About the Forum
The 2025 Omaha Macroeconomic Forum is designed to bring together the brightest minds in macroeconomics from across the region and the nation. Thanks to a generous donation from Dr. Mark Wohar, UNO/CBA Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, and the crucial support of the CBA Dean's Office and Economics Department, the Forum will showcase frontier research, discuss current U.S. economic conditions, and explore practical applications to today's most pressing economic issues. This event is open to the public.
Conference Schedule
Date: October 3, 2025
Location: Mammel Hall MH 162, CBA University of Nebraska at Omaha
Address: 6708 Pine Street, Omaha, NE 68182
Thursday, October 2, 2025
6:00 PM Conference Dinner, by invitation
Friday, October 3, 2025
08:00–16:50 Presentation and Discussion
Zoom link and registration: 2025 OMF
Organizers
Zhigang Feng
Email: zfeng@unomaha.edu
Jose Manuel Mota Aquino
Email: jmotaaquino@unomaha.edu
Friday, October 3, 2025
7:55 AM - 8:00 AM
Openning Remark: Steve Schulz (Dean, CBA, Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha)
8:00 AM – 8:50 AM
Title: Population Aging, Technological Change and the Market for Higher Education
Authors: Dirk Krueger (Univ. of Pennsylvania), Alexander Ludwig, Irina Popova
Discussant: Andy Glover (Kansas City Fed)
8:50 AM – 9:40 AM
Title: Markov Equilibria with Quasi-Hyperbolic Discounting
Authors: Manuel Santos (Univ. of Miami), Zhigang Feng
Discussant: Xueqing Yang (Southern Illinois Univ.)
9:40 AM – 10:10 AM
Coffee Break
10:10 AM – 11:00 AM
Title: A Trade-off between Monetary Policy Transmission and Systemic Risk in China
Authors: Tao Zha (Atlanta Fed, Emory Univ.), Kaiji Chen, Yiqing Xiao
Discussant: Guan Gong (Shanghai Univ. of Finance and Economics)
11:00 AM – 11:50 AM
Title: Declining Search Frictions, Unemployment, and Growth Revisited
Authors: Juan Carlos Cordoba (Iowa State Univ.), Anni T. Isojarviz, and Haoran Li
Discussant: Victor Zuluaga (Banco de Mexico)
11:50 AM – 1:00 PM
Lunch Break
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
Special Briefing: The U.S. Economic Conditions
Presenter: Lee Smith (Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City)
1:00 PM – 1:50 PM
Title: Sovereign Debt, Reserves, and Endogenous Sudden Stops
Author: Udara Peris (Oberlin College)
Discussant: Anne Villamil (Univ. of Iowa)
1:50 PM – 2:40 PM
Title: International Migrants and the Human Capital Formation of Their Left-Behind Children
Author: Jose Mota (Univ. of Nebraska-Omaha)
Discussant: Martin Garcia (Washington Univ. in St. Louis)
2:40 PM – 3:10 PM
Coffee Break
3:10 PM – 4:00 PM
Title: Housing and Welfare Cost of Inflation
Authors: Yuxi Yao (Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln), James MacGee
Discussant: Thu Ha Bai (Grinnell College)
4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Title: The Equilibrium Effects of State-Mandated Minimum Staff-to-Child Ratios
Author: Martin Garcia (Washington Univ. in St. Louis)
Discussant: Yifan Gong (Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln)
4:50 PM Adjourn