roanomics, vol. 6, iss. 2

8/17/2019 Roanomics, Vol. 6, Iss. 2

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ROANOMICS

“...some tourists like

to travel thousands

of miles to the middle-of -nowhere in order

to spend big bucks

on jewelry. ”

- Bob Stauffer

Issue includes:

Travels with Bob

Fed Challenge Team

Reading group trip toWashington, DC

SAS Joint CertificateProgram

Word from the editors

Bob’s road into Denali National Park

Travels with Bob This past June, we headed west to Denali NP in Alaska. The trip was choreo-

graphed by Princess Cruise Lines : four days in Denali NP (at two different Prin-

cess hotels) and seven days cruising down the inside passage to Vancouver. Most

of Alaska is truly the "last frontier" with only 737,000 people (ranked 47th among

the states) in an area more than twice the size of Texas. Population density is 1.2persons per square mile. Thus ends today's geography lesson!

There were three highlights of the trip : a fifty mile bus trip into Denali NP with

stunning natural beauty punctuated by moose and grizzly bear sightings, a ski

plane trip to a glacier on the slopes of Mt. McKinley (the highest peak in the U.S.

at 20,310 ft. --also called Denali ,the traditional Indian name ), and a float

plane trip to Misty Fjords National Monument. The plane trips were expensive at

about $250 per person, but were worth it to gain an appreciation for how vast,

beautiful, and pristine the Alaskan wilderness is.

Our return cruise started at Whittier (built by the U.S. military in WW II - popula-

tion220) , and stopped at three ports: Juneau --the state capital (about the size of

Salem) with no highway access - boats and planes only; Skagway (population

Roanoke College Economics Newsletter Volume 6 Issue 2


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965), and Ketchikan (population 8,050). In all three ports, there were interesting

excursions for an extra fee, good local history museums, and for some unknown

reason --lots of jewelry stores (many owned by the cruise lines). Apparently, some

tourists like to travel thousands of miles to the middle -of -nowhere in order to

spend big bucks on jewelry. Could it be guilt -ridden husbands or boyfriends? Or

maybe it involves those who purchased the unlimited drink option ( about $175) at

the beginning of the cruise?

Since returning, our travel agenda included several short trips on the east coast.

In August, we went to Rehoboth Beach Del. with high school friends . The beach

was great, but the traffic congestion was horrific (Yogi Berra was wrong when it

said "it is so crowded, no one goes there anymore"). We then retreated to the

mountains of North Carolina, including Blowing Rock (tres up -scale), Little Swit-

zerland on the BR Parkway and Mt. Pisgah -south of Asheville . The scenery in

this area is some of the best within easy driving distance, particularly the BR

Parkway south of Mt. Pisgah, the Roan Mt. bald on the AT, and the little known

Max Patch. Those who claim McAfee's Knob is one of the best views on the Appa-

lachian Trial have not been to Max Patch -it is a mountain bald on the AT near Hot

Springs, N.C. It is an easy hike of about one mile, but the drive to get there

is daunting --particularly the last five miles on a narrow, curvy, dirt road! I calmed

my nerves with a trip to Wicked Weed Brewery in Asheville. Mt. Pisgah remains

one of our favorite places, and we have already made reservations for next Octo-

ber during peak leaf season. But the mountains of N.C. don't quite measure up to

the grandeur of the Alaskan wilderness. A return trip to Denali NP is on my bucket

list!

Flemingism “When you go to yoga class, youwill not chant ‘ommmmm.’ You willchant ‘C+I+G+NX.’”

Garry Fleming, Zen Master

Misty fjords from the air

C+I+G+NX


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Crook pre-sents work atinternationalconference

Michelle Crook not onlyleads the annual Roa-noke College Fed Chal-lenge Team, but presentswork of her own.

She co -presented“Teaching Monetary Poli-cy with Contrasting Meth-ods” with Dr. I. DavidWheat at the Develop-ments in Economic Edu-cation Conference hostedby the University of Bir-mingham in Birmingham,England.

