Economics Department News and EventsThe Department of Economics has received generous contributions from its friends in past years, most notably W. P. Carey, Bank One and Edward Basha. Their support has provided funds for five endowed professorships. Professor Prescott's work has focused on business cycles and economic fluctuations. He has demonstrated that standard growth behavior historically studied by microeconomists also can explain business cycle fluctuations that macroeconomists have sought to understand. His theory that a substantial part of business cycles are simply the best response of the economy to policy changes that affect the economy's productivity is widely accepted in the field of economics. Prescott's work also has focused on the importance of an organization's ability and willingness to commit to specific policies over the long term. Prescott argues that people put their trust in organizations -- including government and corporations -- because they believe those organizations will deliver on their commitments. Failure to follow through on commitments would make people unwilling to invest in those organizations in the future. This line of reasoning has been considered crucial in the development of central banks that can act independently and maintain credibility in the marketplace. In 2002, Professor Prescott presented the Richard T. Ely Lecture at the American Economic Association Meetings, "Prosperity and Depression". Also in 2002, he was awarded the Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics, a prestigious honor for economists for "major contributions to new knowledge or the development of significant new modes of analysis." It is intended that the contributions be of the quality associated with winning the Nobel Prize. www.northwestern.edu/provost/awards/nemmers/index.html and www.northwestern.edu/provost/awards/nemmers/nemprecon.html In 1997, Prescott presented the first Lawrence R. Klein Lecture, "Needed: A Theory of Total Factor Productivity"; in 1994, the third Pareto-Walras Lecture, "Barriers to Riches"; and in 1990, the first Lionel McKenzie Lecture, "Dynamic Coalitions". Prescott received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1962, his master's degree in operations research from Case-Western University in 1963, and his Ph.D. in economics from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1967. He has held teaching positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Chicago, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Pennsylvania. During 1979-82, he served on the faculties of Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and Kellogg School of Management. Prescott is a co-editor of Economic Theory and a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is a former president of the Society of Economic Dynamics and Control and Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory and a former associate editor of the Journal of Economic Theory, International Economic Review and the Journal of Econometrics. He has authored more than 70 principal articles, addressing topics like business cycles, economic development, general equilibrium theory, banking and finance and economic policy. He is a fellow of the Econometric Society and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. Dr. Rogerson received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1984. He joined the Faculty at ASU in 2001 from the University of Pennsylvania where he was Professor of Economics from 1997-2001. He has also held faculty positions at the University of Rochester, NYU, Stanford and Minnesota. Dr. Rogerson’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of labor economics and macroeconomics. His publications have appeared in the best journals in the profession including the American Economic Review, the Journal of Political Economy, and the Review of Economic Studies. Professor Rogerson's research portfolio includes papers on business cycle fluctuations, the effects of labor market regulations, financing of public education (currently supported by the National Science Foundation), and development. He currently serves as Co-Editor of the American Economic Review, and as Associate Editor of the Journal of Monetary Economics, and the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. For further information, see Professor Rogerson's directory page. Manuel Santos--E. N. Basha Sr. Arizona Heritage ChairDr. Santos received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1984. He joined the Faculty at ASU in 1999. His prior appointments include Professor of Economics at University of Minnesota, Centro de Investigación Económica (ITAM), Mexico and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Dr. Santos' teaching and research interests are in the areas of economic theory and macroeconomics. His publications have appeared in many of the top journals in the profession including the American Economic Review, Econometrica, and the Journal of Political Economy. Professor Santos' research portfolio includes papers on endogenous economic growth models, error bounds in dynamic stochastic models, and asset pricing bubbles. Dr. Santos has been Editor of Cuadernos Economicos de I.C.E. and Associate Editor of numerous journals, such as Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Economic Theory, Econometrica, and Economic Theory. For further information, see Professor Santos' directory page. Professor Alejandro M. Manelli's academic focus is on economic theory and game theory as it applies to auctions, mechanism design, general equilibrium theory, and signaling games. His work is published in the major journals, including the Journal of Economic Theory and Econometrica. Some of the issues he has most recently addressed include multi-unit auctions, bundling as optimal pricing strategy, cheap talk in signaling games, information revelation and seller's revenue in auctions and optimal selling strategies. Professor Manelli's research agenda in auction theory has been supported by nine years of grants from the National Science Foundation. He previously received support from the Ford Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Dissertation Fellowship. Professor Manelli obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. Before joining the W. P. Carey School of Business faculty in 1997, he was on the faculty of Northwestern University in the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (MEDS Department), and the faculty of the University of Iowa. For further information, see Professor Manelli's directory page. Related LinksAlumni Chapter Newsletter | 
