On Wednesday, Khushi Chhaya attended a college-wide talk by Barnard College Professor Mulu Gebreyohannes on green growth and sustainable development in Ethiopia.

In the “‘Rise of the Rest’ Entrepreneurship Across America” event last night, a panel discussed the future of entrepreneurship and the policy changes that will affect it. Hosted by Columbia SIPA, the program took place under the dome of Low Library. New Bwogger Michael Beltz shares his experience. The panel’s speakers included notable and experienced […]

Last night, in front of the imposing view from the top floor of the International Affairs Building, William C. Dudley, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, was right on the money with his insights into the Fed and our economy. Bwog’s Economic Expert Alexandra Svokos was there to report. I […]

Supply: of honey is not what it seems! (Food Safety News) Demand: for water could lead to international tension in the coming years. (NYT) Supply: of transplant organs in China will drop as the government discontinues the practice of taking them from inmates on death row. (BBC) Demand: transparency in the administration. (Spec) Chartz via […]

As Dylan once professed, the times they are a-changin’. Although he wasn’t really referring to the climate, we’re going to extrapolate his message and use that as a lede here. Last night, welfare economics/climate change enthusiast Peter Krawczyk got Low (ha!) with Professors Stiglitz and Dasgupta. Hopping ensued. The Fourth Annual Arrow Lecture in honor of […]

A tipster has forwarded us a notice that “as a cost-saving measure,” Columbia will be closing the physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology libraries a full year early. According to Physics Department Chair Andrew Mills, who sent the email, “I have received two conflicting reports of the closing date: July 1, 2009 and July 31, 2009.” […]

PrezBo has decided to close the academic year with a less-than-cheery missive about the University’s budget. Not surprisingly, the numbers have declined more since January: “For the first nine months of the University’s fiscal year ending on March 31, 2009, the value of the endowment declined nearly 22%, with private investments and real assets valued […]

Ah, memories of when money grew on trees: a study by the Council for Aid to Education determined that Columbia raised $495.11 million in Fiscal Year 2008, an increase of 17% over FY 2007, good for third in the country. The only two schools to raise more money than Columbia? Stanford ($785.04 million) and Harvard […]

The Wall Street Journal reports that Columbia’s Economics department, along with Econ departments across the country, is hiring no new economists this year. Last year, Columbia made nine new hires, eight of whom were snagged from other schools. Economists can generally make more working for the government or the private sector, but, for obvious reasons, […]

Columbia economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz recently spoke at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland. In interviews at the week-long summit, Stiglitz has called for more government action, labelling current public economic stimulus “totally inadequate.” He advocates a less taxcut-based stimulus plan in the United States. He also predicted a global trend […]

Another month, another depressing e-mail about the state of Columbia finances: earlier this evening, President Bollinger sent an email to the Columbia community (which may or may not have reached your inbox at this point) about the state of the endowment, and this time he included actual figures! After spending a paragraph on why “Columbia […]

Suggesting that frozen-yogurt customers are perhaps less than loyal, Tasti D-Lite experienced a 75% decline in sales in the first semester before abruptly departing campus this past Friday. Was it off-campus flex? The introduction of (more popular) Pinkberry? The economy? We’ll probably never know. As for what would go in its place, Columbia Dining Services […]

PrezBo had already “conceded that the endowment was down” at his last fireside chat, but now Bwog has some information on the scale of the damage: At the University Senate’s monthly plenary on Friday, PrezBo told the Senate that, over the fiscal year, Columbia’s endowment has lost “about the same” percentage as Harvard’s, which lost […]

Tipster Tadi Ciszak director our attention to sustainable development guru Jeffrey Sachs, professor to the stars, who made at cameo at today’s House Financial Services Panel regarding a possible bailout for automakers. That’s Chrysler CEO Robert L. Nardelli in the front, who, along with other executives from G.M. and Ford testified on the Hill today. […]

In which Lecture Hop Editor Pierce Stanley takes in the second of two economic forums held at Columbia last night. Another spectacle of epic proportions has come and passed in Roone Arledge Auditorium.  Yet, last night’s Presidential Economic Forum courtesy of Columbia’s Program for Economic Research and co-sponsored by the Economics Department, the Committee on […]