February 25, 2002 New Faculty Joshua Aizenman UCSC Photo Services Joshua Aizenman Professor, Economics Joshua Aizenman's research interests focus on the overlap between international finance and development, specifically on ways to modify the global financial system to alleviate financial crises around the world. His most recent work looks at ways to mitigate the exposure of banks by imposing regulations on their reserves and capital. He is skeptical of proposals that would establish indicators of a nation's vulnerability, but Aizenman acknowledges that the challenge of his work is to design "proper interventions." Aizenman comes to UCSC from Dartmouth College, where he was the Champion Professor of International Economics. He earned his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago and his master's from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also earned his bachelor's in mathematics and philosophy. Eileen Brooks UCSC Photo Services Eileen Brooks Assistant Professor, Economics Eileen Brooks's research interests focus on the overlap between international trade and industrial organization, specifically on how company-level incentives and decisions affect export flows. Using microeconomic data, such as plant-level or product data, her current projects analyze the impact of product quality upon export flows. Her dissertation, "Why Don't Firms Export More?," analyzed the export decisions of Colombian plants from 1981 to 1991. Brooks found that Colombian manufacturers tended to underexport to the United States because their products were of inferior quality. Brooks earned her master's and doctorate degrees in economics at Harvard University, while sponsored by an NSF Fellowship. Brooks also earned a master's degree in international relations from Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and a bachelor's degree in economics from MIT. Return to Front Page