Laurier’s Homecoming 2026, held on September 24-27, saw Economics Alumni Peter Friedmann, Terence Yhip, and Alan Macnaughton, along with Alan’s wife Bonnie, return to Laurier for the 50th anniversary of their graduation. Peter, Terence and Alan were three of the six economics students from the Class of ’76 who graduated from the Honours Economics program. None had encountered each other since graduating – despite the fact that Alan and Peter ended up working in different par

In late August I had the pleasure of attending the annual meetings of the International Institute of Public Finance (IIPF) in Lisbon, Portugal. The IIPF is a global association of academic economists whose research focuses on Public Economics defined very broadly, including essentially anyone working on topics that involve the government. Its website notes that there are roughly 600 members across 50 different countries. Being a global association, the venue for its annual

September is always a special time of year at Laurier as students arrive and a new academic year begins. Campus literally hums with energy and excitement. It is also an excellent time to introduce Laurier Economic Department’s new academic team -- a group of faculty members who provide valuable leadership and service in support of our economics programs, students, and faculty. Have a question? One of these team members will usually know the answer. Below, each team member sh

Roderick graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, after which he completed level II of the CFA Exam. He is currently a Principal at Normandin Beaudry where he provides strategic investment advice to institutional clients. Prior to joining the firm in 2025, Roderick was an Associate Director at a global consulting firm where he advised defined contribution and defined benefit plan clients regarding asset mix, investment structures, recordkeeper reviews and manag

Laurier is pleased to welcome five new full-time faculty members in 2026-27. Igor Carreira recently defended his PhD in Economics at the University of British Columbia. His research spans international finance, macroeconomics, international trade, and development economics. His current work studies sovereign default, international reserves, and international financial assistance, while his applied research examines the effects of trade and agricultural productivity on land us

The Laurier Economics Department mourns the passing of William “Bill” Marr, Professor Emerius of Economics. Bill, who passed away suddenly on July 2, 2026, played a significant role in the evolution of WLU. He joined Waterloo Lutheran University in the fall of 1970 and contributed 39 wonderful years to teaching, service and research before retiring in 2009. When Bill first joined the university, WLU had 2,000 students and the department had seven faculty members. The teaching

Amerie Desouza is a banking, finance, and economics professional with a growing specialization in prudential banking regulation, risk analysis, and financial compliance. She began her academic journey with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics at Laurier, then went on to earn a Master's in Banking and Financial Regulation from the Universidad de Navarra in Madrid, where her thesis developed a composite risk indicator for Canada's systemically important banks. She has worked with t

Spring Convocation Spring 2026 Convocation ceremonies for economics graduates were held on June 17, with four MABE students and 153 Bachelors and Honours graduates in Economics crossing the stage. The group included the first graduate from our new Honours Economics and Data Analytics program, Thu An Le Nguyen. Student Achievements and Awards, 2025-26 Earlier, the Department of Economics faculty, students, and staff gathered for our annual Economics Student Appreciation ev

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada recently announced the recipients of their grant competitions for 2025, with eight Laurier Economics Department faculty being successful in their funding applications as applicants, co-applicants, or collaborators. Insight Grants: Juan Morales (applicant) with collaborator Daniel Ershov (University College London) Social media and the reach of news: Evidence from Twitter's transition to X Insight Development Grants

The Laurier Economics Department congratulates Dr. Antonella Mancino, Dr. Stephen Snudden, and Dr. Nikolai Cook, who have been granted tenure and promotion to Associate Professor effective July 1, 2026. Dr. M. Antonella Mancino is an applied microeconomist specializing in labor economics, focusing on topics in inter-relationships between crime, education, and health. Her work studies how public policies, institutions, and labor market frictions shape outcomes for disadvantage

Laurier Economics was well-represented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Economics Association (CEAs), hosted by Simon Fraser University in Vancouver this past May. The annual conference attracts economists from universities across Canada and is a highlight of the academic year for many. Department chair Christine Neill spent a lot of time talking with conference organizers and attendees to prepare for next year, when Laurier will host the CEAs. “We are looking forwa

My name is Kyle and I have recently completed my undergraduate studies taking Economics and Financial Management at Wilfrid Laurier University. During my final year, I was able to conduct my own research paper and present it at a research conference. This was one of several rewarding experiences I had throughout my education here at Laurier. Attending my first research conference was an incredibly rewarding experience. I was selected as one of twenty undergraduate students

Adrian Katzew (Honours Economics, 1998) joined Laurier after coming here on exchange from Mexico. He has dedicated his career to renewable energies. After graduating from Laurier he went on to work in consulting, completed an MBA at Harvard Business School, and has had a career in consulting, banking, infrastructure finance and in particular the development, financing and construction of sustainable energy infrastructure. Outside of work, he has a lovely family, his main so

The LED was thrilled to host three Board members from the Toronto Association for Business and Economics (TABE) at Laurier on Monday March 2 for a discussion about careers in economics, the role of mentoring and networking in the profession, and the types of things TABE can offer for students. The panelists – Natasha Apollonova, Jim Whitestone and Sylvia McGratten – all have long and varied careers that have spanned quite different areas in economics and finance. They emphas

The Department of Economics in the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University is happy to announce the winners of the fall 2025 Undergraduate Research Prizes. The Department awards The Peter Sinclair Undergraduate Research Prize for research papers, typically those submitted to EC481, our capstone research project course. This year’s Peter Sinclair Undergraduate Research Prize is awarded to Kyle Arndt . In his paper “Canadian Monetary Policy wit

Today’s spotlight features Laurier alumnus, Eric Benyo. Eric graduated from the Master of Arts in Business Economics in 2020 and is currently working as a senior analyst at Morningstar Sustainalytics . We recently learned that Eric’s major research project, a capstone component of his graduate program, was published in Economic Inquiry . He co-authored this paper with his supervisor Stephen Snudden and Reinhard Ellwanger , from the Bank of Canada. It took some time to publis

That’s a wrap … Laurier’s Economics Department recently wrapped up its 8 th annual fund drive, raising $7,918.80 in funds to support The Food Bank of Waterloo Region! A big shout-out to Professor Tammy Schirle for spearheading the initiative. And thanks to all donors for helping to make the fund drive a great success. The foods and funds donated through community and corporate-run food and fund drives allows the Food Bank to fill gaps in their inventory, buy food to meet div

Zara Liaqat is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics. Her work spans international trade, macroeconomics, and development economics, using a combination of administrative data, surveys, and field experiments. She is particularly interested in exploring how firms in developing countries respond to uncertainty, from political tensions, conflict, climate change, and trade disruptions, to shifts in expectations and sentiment (see f

Spotlight on LED Bank of Canada Governor’s Challenge Team We’re so proud to recognize our 2025-2026 Bank of Canada Governor’s Challenge team and everything they accomplished this year. While we did not advance to the final round, our students were recognized as a runner-up team in a highly competitive national competition with over 100 students from 27 universities participating in the first round. What this team accomplished is genuinely impressive. The judges praised the t

Michael Davenport, Laurier alumnus, is currently working as a Senior Economist on the Macro Forecasting and Analysis team at Oxford Economics. Oxford Economics is the world's largest group of private sector economists and a world leader in global forecasting, quantitative analysis, and economic consulting. Michael graduated from Laurier with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Financial Management in 2020. He then went on to complete his Master of Arts in Economics at the Uni