Erin Cottle Hunt

What I’m teaching:

Principles of Economics

What I’m researching:

“I’m a behavioral public macro economist. The behavioral part means I study a type of economics where we try to describe why people don’t save. It’s a new branch of economics that’s interesting and really fun. As a public economist, I study the U.S. government, particularly the uncertainty of Social Security reforms and how that impacts the savings decisions made by households today.”

What drew me to Lafayette:

“I really admire President Byerly’s push to expand the size of the college and the strategic direction of the campus. The economics department is relatively large and has several macro economists and multiple tenured faculty in economics, and that’s not always true at other schools. I could have been the only female macro economics professor or the only behavioral economist at other schools, but here I’m one of many, and that reflects the values that I perceive are important here.”

What students can expect:

“My style is very interactive. Economics has a reputation for being really dry—lecture, draw a graph, and solve math problems. It’s true that we’re going to draw graphs and solve math problems, but it’s not true that I’m going to lecture students for an hour and 15 minutes. Each of my class sessions will have activities, work in groups or as whole class. It will be an interactive experience where we can discover together.”

What I’m holding:

“Aggie, my two-year old golden retriever. Aggie represents my love of the outdoors and my desire to get to know people. This dog wants nothing more than to be outside meeting new friends. He loves joining me and my spouse when we hike, run, fish, cross-country ski, and generally just hang out together. Aggie doesn’t come to work with me yet—he’s still a little too young, but he does come on campus for walks and to play fetch. We’d both love it if you come say hi when you see us. Aggie is named for the mascot at Utah State University, where my spouse and I met as students.”

What’s not on my CV:

“I am very much a westerner. I love the outdoors, except for downhill skiing. I’m from Utah and not a downhill skier. I tried it once as a kid, but there’s a variety of reasons why you don’t become a downhill skier. I was a ballerina and didn’t have time to ski, and I am pretty risk averse.”

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