Skip to main content

Mike Walden

William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor Emeritus

Nelson Hall 3307

View CV 

Bio

About Michael Walden, Ph.D.

Michael L. Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist at North Carolina State University and a member of the Graduate Economics faculty with The Poole College of Management. Dr. Walden retired at the end of March 2021 and is now a Professor Emeritus.

Mike Walden speaking at the North Carolina Governor’s Mansion.

His Ph.D. degree is from Cornell University and he has been at NC State since 1978. He has also been a Visiting Professor at Duke University. He has served on several local and state level commissions. He currently teaches ARE 201 Introduction to Agricultural and Resource Economics.

Dr. Walden has teaching, research, and extension responsibilities at NC State University in the areas of consumer economics, economic outlook, and public policy. He has published eleven books and over 300 articles and reports, including the books North Carolina in the Connected Age in 2010 and North Carolina Beyond the Connected Age: The Tar Heel State in 2050 in 2017, both published by the UNC Press.

Active in his Element

See Michael’s studies and achievements and how they impact the ARE department.

NC State’s Index of North Carolina Leading Economic Indicators
March 2024

You Decide Biweekly Newspaper Column
Biweekly Newsletter

Studies in the North Carolina Economy

North Carolina Economic Outlook Series
NC Economic Outlook, 3rd Quarter 2021

CV
View Curriculum Vitae

Find Walden In the Media, on TV and on the Radio

With his wife, he is the co-author of three “economic thrillers”, Macro Mayhem, Micro Mischief, and Fiscal Fiasco, designed to teach economics in an entertaining way.

Dr. Walden can be frequently seen, heard, and read in the media. He has daily radio programs aired on stations around North Carolina for which he has won two national awards. He is often interviewed on local TV and radio news broadcasts, has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Fox Report, and the Newshour With Jim Lehrer, and is frequently quoted in such newspapers as USA Today, The News and Observer, The Charlotte Observer, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. His biweekly column, You Decide, is carried by over forty newspapers in the state. He has made over 2500 personal presentations.

Radio Program On The Airwaves – Mike and Mary Walden

Dr. Walden directs the semiannual economic forecast, The North Carolina Economic Outlook. He has won numerous academic and public awards, including two Champion-Tuck Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting, the UNC Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2010, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2013, and the Holladay Medal for Excellence from North Carolina State University in 2014.

His newest book, North Carolina Beyond the Connected Age: The Tar Heel State in 2050, was published in late 2017.

Books and Publications by Michael L. Walden

Re-Launch: How Families Can Be Renewed and the American Dream Revived in the New Independent Lifestyle of the Post-Pandemic Economy
Defiance Press & Publishing, LLC, Jan 13, 2022

North Carolina Beyond the Connected Age
The University of North Carolina Press, 2017.

North Carolina in the Connected Age
The University of North Carolina Press, 2008.

Battleground Business
Greenwood Press 2007, by Michael L. Walden and Peg Thoms, eds.,

Fiscal Fiasco
Iuniverse 2014, by Michael L. Walden and M.E. Whitman Walden

Macro Mayhem
Iuniverse 2006, by Michael L. Walden and M.E. Whitman Walden

Micro Mayhem
Iuniverse 2006, Michael L. Walden and M.E. Whitman Walden

Smart Economics: Commonsense Answers to Fifty Questions About Government, Business, and Households
Praeger, 2005

Everyday Economics, (eight editions)
Kendall-Hunt, 1997-2015

Economics and Consumer Decisions (three editions)
Prentice-Hall (192, 2001), Kendall-Hunt, 201

Economic Issues: Rhetoric and Reality
Prentice-Hall, 1995

Other Publications

View on Google Scholar

Selected Journal Articles by Michael L. Walden

 

“Occupational Change and Technological Unemployment in North Carolina,” 
Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 12-22.

“Active Versus Passive Management of State Pension Funds: Implications for Personal Finance,”
Journal of Financial Planning and Counseling, Vol. 26, 2015, 160-171.

“Economic and Political Determinants of Highway Spending in North Carolina” Growth and Change, Vol. 43, September 2012, 462-481,
by Walden, Michael L. and Gunce Eryuruk,

“Do Geographic Entry Restrictions Increase Car Prices?”  
The Review of Regional Studies, Vol. 35, Fall 2005, 231-245.

“A New Look at Husbands’ and Wives’ Time Allocation”
The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 38, Summer 2004, 81-106
By Alenezi, Mohammed and Michael L. Walden

“Dynamic Revenue Curves for North Carolina Taxes”
Public Budgeting and Finance, Vol. 22, No. 4, December 2003, pp. 13-17

“Improving Revenue Flows from the Property Tax”
Popular Government, Vol.. 69, Fall 2003, pp. 49-64.

“Absolute and Relative Consumption of Married U.S. Households in 1960 and 1996: The Cleavers Meet the Taylors”
The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 36, No. 1, Summer 2002, pp. 77-98

“Are Two Incomes Needed to Prosper Today?: Evidence from the 1960s to the 1990s”
The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 35, No 1. pp 141-161, Summer 2001.

“Determinants of Intrastate Variation in Teacher Salaries”
The Economics of Education Review, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2001, pp. 63-70
By Walden, Michael L. and Zulal Sogutlu

“Lags in Real Property Revaluations and Estimates of Shortfalls in Property Tax Collections in North Carolina”
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 34, No. 1, April 2002
By Walden, Michael L. and Zulal Denaux

“School Inputs and Educational Outcomes in North Carolina: Comparison of Static and Dynamic Analyses”
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, vol. 31, no. 3, December 1999 pp. 593-609, By Walden, Michael L. and Mark Sisak.

“Geographic Variation in Consumer Prices: Implications for Local Price Indices”
The Journal of Consumer Affairs, vol. 32, no.2, Winter 1998, pp. 204-226.

“How Much Income Variation Really Exists Within a State?”
Review of Regional Studies, vol. 27, no. 3, Winter 1997, pp. 237-250

“Testing Implications of Spatial Economics Models: Some Evidence from Food Retailing”
Journal of Consumer Affairs, Summer 1990, 24(1): 24-43.

“Why Unit Prices of Supermarket Products Vary”
Journal of Consumer Affairs, 1988, 22(1).

Check Out a Few Select Resources

Notable Awards and Recognitions

  • Recipient of the Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal for Excellence from
  • North Carolina State University, 2014
  • Awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2013; North Carolina State University Bulletin
  • “Order of Long Leaf Pine to Walden”
  • Recipient of the 2010 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service
  • UNC TV Video Link: UNC Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Public Service: Dr. Mike Walden (Flash plug-in required)
  • Named “Ambassador of Agriculture” by NC Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler, at a ceremony at the new Steve Troxler Agricultural Services Building on Reedy Creek Rd. May 2021