Student Spotlight
Student Spotlight: Catherine Etchart
Majors: Economics (Concentration in Financial Economics & Econometrics) and ACMS
Class: Senior, Formerly in Badin
Hometown: Helena, Montana
What made you choose Economics?
I chose to study Economics because of the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of people, firms, and nations through a quantitative investigation of their behaviors and choices. Additionally, I believe that studying Economics at Notre Dame offers students a unique chance to explore methods of enacting positive social global change using economic applications.
What Econ related activities are you involved in or have been involved in (research etc.)?
President of the Economics Club, Former Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) Research Assistant
What have your favorite classes been?
Financial Econometrics
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started out the major?
One thing that I wish I knew entering the major was to be more proactive about asking questions and going to office hours for matters outside of exams and problem sets. The Economics professors are such valuable resources for advice concerning Economics-related research opportunities, careers, and course selection, and office hours are a great opportunity to pick their brains on any econ-related matter.
What is the worst/best Econ joke you've ever heard?
"The economist's standard reply after hearing positive results from some pragmatic policy initiative: 'That's all very well and good in practice. Let's see how it works in theory.'" OR I would tell you an economics joke, but there's just not enough demand!
Student Spotlight: Connor Murphy
Majors: Economics and ACMS
Class: Senior, Duncan
Hometown: Portland, OR
What made you choose Economics?
I wanted to study economics
What Econ related activities are you involved in or have been involved in (research etc.)?
Vice President of the Economics Club, research, LEO, worked as a TA
How do you plan to use the Econ major?
I would eventually like to pursue a graduate degree in Economics or Public Policy
What have your favorite classes been?
Intermediate Macro
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started out the major?
Take advantage of the electives
What is the coolest/oddest thing you have learned in Econ?
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson's use of European settler mortality rates as an instrument for quality of current institutions
What is the worst/best Econ joke you've ever heard?
“Knock Knock," “Who’s there?” “Janet Yellen” “Well there’s no need to shout, I heard you knocking"
Student Spotlight: Grace Campanile
Majors: Economics and Marketing
Class: Junior, Lewis
Hometown: Chicago, IL
What Econ related activities are you involved in or have been involved in (research etc.)?
I am the Finance Officer for the Econ Club and am also Co-President of the Federal Reserve and Fiscal Challenge Club.
What have your favorite classes been?
My favorite class that I have taken is Game Theory
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started out the major?
One thing I wish I would have known when I started out Econ was how applicable the skills I have learned in Econ are to other disciplines.
What is the worst/best Econ joke you've ever heard?
"President Truman once said he wants an economic adviser who is one handed. Why? Because normally the economists giving him economic advice state, "On one hand and on the other...""
Student Spotlight: Matthew Green
Majors: Economics, ACMS, Studio Art Minor
Class: Senior, Formerly in Dillon
Hometown: Helena, Montana
What made you choose Economics?
Initially, I declared my Econ major because I had enjoyed AP Macro/Micro in high school. But I very quickly realized that the fundamental themes in economics: scarcity, utility, supply and demand, moral hazard, comparative advantage, game theory, etc. permeate all aspects of human decision-making and behavior, not just in economic or financial situations. I appreciate studying economics holistically as a way to understand of human behavior within a more empirical framework.
What Econ related activities are you involved in or have been involved in (research etc.)?
Networking and Apparel Commissioner for the Economics Club, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) Undergraduate Research Assistant
How do you plan to use the Econ major?
Economics has certainly catalyzed my appreciation for our ability to leverage good data to produce powerful insights, whether it be in our understanding of immigration, healthcare, or market trends to name a few. Going forward, I plan to use my Econ major to build upon the more "applied side" of economics through research and analysis in the data science field.
What have your favorite classes been?
In the Econ curriculum, Intermediate Macro with Prof. Pries.
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started out the major?
I wish I'd started pursuing research opportunities earlier, as well as getting to know the faculty (and their research) better. They're a fun group(!) and they're doing such interesting work that many students may not know about.
What is the coolest/oddest thing you have learned in Econ?
There have been so many! I took Prof. Kevin Donovan's Developmental Economics class my freshman year, and I remember being introduced to the concepts of microfinance, unconditional cash transfers, and the work of Muhammad Yunus -- I found this to be such an interesting concept because it lowers barriers to entry for entrepreneurs in developing countries, while also encouraging financial independence and autonomy.
Student Spotlight: Therese Bonomo
Majors: Economics and Math
Class: Senior, Welsh Fam
Hometown: Hermitage, PA
What made you choose Economics?
I’ve always been really interested in both public policy and math. Economics has allowed me to combine both of these interests by evaluating different programs and policies quantitatively to analyze the impacts they have on real people.
What Econ related activities are you involved in or have been involved in (research etc.)?
In addition to serving as the Special Events Commissioner for the Economics Club, I’ve been a research assistant with LEO for the last two years and am currently writing a thesis evaluating the impacts of a federal tax on carbon emissions.
How do you plan to use the Econ major?
Next year I’ll be working as a research assistant at UChicago with two professors studying public policy as it relates to household finance. After that I hope to go on to a PhD program in Economics and eventually become an Economics professor
What have your favorite classes been?
Environmental Economics
What is one thing you wish you had known when you started out the major?
I wish I had known just how many things you can do with Econ and how broad of a subject it really is. For a lot of people, when they hear “economics” they think “finance”, but there are so many other cool paths you can go down within economics that not everyone knows about
What is the coolest/oddest thing you have learned in Econ?
The Tie Width Indicator: The average width of ties being sold gets smaller during times of recession. Basically, when skinny ties are “in” it’s a sign that the economy is doing poorly
What is the worst/best Econ joke you've ever heard?
Q: Why did God create economists? A: In order to make weather forecasters look good.
Spotlight
The summer after his sophomore year, Notre Dame senior J.P. Bruno was packaging maple syrup, taking care of honeybees, and tending to an orchard on a biodynamic farm in Vermont. Three weeks later, he was sitting in the White House, interning for the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) as part of...