Crook recently submitteda manuscript for publica-tion and is waiting on adecision.

Best of luck!

The 2015 Roanoke College Fed Challenge Team in Richmond

2015 Fed Challenge Reflection

The Fed Challenge Team represented Roanoke College in Richmond. Studentsused their economics knowledge and communication skills to present argumentson monetary policy to a panel of judges.

“The experience has made me strongly consider the banking industry as I havedeveloped an appreciation for commercial banking and how the FED’s ac-tions...have a...strong effect on the overall economy.“ - Weston Dean

“Besides gaining knowledge about the Federal Reserve Bank and the domesticeconomy, I also honed my teamwork and interpersonal skills.” - Angela He

“...I believe that the best part about the Fed Challenge is that it allowed for us toapply the theories we have been learning about in our macroeconomics classes

since freshman year.” - Jeremy Peavey

“I learned a lot of valuable communication and team skills that I plan to take withme as I go through life.” - Andrew Feeney

“It helped enormously to have a Senior VP/CFO of the Bank of Botetourt as our professor giving us...insight to the interworking of how bank’s loan with each otheras well as managing their accounts with the Fed.” - Max Carroll

“It was impressive to see how individuals of different majors and backgroundcame together for a presentation that may not necessarily be of our own disci-

plines…” - Geoffrey Cole

Wheat and Crook


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Reading group trip to DC Five students participated in the third annual Economics Reading Group. Thisyear students read Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom” and met once one campus to dis-cuss the book. We started the conversation by watching an interview with MiltonFriedman about the book and its impact. Friedman gave a wonderful description ofthe setting in which the book was written. You can watch the video here.

Two night trip to Washington, DC

A week after the on -campus meeting, the group drove to Washington, DC for twonights and visited with various scholars. The Mercatus Center at George Masonwas our first stop. We learned about their graduate program and other opportuni-ties and talked with Matt Mitchell about capitalism and government granted privi-lege. Later that evening we met with some RC alumni for dinner.

The following day we visited the Heritage Foundation and talked with Anthony Kimabout his Index of Economic Freedom. You can read about the index and the lat-est estimates here . The graphic above compares the United States (#11 in theworld) to Hong Kong (#1 in the world.) Economic freedom is measured accordingto 1) Rule of Law, 2) Limited government, 3) Regulatory efficiency, and 4) Openmarkets. After Heritage and lunch the group competed in our first Economic Free-dom Scavenger Hunt. You can read about our hunt here .

Our final morning in DC included a visit to the American Enterprise Institute. Jour-nalist Tim Carney talked with us about economic freedom and his experiencescovering stories involving government regulation in small businesses.

Over the course of three days we spoke with three difference experts, each from adifferent field giving us a broad understanding of the role of government in the USeconomy.

Reading group boarding the Metro

Index of Economic Freedom: US (grey) vs. HK (pink, #1 in the world)

Thank you to AEI for supporting oneof our Reading Group visits.

All ears at the Heritage Founda-tion.

http://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://www.heritage.org/index/http://www.heritage.org/index/http://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.htmlhttp://www.heritage.org/index/http://kassensroanokeecon.blogspot.com/2016/02/reading-group-read-our-story.html


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2016 - 17 JCP

The Roanoke College/SAS Data and Economet-ric Analysis Joint Certifi-cate Program will go intoits second year in the fall.

Already students fromeconomics and computerscience are entering theprogram.

Several of the currentstudents note employerinterest in their SAS skillsand having an advantagein the job market.

SAS is used by 90% ofthe Fortune 500 top 100companies. These com-panies include those inthe banking, financial,and research sectors with

jobs for students comingout of college.

The JCP sends a signalto potential employers of

the quality of your skillsand serves as a comple-ment to your RC degree.

If you are interested in joining the program, emailthe Director, Dr. AliceLouise Kassens([email protected])

NOTE: ECON 448 is arequired unit for the certif-

icate and is only offeredin the fall semester. Thecourse also counts to-wards the economics ma-

jor and minor.

