Stuart Rosenthal, professor and chair of economics, gave a keynote lecture titled "Building Specialisation, Anchor Tenants and Agglomeration Economies," which offered a new perspective on the productivity of cities. Rosenthal discussed the productivity spillovers that occur when tenants in tall commercial buildings are in close proximity, and how this leads to shared skilled labor, intermediate inputs and knowledge.

Yilin Hou, professor of public administration and international affairs, believes that a good tax system should generally comply with five major design principles, namely fair tax burden, focus on efficiency, appropriate tax administration, sufficient tax revenue and openness and transparency.

According to Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, interventions should target communities with populations in "significant economic distress," focusing on "places that have experienced major labor market shifts and income decline over the past four decades." "Failure to consider the underlying economic causes could lead to ineffective policy strategies," she says.

"Radical simplification would be possible, but this bill is not radical simplification, regardless of how may props they use," says Len Burman, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics, about the GOP tax bill.

"This is not a burden increase. People who qualify for premium tax credits and drop insurance are better off doing it (their cost of insurance doesn't change). Worse off are those who have incomes too high to qualify for credits and would face much higher premiums," says Len Burman, Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, discusses the need to address the underlying causes of distress, despair and disconnectedness in regards to the opioid epidemic.

If Gary Cohn, the White House chief economic adviser, "were trying to make a parody of the rich people’s argument for the estate tax, he couldn’t have done a better job,” says Leonard Burman, professor of public administration and international affairs and Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, says her findings indicate that places where rates of death due to drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and suicide are high are also places that heavily supported Trump in the election.

“The Otey and Barbara Scruggs scholarship is a fitting tribute to a treasured member of the History Department and his wife,” said Associate Professor and Chair of History Norman Kutcher. “Otey cared deeply about the University generally and the History Department especially. Graduate education grew substantially in strength and numbers under his leadership, so it is fitting that this scholarship will benefit our most deserving graduate students.”