Monday, October 13, 2008
{NEWS} NOBLE PRIZE WINNER 2008 IN ECONOMICS - PAUL KRUGMAN
STOCKHOLM, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. economist Paul Krugman Monday won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity." Krugman was born on February 28, 1953, in Long Island, New York state, the United States. He earned a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1997 and has been professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University since 2000. He has also taught at Yale University, the London School of Economics, Stanford, and MIT. Krugman, 55, is well known in academia for his work in trade theory and his textbook explanations of currency crises and New Trade Theory. In an article published in 1991, he developed the concepts about economic geography into a comprehensive theory of location of labor and firms. "Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer a series of questions, such as what the effects of free trade and globalization are and what the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization are," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement. Krugman's work has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography, the statement said. "By having shown the effects of economics of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity, Krugman's theory have given rise to an extensive reorientation of the research on these issues." He is an ardent critic of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and its domestic and foreign policies. He has also written 20 books and more than 200 papers in professional journals. Winning the Nobel award won't change his approach to research and writing, Krugman told a news conference in Stockholm by telephone from the United States. "The prize will enhance visibility, but I hope it does not lead me into going to a lot of purely celebration events, aside from the Nobel presentation itself," he said. Besides his work as an economist at Princeton University in New Jersey, Krugman also writes a regular column in The New York Times and has a blog called "Conscience of a Liberal." SOURCE: NEWS SITE |
Giving A Good Seminar -Some Tips
other scientists and potential employers of your worth. A good seminar is one
which delivers a clear message to the audience. The audience will be interested enough to ask questions and will go away having learnt something new and will remember you.
Before the seminar
1. Know your topic
•study the background and related literature
•write down the message(s) you want to give in your seminar
•all talks have a beginning, middle and end
2. Know your audience
•are they a general interest group or a group of specialists
•alter presentation to suit
•do not be ‘so close’ to your topic that you cannot view your topic as others
would
•be realistic about the audience expectations of you
3. Prepare visual material
• remember the shorter the talk, the less complicated the material
• avoid using different media, eg slides and overheads
• minimise the number of words
• pictures are usually better
• the more time spent ‘polishing’ the material, the beter the talk
4. Prepare well before the actual seminar
5. Practice your seminar with friends/peers/supervisor; get timing right and
adjust media material
6. If possible avoid reading the seminar
• make a list of overheads/slides with ‘ must says’ noted under each
• write out your introductory comments in full if nervous
• arrange your overheads/slides so that they prompt you in what you want to say
At the seminar
1. Well before the seminar case out the venue
• practice using the audiovisual system
• if using computer graphics, make sure the computing facilities are working and you have the right screen settings. Have overheads in case!!!!
• arrange the ‘furniture’ to suit yourself
• know where the light switches are, arrange with someone to switch lights on/off at your command
• locate pointer
• if using slides have practice run to check orientation
• if using overheads have practice run to check orientation, size, focus etc
• arrange glass of water
2. Go somewhere quiet before seminar
• read your notes
• study ‘must says’
• focus on your story
• go to toilet
3. Sit in a position where you have clear access to the stage when anounced
4. Just before you are announced
• read your introductory comments
• remind yourself not to rush