We were honored to host Clemson University economist Scott Baier in our Liberty over lunch class on September 22nd. Professor Baier presented his working paper, “Gravity with Global Trade Shocks.” Using a Bayesian Gibbs sampling approach, he and his coauthor help resolve the distance puzzle (that estimates often show an increase in the importance of distance over time) that are often present in gravity equation analyses. The paper also shows that economic integration agreements contribute to trade growth.

He also shared stories about his work on the Council of Economic Advisors from 2007-2008.