By ACRE Director Jeremy Horpedahl
From reading groups and guest speakers, to professional development for educators and media mentions by the White House, ACRE has had another successful semester of economics, education, and policy research. We hope you’ve been able to come to one of our events on campus, or read some of our many materials online.
Distinguished Speaker Series & Colloquium
Michael Munger (right) with Jeremy Horpedahl
Our final guest speaker for the Fall 2023 semester was Michael Munger from Duke University, who gave a public talk on “Monopoly Power, Political Power, and the Problem of Platforms,” and also joined UCA students in several classes. Munger followed two other speakers this semester: Emily Hamilton from the Mercatus Center, who spoke about housing policy and affordability; and Da
vid Bernstein from George Mason University Law School, who spoke about the history of racial classification in the United States. Professor Bernstein was also the keynote speaker for and a participant in our annual ACRE Colloquium, which brought students and professors from across Arkansas together for a weekend to discuss the ideas in Bernstein’s book.
Fall Reading Groups
Students in Dr. Jacob Held’s “Landmark Supreme Court” reading group
Our reading groups set an ACRE record this semester! More students applied than ever before, resulting in a wait-list to participate. One of those groups visited Southern Methodist University in October for a weekend discussion event with students at other universities, and keynote speaker Dr. Bart Wilson from Chapman University. Our Spring 2024 reading groups will be announced soon, and we look forward to having another good response from UCA students.
K-12 Programs
ACRE’s K12 program has hosted a number of professional development opportunities for educators across Arkansas. This past month’s engaging topics included: “Economic Mysteries in Economic History: What was Roaring about the Twenties?” and “The 2023 Economics Nobel Prize: Claudia Goldin, Women, & Work.” Looking ahead, the ACRE educator reading group will continue this spring. For a full list of K12 offerings, to sign up for the K12 newsletter, or request a classroom visit this spring, go to https://www.socialstudiesar.org/
Government Transparency in Arkansas
AFOIA in the State Constitution:
Lately in Arkansas there has been a lot of discussion about government transparency, both during the Special Session of the Arkansas General Assembly in September and in the aftermath of the legislative session, from which a citizen initiative emerged proposing the incorporation of Arkansas’s Freedom of Information Act (AFOIA) into the state constitution. ACRE Policy Analyst Dr. Joyce Ajayi has continued tracking these developments and offering her expertise to help support the public debate on the issue. In November, she participated as a panelist at a town hall meeting on this topic in Conway and also authored an op-ed, “Enshrining FOIA: Pros and Cons of Law in Constitution,” published in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. In the piece, she elaborates on the consequences and implications of incorporating AFOIA into the state constitution, emphasizing the need for careful consideration of both advantages and drawbacks.
Looking ahead, Joyce, along with a team of researchers across Arkansas, is co-authoring the Arkansas Civic Health Index. This publication will offer a comprehensive analysis of Arkansas’s civic health, including aspects like web transparency. The report, set to be released in December, will provide insights into the civic and political engagement landscape in Arkansas, showcasing strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities.
Media
As part of my role as Director at ACRE and a UCA professor, I regularly appear in the media and write popular essays about economics. A few of those outreach activities stood out as especially interesting and important this semester.
- I once again appeared on PBS’s Arkansas Week program to discuss the state of the Arkansas economy and how that relates to public policy, such as the state budget.
- The Charles Koch Foundation featured an essay I wrote explaining fiscal policy and how it impacts economic progress. That essay summarizes a lot of the principles we use to think about fiscal policy at ACRE in our research and educational outreach.
- Lastly, a somewhat light-hearted blog post that I wrote about the cost of a Thanksgiving meal relative to wages, surprised me by getting picked up by a lot of media sources, as well as the White House citing it when Politifact investigated a claim the White House made. I was not expecting that, but I am glad that someone is reading my work!
New Employees
ACRE is set to accomplish even more in the coming year with the addition of two outstanding individuals to our team. Elise Ormonde and Heidi Saliba each bring unique skillsets and perspectives to ACRE’s research and outreach. We are fortunate to welcome them, and you can read more about both here.
All of us at ACRE hope that you have a wonderful last few weeks of 2023, and we look forward to sharing more about all of our events, research, and student programs in 2024.