David ZILBERMAN

Empowerment, development and generosity-Remembering Uma Lele at Oxford

3 Comments / Blog, Friends, Family, and Role Models /

Last week, I participated in a workshop sponsored by the International Association of Agricultural Economists at Oxford honoring the late Uma Lele. The workshop made me appreciate what a creative, dynamic, and consequential agricultural economist she was. It also gave me an opportunity to stay at Christ Church College, and think about universities, tradition, excellence, […]

Empowerment, development and generosity-Remembering Uma Lele at Oxford Read More »

Remembering Eithan Hochman: Scholar, Mentor, Adventurer, and Friend

1 Comment / Blog, Friends, Family, and Role Models /

Professor Eithan Hochman of the Hebrew University, a graduate of our department at Berkeley, a frequent visitor to Berkeley, and a collaborator and friend of many of us, passed away in Rehovot, Israel, at the age of 95. Eithan was an important part of my life for more than fifty years, and in many ways,

Remembering Eithan Hochman: Scholar, Mentor, Adventurer, and Friend Read More »

Combining Knowledge with Fun in Ravello

1 Comment / Blog /

The emergence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the mid-1990s raised major questions. What would their impact be on yields, costs, profitability, pesticide use, and the environment? Who would benefit from the technology, and who might lose? How should intellectual property rights be managed? What were the implications for international trade, and what role would

Combining Knowledge with Fun in Ravello Read More »

Bruce McCarl: An Unsung Hero of Climate Change Economics

9 Comments / Blog, Friends, Family, and Role Models /

Around 1985, a large, imposing, energetic man walked into my office and began telling me about his research on technology adoption and farm-system choices. He introduced himself as Bruce McCarl from Oregon State. I had just finished a paper on adoption, and I was embarrassed that I had ignored his work. So I read some

Bruce McCarl: An Unsung Hero of Climate Change Economics Read More »

Learning About Environment and Faith 

Leave a Comment / Blog, Economics, Finance, and Others /

Several weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a series of University of Notre Dame conferences on environmental sustainability—first in Castel Gandolfo and now in Rome. The project was inspired by Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si'(“Praised Be”), which framed care for the planet as an urgent moral responsibility closely linked to human dignity and justice, particularly for

Learning About Environment and Faith  Read More »

Learning enjoying and assessing AI

3 Comments / Blog, Economics, Finance, and Others /

In early February, I participated in the Ashby Workshop on the social impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), held at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia. The workshop was organized by Fathom, a philanthropy-supported nonprofit, and brought together about 150 participants under strict no-attribution and no-recording rules. The group was deliberately multidisciplinary, including AI researchers, scientists, ethicists, economists, and policymakers.

Learning enjoying and assessing AI Read More »

Understanding Paradigms in Science, Life, and Economics – Based on Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

7 Comments / Blog, Economics, Finance, and Others /

I got a wonderful gift from Thomas Reardon, a volume of Thomas Kuhn’s classics. I should have read it before, but I didn’t, and reading it, I understood why it’s a “great” book. It presents a convincing conceptual framework, compelling narrative without excessive jargon, and presents interesting and clear examples. The book presents an original

Understanding Paradigms in Science, Life, and Economics – Based on Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Read More »

Scroll to Top