Departments Department of Economics

Northeastern doctoral student Urbashee Paul is no stranger to the challenges that stem from economic inequality. Raised in a lower middle class family in Dhaka, Bangladesh, she experienced first-hand the crippling effects of poverty and inequality. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Her family broke the cycle of poverty. She wants to do the same for others.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Urbashee Paul witnessed from an early age the crippling effects of poverty and inequality. Motivated by her own odyssey, Paul is pursuing a doctoral degree in economics at Northeastern, and hopes to find ways to mitigate the economic inequality young people may face later in life.

by Khalida Sarwari October 22, 2019

Here’s what the impeachment inquiry means for the U.S. economy—and for you.

It is difficult to determine the reasons for movement in the stock market, says Robert Triest, chair and professor of Northeastern’s Department of Economics. Uncertainty can lead to volatility in the market, he notes; but in this case he points out that the launching of a formal inquiry should have been anticipated.

by Ian Thomsen September 26, 2019

Northeastern graduate Ayo Oshinaike has built a platform to simplify recipe hunting and cooking for millennials who crave convenience. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Learn how to cook like Gordon Ramsay, from the comfort of your own phone

Northeastern graduate Ayo Oshinaike has built a platform that will simplify recipe hunting and cooking for people who crave convenience.

by Khalida Sarwari September 2, 2019

President Donald Trump takes questions during a press conference on the third and final day of the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France Monday, Aug. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

What’s really at stake in the trade war between the US and China?

The tariffs that leaders in the United States and China imposed upon each other’s countries likely won’t have a huge effect on either economy, according to Northeastern economics professor William Dickens. But, he says, the underlying political brinkmanship could.

by Molly Callahan August 26, 2019

Emily Shanny, who graduated from Northeastern in 2015 with an economics degree, now works as a multidisciplinary artist in New York. Her first studio album, Swirl Diet, was released on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, in February. Photo courtesy of Emily Shanny.

Living her best life as an artist in New York City

Northeastern alumna Emily Shanny is surrounded by art everywhere she goes, from the schools and studios in which she teaches yoga, to the recording studio in Brooklyn where she makes music, down to the notebooks that contain her etchings.

by Khalida Sarwari March 25, 2019

Faculty Expert

Madhavi Venkatesan

Assistant Teaching Professor

A cleric and a woman walk past an anti-U.S. mural painted on the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, May. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

So the US has pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. What does that mean to me?

President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the landmark international nuclear deal with Iran, announcing that stringent economic sanctions against Tehran will be reinstated. “How we’re better off in terms of U.S. national security, I’m not entirely clear,” said political science professor and terrorism theorist Max Abrahms.

by Greg St. Martin May 11, 2018

EpiPen’s pricing debacle and its impact on patients, insurers

A firestorm erupted this week in response to the pharmaceutical company Mylan’s sharp increase in the price of its EpiPen, a life-saving treatment for severe allergic reactions. The company quickly backtracked, announcing a rebate plan. Here, three Northeastern faculty members—pharmacist Tayla Rose, healthcare finance expert Steven Pizer, and health policy researcher Gary Young—explain the clinical, economic, and policy implications of the controversy.

by Thea Singer August 26, 2016

Survey finds youth in Boston summer jobs program gain job readiness skills, higher academic aspirations

After youth participated in Boston’s summer jobs program, a greater number reported having job readiness skills, higher academic aspirations, and improved connections with their neighborhoods—with the largest gains in some areas among minority groups—according to a new report co-authored by Northeastern’s Alicia Sasser Modestino.

by Greg St. Martin June 28, 2016

05/03/16 - BOSTON, MA. - Wendy Chu SSHÕ15 poses for a portrait on May 3, 2016. Photo by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

Meet the graduates: Wendy Chu

Wendy Chu chose to attend Northeastern because she felt the university “stretched the definition of a college student.” Chu’s many accomplishments include a co-op at a White House initiative, studying political theory and sustainable urban development on Dialogues in China and the Netherlands, and working across marketing, business development, and project management teams at student-led and tech startups. “I’ll remember that anything felt possible here,” she says. This fall, she will attend Harvard Law School.

by Greg St. Martin May 4, 2016