The first certificates are going out this spring.

SAS Joint Certificate Program:First graduates Five students completed the requirements for the Roanoke College/SAS Data andEconometric Analysis Joint Certificate Program this spring. For the certificate thestudents took ECON 448 Introduction to Econometrics, SAS Programming I and II,Introduction to Enterprise Guide, and are participating in the 10th annual SAS

Analytics Shootout.

Our first graduates are:

Max Carroll

Jonathan Eary

Andrew Feeney

Conor Fitzhenry

Jorge Martinez -Compains


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Word from theCo - Editor: MaxCarroll

As I will soon be an alumni of RoanokeCollege, I can truly say that my timehere has been a blessing. Balancing

academics and athletics left little time to“stop and smell the roses”. Howeversitting behind this computer, writing thisarticle, leaves me with plenty of time toreminisce over my life -changing experi-ence at Roanoke College.

From the very beginning, it was evidentthat obtaining an economics degreewas no easy task. The professors atRoanoke served as the perfect catalyst,continually sparking my curiosity to dive

deeper into more research. In times ofdarkness and uncertainty, I could counton professors to shine a light into theacademic abyss.

It is clear that studying economics atRoanoke College has allowed me todevelop previously untapped criticalthinking skills. Roanoke has bestowedupon me the ability to abstract and ana

lyze complex situations in order to iden-tify and model the essence of the issueat hand. After years of practice andguidance from numerous mentors, Inow have the ability to confidently andconcisely communicate economic anal-ysis to those with little to no training ineconomics. Economics is all aboutchoices, and my choice to study Eco-nomics at Roanoke College has certain-ly been optimal.

Max Carroll

A few thingsabout Max

Max Carroll has been mystudent assistant through-

out the 2015 -16 academ-ic year.

He has helped with grad-ing, editing, lifting bigboxes that I can’t carry,and clearing out my of-fice.

Everything he does hedoes with a smile andright away. “Yes ma’am”

and it is done!

Not only is Max an eco-nomics major ( a goodone at that), but he is aleader on the RoanokeCollege Men’s LacrosseTeam; he is an exemplarstudent -athlete.

I am going to miss himtremendously, but I am

excited to see what hisnext chapter in life is allabout.

Don’t forget to stay intouch Max and comeback to visit!

-Dr. Kassens

Congratulations Max!


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Word from the Co -Editor: Alice Kassens It is hard to believe that another academic year is finishingup. This was an exciting one and I thought that I wouldshare my Top 10 items/events of the year.

1. Getting my first book deal (I will be writing a book with I -

Sah Hsieh for SAS Press about using Visual Analytics toexamine UN Comtrade data; SAS Press will publish ourbook.)

2. Taking my first group of students to SAS Campus and

watching them take in their surroundings.

3. Guiding the first group of students through the RC -SASJoint Certificate Program.

4. Taking the Economics Reading group to visit the Merca-tus Center and speak with a scholar.

5. Taking the Economics Reading group to speak with ascholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

6. Taking the Economics Reading group to speak with ascholar at the Heritage Foundation.

7. Hosting our first virtual lecture in macroeconomics prin-ciples (I -Sah Hsieh joined us to discuss trade data.)

8. Working with IPOR colleagues to begin the VirginiaBusiness Leaders Poll (and having our first photoshoot!)

9. Getting an op -ed published in the Washington Times.

10. Racing the Masters Invitational Mile at the USATFIndoor National Championships (Portland, OR)


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Econometrics goes to SAS In October Dr. Kassens econometrics class (ECON 448) travelled to Cary, NorthCarolina to visit SAS Campus.

We were welcomed in Building C by alum Jay Laramore and Josh Hewitt whoorganized the day for us.

Students presented their research papers from econometrics to a group of SASheavy hitters including I -Sah Hsieh, Ken Sanford, and Jerry Oglesby. The audi-ence provided helpful feedback for the projects.

