Economics of Poverty Workshop: A Half-Day Primer on the Economics and Statistics of Poverty
Krishna Pendakur, SFU Professor of Economics, is offering an exciting half-day, free workshop on the economics and statistics of poverty:
Link to online description here
Economics of Poverty Workshop: A Half-Day Primer on the Economics and Statistics of Poverty
Wednesday June 17, 2009
9:30am to 12:30pm (includes lunch)
SFU Harbour Centre, Room TBA
Cost: Free
The workshop is open to those who advocate on behalf of issues of low-income people and who want to learn how to increase the effectiveness of their interactions with governments.
Please see below for workshop invitation for more details.
Space is limited, so please register early to ensure a seat. To register, please complete the registration form and email it to (Jennifer Hales) at economicsofpoverty@gmail.com by Monday June 8.
Learn how to increase the effectiveness of your interactions with governments: Since politicians and government bureaucrats speak the languages of economics and statistics, increased economic and quantitative literacy may help you better communicate and advocate for poor peoples' issues.
The economic issues to be covered in the workshop include:
Part 1: Why are people poor and what policies are relevant?
a) Education c) Income transfers e) Refundable tax benefits
b) Minimum wages d) Payroll taxes f) Pensions
Part 2: What are the economic effects of poverty?
a) How persistent is poverty?
b) How are high rents and low incomes related to homelessness?
c) Homelessness and individual problems---two-way causality
Workshop agenda:
9:30 Registration/Coffee, tea, muffins
9:45 Workshop Part 1: Why are People Poor and What Policies are Relevant? (55 min)
10:40 Break (10 min)
10:50 Workshop Part 2: What are the Economic Effects of Poverty? (55 min)
11:45 Lunch (lunch will be provided)
12:30 End of Workshop
At the end of this workshop, you will:
1. Have an increased ability to talk about the economics of poverty and anti-poverty programs with government types, and
2. Have an increased awareness and understanding of the magnitudes of effects that policy people worry about. For example, many advocacy people find it offensive when policy people talk about the way welfare makes people not want to work. Knowledge of the empirical magnitude of this effect, learned in the workshop, may be helpful to you.
Take-homes: Hand-outs will be provided.
TO REGISTER: E-mail a completed registration form to Jennifer Hales at: economicsofpoverty@gmail.com
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: Monday June 8, 2009. SPACE IS LIMITED SO REGISTER EARLY!
Krishna Pendakur is a Professor of Economics at Simon Fraser University http://www.sfu.ca/~pendakur/ and Co-Director of the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Diversity at Metropolis British Columbia http://mbc.metropolis.net. He has done research on the economics of poverty, inequality and discrimination in Canada and around the world for the past 15 years. E-mail: pendakur@sfu.ca; Phone: 778-782-5501;