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2015

Dec 30, 2015

You decide: Will the economy improve in 2016?

This is the time of year when economists shine – or at least they try to. The early weeks of a new year are always the period when College of Agriculture and Life Sciences economist Mike Walden receives the largest number of speaking requests. "Even if people know my colleagues and I have cloudy – some say foggy with hot air (!) – crystal balls, they still want to know what we’re thinking about the future," he writes in his latest You Decide column. 

Dec 28, 2015

Should we fear deflation?

Several countries have been experiencing deflation. This means that prices, on average, have been falling. In the United States, there has been aversion to deflation, because it evokes the image of falling prices and falling wages from both depressions and recessions. Should we try to avoid it? NC State University economist Mike Walden answers. 

Dec 21, 2015

Responses to a higher minimum wage

Efforts to increase the minimum wage are taking place around the country, including here in North Carolina. Workers in minimum-wage jobs benefit from a higher wage rate, but some say there are downsides related to the impact on prices and to employment in minimum wage jobs. NC State University economist Mike Walden considers the evidence. 

Dec 18, 2015

You Decide: Can We Make Sense of North Carolina’s Jobless Rate?

When it comes to interpreting apparently conflicting unemployment statistics, Mike Walden shows that the key is understanding how the statistics are derived. 

Dec 17, 2015

Congratulations, graduates

Each December excitement builds across campus as the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ soon-to-be graduates parade in red robes and graduate degree candidates don their black robes and hoods for the university’s commencement ceremony. This fall, CALS awarded associate degrees to 41 students in the Agricultural Institute, as well as 173 bachelor's, 65 master's and 32 doctoral degrees. 

Dec 17, 2015

CALS Leadership Programs Updates

A Review of 2015 CALS Leadership Programs and what's to come in 2016 

Dec 17, 2015

North Carolina Public Leadership Development Seminar Premieres!

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is partnering with the North Carolina Farm Bureau to offer a seminar in public leadership development 

Dec 14, 2015

Who owns the national debt?

The national debt has topped $18 trillion. There's a perception that most of this money is owed to foreign investors, but as NC State University economist Mike Walden explains, this isn't the case. 

Dec 9, 2015

Stewards of the Future: Water Quality

JoAnn Burkholder, Robert Reed and Elle Allen of NC State University's Center for Applied Ecology discuss efforts to ensure safer drinking water for hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians. 

Dec 8, 2015

Gut bacteria important in roach gathering

North Carolina State University entomology research shows that bacteria in the gut of German cockroaches play a major role in how the cockroaches gather together, or aggregate. The findings could…