Thursday, November 10, 2016

The 2016 Marburg Memorial Lecture will be held today at 3:30 in Marquette's Weasler Auditorium

2016 Marburg Lecture - Dr. Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago

Dr Greenstons
Dr. Michael Greenstone
The lecture series is named in honor of the late Theodore F. Marburg, a long-time member of the economics department. The goal of the Marburg Memorial Lecture is to provide a forum for the discussion of moral, philosophical and social dimensions of economic issues, as well as continue Professor Marburg’s commitment to the economic aspects of peace and justice. The Marburg Lecture is made possible by the generosity of the Marburg family and through the support of the Center for Global and Economic Studies.

The Global Energy Challenge
November 10, 2016
3:30 p.m., Weasler Auditorium

Free event, open to the public
Register now (required to attend)

Dr. Greenstone will discuss the global energy challenge that requires balancing the need for inexpensive and reliable energy, while limiting environmental and health damages and guarding against disruptive climate change.

Michael Greenstone is the Milton Friedman Professor inEconomics, the College, and the Harris School, as well as the Director of theinterdisciplinary Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and theEnergy & Environment Lab at the University of Chicago Urban Labs. He previously served as the Chief Economist for President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, and currently serves on the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board. Greenstone also directed the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, which studies policies to promote economic growth, and has since joined its Advisory Council. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and editor of the Journal of Political Economy. Before coming to Chicago, Greenstone was the 3M Professor of Environmental Economics at MIT.

Greenstone’s research estimates the costs and benefits of environmental quality and society’s energy choices. He has worked extensively on the Clean Air Act and examined its impacts on air quality, manufacturing activity, housing prices, and human health to assess its benefits and costs. He is currently engaged in large-scale projects to estimate the economic costs of climate change and to identify efficient approaches to mitigating these costs.

His research is increasingly focused on developing countries. This work includes an influential paper that demonstrated that high levels of particulates air pollution from coal combustion are causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more than 2.5 billion years of life expectancy. He is also engaged in projects with the Government of India and four Indian state governments that use randomized control trials to test innovative ways to improve the functioning of environmental regulations and increase energy access.

Dr. Greenstone received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and a BA in economics with High Honors from Swarthmore College.