Economic Analyst from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Lectures at UT Tyler

On Wednesday, April 9th, Senior Economic Education Specialist Princeton Williams from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas lectured to several classes within the Economics Department regarding the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, and the overall Federal Reserve in the United States and its role within the United States economy. 

Williams joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas in 2006 as senior economic education specialist. Prior to holding this position, he was a high school economics teacher who taught AP macroeconomics and AP microeconomics at Paschal High School in Fort Worth. He coauthored the district's economics curriculum, mentored new economics teachers, and conducted citywide review sessions for AP students.  Williams received a BBA from Southern Methodist University and a MA in economics from the University of Texas at Arlington. During his graduate studies, he interned in the economic and market analysis division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 

Williams' position in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas consists primarily of public affairs work. He often lectures high school and college students about the utility of the Federal Reserve, and the common misconceptions that the public has about the function of the Federal Reserve. He also leads teacher workshops in the state to improve the economics curriculum within the Texas school system, and he is currently creating an economics curriculum for middle school students in Texas. He also does analysis work over academic work written by economic theorists, mainly by bridging the gap from academia to the public, where said work can often be misconstrued or misinterpreted due to a lack of education in that particular field. 

In the class I was in where he lectured, Issues in Public Policy, several points of discussion were covered. We first discussed the utility of Bitcoin, digital currency that is gaining momentum within the U.S. economic system. Williams finds that the fluid nature of Bitcoin and the uncertainty regarding its value on a day-to-day basis makes it a somewhat unpredictable and possibly unstable alternative for investment in the U.S. We also covered the security of the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, where rumors and perceptions of "bank heists" that occur in popular entertainment (Die Hard With a Vengeance, for example), are entirely unfeasible.

Next, there was a discussion over the new Federal Reserve Chairwoman, Janet Yellen; primarily, her strengths and weaknesses within that position in comparison to former Fed chair, Ben Bernanke. Finally, there was a hefty talk over the fiscal policy of the US government, and how the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington often clash with fiscal policy, and how these issues can be resolved within the next decade. 

We are extremely grateful for the time Williams spent with our economics classes, and hope that he comes back soon to talk with us more about the economic state in the United States and the Federal Reserve's function within this system. 

Ranking World Universities- Helpful or Harmful to Academia?

On October 2^nd, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings were released by Thompson Reuters, listing the most prestigious universities around the world based on education prowess.  Specifically, the universities undergo evaluation based on teaching, research, knowledge transfer, and international outlook, which most institutions believe to be their core missions.  The top school on the list is the California Institute of Technology, followed by Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and other highly prestigious universities. 

While some view academic rankings as beneficial to growth for the higher education and university systems globally, others find them to be detrimental to the validity of universities not considered for ranking.  I have been at this university for over two years now, and I am fully aware of the sheer potential this institution has to not only support and educate the students that pass through its doors, but also benefit society as a whole.  However, we are not on the Times Higher Education list, nor do we appear often on other university rankings.  Does this diminish the validity or success of UT Tyler?

Institutions often rank universities not as a whole, but based on different programs or fields of study, creating a new sense of competition for the programs that are low on the list, or not ranked at all.  For example, U.S. News University Directory offers a list of what they deem to be the Top Political Science Schools & Colleges in the United States (which is specific to graduate and doctoral programs).  They also offer a similar list for graduate and doctoral programs in Economics.  While these lists are beneficial for students who wish to have a career in a particular field, the lists are often very similar in rank.  Harvard University is on the top of both of these lists, even though some political scientists or economists would disagree with the list results. 

The main question for most skeptics is this: do these rankings allow for a true evaluation of ALL universities and colleges in the United States, or do they only evaluate a certain group of schools that consistently rank high in academic prowess.  I know that UT Tyler does not have the same student population or net worth as Harvard University, but that should not diminish its potential to educate students, or to provide opportunities for graduate school or doctoral programs after a student graduates.  The calculation of “top schools” seems to include only elite universities with high name recognition, and not often enough do they acknowledge smaller universities with a similar potential for success.

It will be impossible to abandon rankings outright, as the impulse to grade things seems hard-wired into human nature.  They also serve some bureaucratic purpose, since the metrics of performance and decisions regarding resource allocation often stem from these rankings.  The only real concern I hold is that an academic institution like UT Tyler--which does not carry as heavy of name recognition as universities like Harvard, Georgetown, or UT Austin—is not removed from consideration by graduating high school seniors simply because it is deemed “less relevant or competitive” in comparison.  This could create a binary for academia that labels institutions like Harvard as “elite” or “competent,” and considers schools like UT Tyler to be “lesser.”