We then had lunch in a cafeteria some students stated that they could live in forthe rest of their lives. Yes, it was that amazing. No wonder SAS employees are soproductive!

Jay and Josh took us on a tour of the campus before we headed out.

Visit to NCSU Jay connected Dr. Kassens with the folks at NCSU’s Institute for Advanced Ana-lytics. We heard about the Masters of Science in Analytics (MSA) program andtoured the facility. We also walked around the new Hunt Library and saw the BookBot.

Data analytics is so much more The trip opened students eyes to the power and breadth of data analytics. It is not

just about sitting in a cubicle and playing with numbers. Analytics is a skill set thatwhen done properly can tell interesting and helpful stories. Big data analysis ishere and Roanoke College students visited with some of the best in the business.The pairing of economics and data analytics is a natural one, and one that will

RC welcomed at SAS

2015 Econometrics class at SAS Campus, Cary, NC

One of the many statues on campus

They are everywhere at SAS campus

http://analytics.ncsu.edu/http://analytics.ncsu.edu/http://analytics.ncsu.edu/https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibraryhttps://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibraryhttps://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibraryhttp://analytics.ncsu.edu/http://analytics.ncsu.edu/


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10/12

Stauffer published by WSJ andinterviewed on CNBC Earlier this semester Roanoke College’s own Dr. Bob Stauffer (of ‘Travels withBob’ fame, amongst other accolades) published an opinion piece in the WallStreet Journal entitled ‘The Fed’s Mismeasure of Inflation’.

Stauffer argues that the Fed is underestimating inflation because the index theyuse for their inflation target of 2% , Personal Consumption Expenditures, ispushed downwards because of competition and supply side factors.

He believes that a different index should be used that takes into account services,which are not being held to the same competitive forces and supply side factors. Ifa different target is used, it would show that the Fed has already achieved its 2%inflation target.

Santelli interviews Stauffer

Rick Santelli read Stauffer’s comments in the WSJ and requested an interview forhis ‘Squawk on the Street’ on CNBC. Stauffer sat of the interview in a Roanokestudio on February 19th.

This interview is by far the most watched interview and biggest ‘get’ by a RoanokeCollege economics faculty member. Excellent work Dr. Bob!

Watch the interview You can watch Stauffer’s interview and read a summary of it on the Roanoke Col-lege webpage here .

What do youthink willhappen to

short-

termrates in thenext 12 -months?We want to know what you think.

Please take a moment to answerin our anonymous non -scientificpoll. We will share the aggregateresults on our blog.

If you respond to the poll by theend of June, your answers will beincluded in the results.

You can find the pollhere.

What do you think will happen torates?

Stauffer being interviewed by Rick Santelli

http://www.roanoke.edu/about/news/bob_stauffer_cnbc_interviewhttp://www.roanoke.edu/about/news/bob_stauffer_cnbc_interviewhttps://pollev.com/kassens?_ga=1.199375021.225764830.1461092850https://pollev.com/kassens?_ga=1.199375021.225764830.1461092850https://pollev.com/kassens?_ga=1.199375021.225764830.1461092850http://www.roanoke.edu/about/news/bob_stauffer_cnbc_interview


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Want to learnmore aboutthe health careindustry?

Roanoke College offersseveral courses and pro-grams regarding healthand health care.

Health economics (ECON227) is offered eachspring semester and istaught by Dr. Kassens.The course covers supplyand demand issues in

health care markets andthe impact of governmentregulation on prices andavailability of services.

The Business Administra-tion and Economics De-partment offers a concen-tration in Health Care Ad-ministration. Graduateshave gone on to graduateschool in Public Health

and various jobs in thehealth care industry.

If you are interested ineither Health Economicsor the Health Care Ad-ministration Concentra-tion, contact Dr. AliceKassens([email protected])

Kassens’ Op - Ed in WashingtonTimes Dr. Kassens had an opinion piece published by the Washington Times on March16th. The piece is titled ‘Optimizing Nursing Skills for Better Veteran Care.’

