Endowed Programs

Cargill

The Cargill Program in the economics of agriculture and economic development was established in 1977 with the help of a grant from Cargill, Inc. Its primary objective is to enhance the awareness and knowledge of agricultural issues among both liberal arts students and the larger Macalester community. The Program consists of two major components:

(1) courses within the Department of Economics, addressing issues of agricultural economics and economic development, and

(2) a well established and successful set of other activities such as the Distinguished Visitor Series, Dinner-Seminar Programs, and the Cargill Internship. Some recent Distinguished Visitors have included:

• Kaushik Basu, Cornell University, "Game, Theory, Poverty Traps, and Rationality," and "Globalization and Labor Standards."
• Alan V. Deardorff, University of Michigan, "What Might Globalization's Critics Believe?"
• Robert E. Evenson, Yale University, "The Green Revolution in Developing Countries: An Economist's Assessment".
• Larry E. Westphal, Swarthmore College, "Industrialization Meets Globalization:Uncertain Reflections on East Asian Experience."
• Daniel Sumner, University of California at Davis, "Have We Turned the Corner? Recent Farm Policy Events in a Historical Context."
• Robert Bates, Harvard University, "The International Coffee Organization: An International Government of Coffee?"

Other speakers have included:

• Ben Senauer, University of Minnesota, "The Role of Poverty and Hunger Alleviation in U.S. Foreign Policy."
• Daniel Finn, St. John's University, "On the Ethics and Economics of International Trade."
• C. Ford Runge, University of Minnesota, "The Takings Controversy: Land Values and Agricultural Policy."
• Robert Townsend, University of Chicago, " Cropping Groups as Firms in a Semi-Arid Village Economy."

NOTE: If you would like a copy of any of these papers please contact the department.

• Merton Finkler, Lawrence University, “Whack-a-mole and Other Approaches to Health Care Cost Containment.”
• Gary Burtless, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, "Has Widening Inequality Been Helpful for American Economic Performance?"
• David Meiselman, Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University, "Whatever Happened to the Keynesian Revolution?"
• Mark Skidmore, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, "Natural Disasters, Investment, and Economic Growth: An Empirical Investigation."
• Joseph E. Stiglitz, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Development Economics, "Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis."
• Mark Montgomery, Grinnell College, "The Welfare Effects of Abandoning Affirmative Action in Admissions."
• Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas at Austin, "The Economics of Beauty."
• V. V. Chari, University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, "The Poverty of Nations: Back to Basics."
• Ed Lotterman, St. Paul Pioneer Press, "The Political Economy of Growth and Development in South America, 1985-2005: Disappointment and Hope."
• Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore College, "The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less."
• Stanley L. Engerman, John H. Munro Professor of Economics and Professor of History, University of Rochester, "Institutions and Differential Economic Growth in North and South America after 1400."

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