Steven Landsburg

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Education

Professor Landsburg was an undergraduate at the University of Rochester, but never completed his undergraduate requirements due to his failure to take a physical education course. He was awarded a Masters degree after he enrolled in his own course when he became a professor at the school. Landsburg received a PhD in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1979.

He also spent time at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. [ [http://www.landsburg.com/weil.htm Andre Weil: 1906-1998 ] ] [ [http://www.ifp.uiuc.edu/~junchen/Andre%20Weil.htm Andre Weil by Steven E ] ]

Writings and work

Popular writings

Landsburg currently writes a column on "everyday economics" for "Slate" magazine. The subjects of the columns are diverse and often draw on current affairs. Landsburg has discussed the national debt, the obesity crisis, payments to Hurricane Katrina evacuees in New Orleans and salary caps in the NFL. Alternatively, Landsburg dicusses recent research in micro-economics and its implications. In this vein, he has discussed the value of mobile phones and driving, the (career) cost of motherhood, and whether or not daughters (as opposed to sons) cause divorce.

Landsburg has been particularly critical of environmentalism as usually considered, devoting both "Slate" columns and book chapters (in "The Armchair Economist") to attack environmentalist principles. As a self-described "hardcore libertarian", Landsburg emphasizes the importance of individual choice [ [http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_04_22-2007_04_28.shtml#1177382131 The Volokh Conspiracy ] ] . This position extends to health care, and his view that those who choose no insurance should not receive (potentially life saving) treatment [ [http://www.slate.com/id/2133518/ Do the poor deserve life support? - By Steven E. Landsburg - Slate Magazine ] ] . This position was asserted partly as a response to [http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/14/151930/63 an article] published by Daily Kos .

Landsburg supports free trade and opposes protectionism, and his writings in the topic have appeared in various newspapers and magazines, including the "New York Times" [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16landsburg.html What to Expect When You’re Free Trading - New York Times ] ] and the "Washington Post". Landsburg's comparison of protectionism to racism in "Forbes" magazine [ [http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/0328/046.html Xenophobia and Politics - Forbes.com ] ] prompted a response from Pat Buchanan [ [http://www.amconmag.com/2005_04_11/buchanan.html Is Protectionism Racism? ] ] . On April 8, 2005, Landsburg debated protectionism and free trade with John Gibson on the Fox News Channel's "The Big Story" [ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153081,00.html FOXNews.com - Is Buying American Racist? - John Gibson | Judge Napolitano | John Gibson | Big Story Weekend ] ] . Before the 2004 presidential election Landsburg stated that he planned to vote against John Kerry because of his belief that John Edwards, Kerry's running mate, was a "xenophobe" due to his opposition to free trade. He compared Edwards' views to David Duke's racism [ [http://slate.com/id/2108714/ Slate votes. - - Slate Magazine ] ] .

He has also reviewed popular economics books " Freakonomics" [ [http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006550 The Wall Street Journal Online - Leisure & Arts ] ] and "The Undercover Economist" [ [http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110007555 The Wall Street Journal Online - Leisure & Arts ] ] for the "Wall Street Journal."

In much of his work, he has emphasized the importance of regarding economists as both scientists and highly specialized professionals.

Academic writings

Landsburg's articles in academic journals have dealt with many fields, including algebraic K-theory, module patching, quantum game theoryFact|date=November 2007, philosophy of science and moral philosophy.

Selected publications follow.

Mathematics

* [http://www.landsburg.com/ktp.pdf "K"-theory and patching for categories of complexes] , "Duke Mathematics Journal", Vol. 62, No. 2, March 1991, pp. 359-384.
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-9327(198908)111%3A4%3C599%3ARCAA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 Relative Cycles and Algebraic "K"-Theory] , "American Journal of Mathematics", Vol. 111, No. 4, August 1989, pp. 599-632.

Teaching

Professor Landsburg teaches intermediate and advanced microeconomics and introductory and intermediate macroeconomics at the University of Rochester [ [http://listener.uis.rochester.edu/cgi-bin/Registrar/zippy/ECO* Class Description Lookup ] ] . He was promoted from adjunct associate professor to professor during the 2005-2006 academic year and in 2007 he received the University's Professor of the Year in Social Sciences award [ [http://media.www.campustimes.org/media/storage/paper371/news/2007/04/19/News/Professor.Of.The.Year.Recipients.Honored-2852507.shtml Professor of the Year recipients honored - News ] ] .

Personal

For several years, Landsburg served on the board of directors of Hutchison Technology, a manufacturer of suspension assemblies for disk drives.

Landsburg lives in Rochester, NY. In his spare time he reads poetry and enjoys crossword puzzles. He has one daughter, named Cayley, who was featured in his book Fair Play.

Books

* "Price Theory and Applications" (1989)
* "The Armchair Economist" (1993)
* "Macroeconomics" (1996)
* "Fair Play" (1997)
* "More Sex is Safer Sex, and Other Surprises" (2007)
* "A Mathematical Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology" (unreleased)

References

External links

* [http://www.landsburg.com/ Steven Landsburg's personal webpage]
* [http://www.slate.com/default.aspx?id=2077581&qt=&qt10=&qt22=&qt66=Landsburg&dfrom=&dto=&x=18&y=7 Landsburg's column at Slate]
* [http://landsburg.swlearning.com/ Price Theory and Applications]
* City News Interview of Landsburg: [http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A3794 Part One] , [http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A3827 Part Two]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/books/review/Leonhardt.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss New York Times review of "More Sex Is Safer Sex"]