Kassens argues that laws prohibiting Advanced Practice Registered Nurses(APRNs) from practicing the full scope of their education and training is inefficientand contribute to wait lists in the VA system.

Currently there are bills before Congress (H.R. 1247 and S. 2279) that addressthis issue.

APRN’ education and training is standardized but licensing standards are set bythe state and vary.

Eliminating these differences and permitting APRN’s to practice to the full extentof their education and training will reduce costs and wait times while improvinghealth outcomes for our veterans.

You can read the piece here.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/8/alice-louisse-kassens-veterans-can-still-get-bette/http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/8/alice-louisse-kassens-veterans-can-still-get-bette/http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/8/alice-louisse-kassens-veterans-can-still-get-bette/


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Alumni Updates

Danielle (Shiley) McCloskey, MPH ̀ 10 and family willbe moving from Texas in the near future. She planss tocontinue her work in public health research and consult-ing. Currently she is an independent contractor for theWichita Falls Health Department.

James Bradshaw ̀ 13 finished his masters in Eco-nomics (Lehigh University) and is now a video coordi-nator intern with the Washington Wizards.

Andrew Streaman ̀ 09 works i n the Prime BrokerageProduct Development Department at JPMorgan Chase& Co. in New York City.

Brian Ellison ̀ 13 is the Director of Operations atPresto DyeChem in Philadelphia

Brunella Salazar - Gonti `13 is a legal assistant for theVirginia Immigration Law Center in Roanoke, VA.

Giovanni Forte `11 is a Br okerage Coordinator atMass Mutual. Recently, Gio made at least one econom-ics faculty member very happy with a surprise visit dur-ing office hours! Great to see you doing so well!

Ian Kervick - Jimenez ̀ 13 is a Business Analyst atSionic Advisors in New York City.

Sara Caudle `12 is a Financial Consultant at Yon -Drake & Associates in Columbia, SC.

Jay Laramore `10 is an Analytical Training Consult-ant at SAS in Cary, NC. Jay was instrumental in organ-izing Dr. Kassens econometrics class trip to SAS Cam-pus and NCSU in the fall. We hope it becomes an annu-al event. Thanks again for your help Jay!

MARKET FORCESFOR TASTY BEVER-AGESIf you happen to love economics and enjoy an occa-sional microbrew (and who doesn’t?), you have proba-bly heard rumors of hop shortages. Here are a fewexamples of headlines you can find describing theshortage. “Bad Hangover.” “Drought and Hot WeatherCause Trouble for Hops Growers: The Consumer WillPay a Higher Price for Beer.” “Beer Prices Could Sky-rocket Next Year.” “Hop Shortage Threatens Craft

Breweries.” The problem is that these headlines arenot from a single year, but rather from 2016, 2015,2014, and 2013. If you have been sampling mi-crobrews over this period, you might have a difficulttime relating these headlines to your local wateringhole (for example, today you can grab a $4 pint of

Gent Bent IPA over at Parkway).

Luckily, economics can help us understand why wehave failed to see the devastating predictions cometrue. First, a large portion of hop production is doneunder future contracts. Thus, a supply is usually pro-vided at a fairly steady price. Second, hops only ac-count for about 4% of the cost of your typical beer.Third, brewers have concentrated on beers that re-quire less hops (more session IPAs, saisons, andsours). Finally, overall hop acreage has increasedover the last ten years, including small local farms forbrewers (more than 70% of the nation’s production isin the state of Washington).

One of the first economics lessons is that people re-spond to incentives. With the rising price of hops,

farmers have responded by planting more hops andproducers of beer have responded by changing themixture of beer offered at the microbreweries. Finally,we must always consider how much of an overall costis impacted by an input price to determine how muchof an effect it will have on the product’s price.

roanomics, vol. 6, iss. 2

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