We hope you enjoy these top news stories about TFAS activities, alumni and events this week. Please visit us on social media for additional up-to-the-moment TFAS news and information and sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly updates.
TFAS alumni, staff and faculty continue to provide coverage of COVID-19. Read their analysis, information and tips by visiting this week’s “Quick Links.”
TFAS Podcast: Doing Bad by Doing Good
Economist Dr. Christopher Coyne joins us for a discussion on why state-led humanitarian efforts and regulations that intend to do good, often end up doing harm. Dr. Coyne uses economic analysis to examine the limits of state aid during times of crisis, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Coyne is the F.A. Harper Professor of Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a professor of economics for The Fund for American Studies (TFAS).
You can listen to our conversation above or read a transcription at TFAS.org/PodcastEp3. This episode was released this week on the TFAS “Liberty + Leadership” Podcast. To never miss an episode, subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google or your favorite podcasting app.
Capital Semester Students Virtually Connect to TFAS Alumni Network
Thanks to video conferencing technology, the spring TFAS students have had the opportunity to meet virtually with numerous alumni and faculty for engaging discussion sessions, briefings and guest lectures. TFAS D.C. Summer Program alumna Lois Goh ’13 spoke with Capital Semester students via video discussion to share networking tips and advice on working in Washington.
University of Indiana Bloomington student Hunter Grate ’20 said that he found Goh’s advice reassuring as he and his classmates prepare to complete their TFAS semester virtually amid the growing uncertainty of the global coronavirus pandemic.
“Lois was very helpful in encouraging us to continue working toward our goals,” said Grate. “She reassured us that even though we are struggling with this experience right now, if we work hard enough we will achieve great things in the future despite the ongoing crisis.”
Read more about their meeting at TFAS.org/CSAlumniVirtual.
Economics Lesson of the Week: Incentives, Innovations, and Roles of Institutions
As the spread of COVID-19 causes high schools across the country to close their doors, TFAS is providing resources to help our teachers and parents continue the important task of educating our nation’s future leaders. Each week, we’ll feature a different lesson from our high school programming division – the Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE).
This week’s lesson is “Incentives, Innovations, and Roles of Institutions.” This lesson uses examples, video clips and a risk-reward mini activity to teach the relationship between innovation and economic growth. At the end of this lesson students will be able to:
- Differentiate between invention and innovation.
- Provide examples of the costs and benefits of innovation.
- Explain the relationship between innovation, productivity and economic growth.
- Explain the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth.
- Identify institutions that encourage entrepreneurship.
Downloadable lesson guides and slides provide instructions. TFAS offers a plethora of online lesson plans, readings, handouts, video demonstrations and hands-on activity guides to teach the “economic way of thinking” in engaging and relatable ways. Visit TFAS.org/FTELessons for a one-stop guide to our available resources.
Post Of The Week
Will you help us send notes of encouragement to the Spring TFAS Class? Our Capital Semester students are finishing the semester virtually and can’t have a proper closing ceremony in Washington, D.C., so we need your help to give them the best welcome into the TFAS family. Please share your messages of advice, congratulations and well-wishes by commenting on our Facebook or Instagram posts. Thank you!
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QUICK LINKS
TFAS Alumni + Friends Cover COVID-19 Concerns
Reporter and photographer, Wes Parnell ’17, ’18, captures photos of New Yorkers helping their neighbors in need in this piece for New York Daily News.
Kaitlin Durbin ’11 shares how health care workers in the cities of Detroit and Toledo have united in their mission to combat COVID-19 in an article for The Blade.
Jacki Deason ’97 opines for RealClear Politics on what a prolonged nationwide shutdown could mean for American deaths.
Haley Britzky ’16 reports for Task & Purpose on the nearly 27,000 former U.S. soldiers who responded to the Army’s call for medical professionals to help fight COVID-19,
Ryan Lovelace, Novak ’17, reports for The Washington Times on protests over Amazon’s warehouse working conditions during the coronavirus crisis.
Puja Awasthi ’10 shares how bankers in India have maintained their traditional duties while advising customers on coronavirus misinformation in an article for The Week.
Oriana Pawlyk ’10 says the Air Force plans to maintain long-term social distancing practices until a vaccine is developed to fight COVID-19 in a piece for Military.com.
Kari Travis ’12 reports for the Carolina Journal on the governor of North Carolina’s move to expand unemployment eligibility as the state remains overwhelmed with claims.
Vanja Dolapcev ’13, ’17 discusses the Serbian government’s lack of transparency in the fight against COVID-19 in a blog post for the European Policy Centre.
Matthew Continetti, Novak ’08, opines for National Review on the need for improved U.S. foreign policy to face challenges from China.
Graham Kilmer ’15 reports that 1 in 7 U.S. workers have filed for unemployment during the COVID-19 outbreak in an article for Urban Milwaukee.
Sarah Westwood, Novak ’15, reports for CNN Politics on pleas from the livestock industry for more federal aid.
Erin Mundahl, Novak ’16, reports for Western Wire on President Trump’s plans to reopen national parks and public lands during “National Parks Week.”
Palisades Charter High School student, Michelle Margiotta, is creating snack packs for families in the Los Angeles Ronald McDonald House. She was accepted to the Foundation for Teaching Economics’ “Economics for Leaders” program at Cornell this summer. Read more about how Michelle is making a difference from home in this feature in the Palisadian-Post.
Cecília Lopes ’19 analyzes coronavirus responses by female leaders across the globe in a piece for Terraço Econômico.
MORE TFAS NEWS
Tim Alberta, Novak ’18, sat down with former congressman Justin Amash to discuss the political landscape after the recent announcement of Amash launching an exploratory committee to run for president. Read their interview in Politico Magazine.
Laura Vanderkam ’99, Novak ’06, shares tips on how to make the most of time during the weekends while working from home in her advice column for Forge.
Helen Andrews, Novak ’17, and Curt Mills, Novak ’18, are featured in a Vanity Fair article about their efforts to make The American Conservative the go-to publication of the right.
Naomi Schaefer Riley, Novak ’01, opines about Harvard professor Elizabeth Bartholet’s claim that homeschooling is “child abuse” in a piece for Education Next.
Peter Suderman, Novak ’10, opines for Reason on how national debt concerns have shifted in the GOP over the years.