Economics professor David Ruccio discussed the current economic crisis through commentary on his blog "Occasional Links and Commentary on Economics, Culture and Society" Thursday evening in Geddes Hall.
Russio said his blog considers local and global inequality through the presentation of data. He started his blog while on sabbatical in the summer of 2009 and previously wrote commentary on a personal website with little public exposure.
Since then, his blog has grown to average up to 1,000 views daily and has had more than 300,000 views since its creation.
The blog has led to many media appearances and his posts are frequently featured in the "Real World Economic Review" blog.
"Occasional Links and Commentaries" focuses on American macroeconomics. Ruccio said research for the blog was challenging since his specialties in Marxian economics and development economics, did not cover macroeconomics.
Ruccio said he thoroughly researches issues prior to writing a commentary. These investigations result in four-to-eight blog entries a day.
"I don't write about it unless I think I have something to say," he said.
Ruccio said the most satisfying part of his blog is to hear people have found the information useful.
"Clearly, with 300,000 views, I reach a lot more people with this blog than I have through any book or article I have written, or any lecture I have given," Ruccio said.
In the future, Ruccio said he hopes to apply for funding to pursue his research further. He said he would use the funding add long-term assistants.
The lecture was a continuation of the ongoing series sponsored by the Higgins Labor Studies Program.
