Guru Sethupathy Joins SAIS International Economics Faculty Guru Sethupathy has joined the SAIS International Economics Program as assistant professor of international economics. Sethupathy brings to his new position a strong interest in globalization theory as well as a desire to incorporate current economics trends into his teaching. Sethupathy’s enthusiasm for economics stems from a student trip to India: “I had the opportunity to work in slums in Bangalore. The experience was eye-opening and piqued my interest in economic development.” During his graduate studies, he became intrigued by the industrial structure of economies at different stages of development and ultimately decided to focus on the effects of globalization on firms and workers. His areas of expertise include globalization, foreign direct investment, and international trade theory and policy. “My current research asks how firms respond to globalization opportunities and how this, in turn, affects workers,” he said. “Understanding who benefits and who loses from globalization—and the channels through which this happens—is important to managing and harnessing globalization.” The school’s location and faculty drew Sethupathy to SAIS. “The quality of the faculty in the International Eco nomics Program and the strong research synergies between professors in the group and my own research agenda attracted me,” he said. Sethupathy hopes to progress toward several professional goals this year. One is to publish a paper on the U.S. job market that argues that offshoring is akin to a technology that enhances the productivity and competitiveness of firms that can take advantage of it. Another goal is to address the global economic crisis in his courses. “I use specific examples from the crisis to highlight concepts such as externalities, market structure, adverse selection and moral hazard. In my trade course, I include discussions on how the integrated nature of global markets helped transmit the effects of a fall in the U.S. housing market to the global economy.” Prior to joining SAIS, Sethupathy was a mergers and acquisitions analyst at JPMorgan and a consultant at the World Bank. He completed his Ph.D. in economics at Columbia University earlier this year. In 2001, he earned his B.S. in computer science at Stanford University. He is fluent in Tamil. ● [return to contents] | 
