Ford School Public Events

Immigration is increasingly changing the composition of the American population. From 1970 to 2003, the foreign-born share of the U.S. population increased from less than 5% to more than 12%. Though this dramatic increase has occurred disproportionately in a few regions, the effects of immigration are increasingly felt across the country. Alongside this rapid increase, debate regarding the effects of immigration has also ramped up. Key issues in this debate include the possible economic impacts of low-skill immigration on the low-skill native population, and the potential benefits of selective or high-skill immigration to fill key employment gaps.

Experts differ markedly in their beliefs regarding the effects of immigration (economically and culturally) and the appropriate goals of U.S. immigration policy. In Immigration, Public Policy and the Skills Debate two distinguished scholars will present work addressing this important topic. The Ford School engages in this conversation with the goal of furthering a balanced and thoughtful U.S. immigration policy.

Nine graduate students at University of Michigan's Taubman College in the urban planning program and two faculty advisors have explored these issues for the last eight months. They've traveled to communities across North America to highlight innovative practices in the production, processing and distribution of food. Together, these case studies illustrate the components of an alternative: a more community-based, sustainable food system. They reveal the practical steps that individuals, businesses, government and community organizations can take to help build this more sustainable alternative.

Dallas Burtraw is Senior Fellow at Resources for the Future, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research - rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences - on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues. He is a 1986 alumnus of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and received his BS in 1980 in community economic development from the University of California-Davis. Burtraw earned his PhD in economics at the University of Michigan in 1989.

Burtraw's research interests include the design of environmental regulation, the costs and benefits of environmental regulation, and the regulation and restructuring of the electricity industry. Recently, Burtraw investigated the effects on the value of assets of electricity generation companies of alternative approaches to implementing emissions permit trading programs. He is evaluating the use of emission trading to achieve carbon emission reductions in the EU. He also has helped to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of trading programs for nitrogen dioxide in the eastern United States and sulfur dioxide trading programs under the Clean Air Act Amendments. He also contributed to the valuation of the benefits of ecological improvements due to reduced acidification in the Adirondacks.

Reception to follow.

Allan Stam, U-M Professor of Political Science and Faculty Associate at the Center for Political Studies, will discuss the genocide, civil war, vendetta killings and random violence that took place in Rwanda in 1994.

Reception and booksigning to follow.

Kristin Seefeldt, a Research Investigator at the Ford School and Assistant Director of the National Poverty Center, will speak from her new book, published December, 2008 by the W.E. Upjohn Institute.

Panelists: John C. Austin, Director, New Economy Initiative & Vice President, Michigan Board of Education, State of Michigan.
Charles L. Ballard, Professor of Economics, Michigan State University & Director of the MSU State of the State Survey
Kim Hill, Director, Automotive Communities Program and Associate Director, Economics and Business Group, Center for Automotive Research.
Christopher Hayter, Program Director, Economic Development Program, National Governor's Association
Moderator: Paul Courant, Dean of Libraries and Harold T. Shapiro Collegiate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Michigan

Hosted by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. Co-sponsored by the Ford School of Public Policy. [Details]

Prospective students interested in applying to the BA program (admit term Fall 2009) should plan to attend this information session. The BA Program Faculty Director, John Chamberlin, and the Ford School Admissions Staff will walk students through the application process, answer questions about the admissions timeline and speak to the degree requirements.