A longer title for yours truly

As of yesterday, and subject to approval by the Regents of the university, I now have a "zero budget" appointment at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. A "zero budget" appointment is Michigan-speak for what most other places call a "courtesy appointment". Among other things, this means I can now refer to myself as "Professor of Economics and Public Policy."

I sought the appointment because I hope to become somewhat more involved at the Ford School. I taught at the Harris School at Chicago during my gradual student days and really enjoyed interacting with the MPP students there, as well as with the multi-disciplinary faculty. I expect the same to be true at Michigan.

One nice feature of both Michigan and Chicago is that their policy schools are not named after people I would be embarrassed to be associated with, like John F. Kennedy or Woodrow Wilson.