University in 2018. The group, which is backed by the economics department, aims to support female-identifying economics students, although students of all gender identities are able to join. It also intends to inform members about the major’s various career applications through alumni interviews and a mentorship program.

For this edition of Forecast Direct, we talk with Professor Robert Gordon, from Northwestern University, about his book “Rise and Fall of American Growth” and what he sees as the likelihood for faster productivity and economic growth in the coming decades. Be sure to listen to the end, where Professor Gordon talks about the best ways to ensure faster growth going forward, through more early-childhood education, more immigration, and affirmative action policies to level the playing field so our society can benefit from the full potential of all individuals.

The Department of Labor reported some bad news—861,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. The recent trend shows that the job market is still in bad shape. To put things into context, prior to the pandemic, the highest level of unemployment claims was roughly 700,000 during the financial crisis in 2008. The United States has been hitting these figures—and higher—for a while now. Thursday’s report indicated that “18.3 million people were receiving unemployment aid as of January 30.” A large portion of Americans out of work are long-term unemployed, which means that they have been out of a job for over six months.

When students seek information from business professionals about careers, female students receive substantially more information on work/life balance relative to male students; in contrast, professionals mention workplace culture to male and female students at similar rates.

Seema Jayachandran planned a career in theoretical physics when she graduated from MIT in electrical engineering and finished her master’s in physics and philosophy at Oxford University. Harvard offered her a spot in its selective doctoral physics program. But coffee conversations with an acquaintance changed her life.