More on Me, My Background,
and Economics

I am an adventurous person who enjoys experiencing new cultures, both through traveling and living abroad. I have a past in the Swedish military and have worked on two missions in Kosovo, which was a fascinating experience and where I also picked up some Serbian. I have also worked for the Swedish Foreign Ministry in Kaliningrad, Russia, where I went twice for 16 months in total. With a fascination for new cultures, I like learning new languages.

I knew that economics was my field when I took my first economics class in my second semester at Lund University. I will never forget my Economics 101’s professor’s pedagogic discussions about the trade-offs between beer and sausage consumption. My East European experiences made me particularly interested in understanding the connection between institutions, policies and cultures on the one hand, and economic development and growth on the other. At George Mason University, I found the perfect environment for further exploring these topics as I pursued my Ph.D.

I have discovered the value in understanding foreign cultures and institutions as an economist in the fields of development and political economy. Spending time in Eastern Europe gave me insights into how different, dysfunctional and corruption politics and government bureaucracies can be in some countries and how that affects people’s behavior. These experiences are useful, both for understanding the theories about such phenomena and for telling personally experienced anecdotes when teaching economics.

I am passionate about teaching and economic research, and I hope to find a healthy combination of the two as I pursue my career as a Ph.D. In my research, I want to look further into some topics that I have written about previously, including special economic zones, fiscal benefit policies and municipal bankruptcies.

Teaching Experience

George Mason University
Economics Department

Summer, 2012
Macroeconomic Principles

Fall, 2012
Intermediate Macroeconomics

Spring, 2013
International Economic Policy

Fall, 2013
Intermediate Macroeconomics

Spring, 2014
International Economics

Fall, 2014
International Economics