Christopher Pissarides Econ 490 fall 2019

When I was in high school, I used to spend my summers working at the local park district as a lifeguard and swim instructor. There was sort of a dual managerial system in place where one boss dealt more with the lifeguards and the other was in charge of running the aquatics programs such as swim lessons. Under them were the pool and scheduling managers that oversaw and were basically in charge of each of the three pools since the two bosses had office work that required their attention. The bottom rung of the ladder were the lifeguards and swim instructors that made up the majority of the employees in the aquatics department with the only thing differentiating them was experience. At two of the pools, things ran mediocrely. Some of the guards were inexperienced, but some of them were just lazy and inattentive. While this is obviously not OK, they could get away with it as all of the lifeguards were essentially watching the same pool and others would pick up their slack. The t...

Freshman year of college is a time for adjustment for most. Students have to get used to a new school, living away from home, a new way of learning, and taking a step into the "real" world. They have to start thinking about their futures more than ever before and that means taking advantage of opportunities that can lead to internships or even jobs down the line. One of the biggest opportunities on campus has to be the career fair, a place where companies from around the US try and recruit students for open positions. I, as a freshman, failed to take advantage of this opportunity. Looking back, I find this ridiculous and the reasons for not going even more so. As a freshman, I was very insecure. I was not accepted into the major of my choice, Computer Science, and as a result, was placed into pre-engineering. I feared I was not good enough to compete with the other students and was scared of trying. Honestly, I found the entire idea intimidating. Sometimes the biggest bar...

     Christopher A. Pissarides is a British-Cypriot economist and a professor of economics at the London School of Economics. Born in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1948, he received his bachelor's in economics in 1970 and later his master's in 1971 at the University of Essex. He proceeded to go to the London School of Economics where he earned his PhD in 1973 and three years later he became a professor at the very same institution.    Pissarides specializes in the economics of labor markets, macroeconomic policy, economic growth, and structural change. He is most known for his work and contributions towards Search and Matching Theory which focuses on the interactions between the economy and labor markets. When firms look for employees, they do not immediately find what they need. It requires time and resources for them to find what need resulting in market friction. This friction often times leads to a less than ideal outcome. Pissarides's work has helped in theses...