What do university think tanks produce?  Starbucks sells coffee. Tesla sells electric vehicles?  What does my 21CC at Hopkins "sell"?  In my first 2.5 months at Hopkins,  I have been on a listening tour as I talk to various stakeholders.   I can now offer some precise thoughts.

1.  My core team at 21CC has been working with me on my new urban economics research.  We have released our first report on public employment  and we now have underway a variety of new projects that will take time but are directly relevant to key urban policy issues.

2.   We have hired 10 undergraduate interns who are helping us on various projects and I will teach urban economics in the Spring 2020 at Hopkins.  During my long teaching career, the number of economics majors quickly grows sharply when I get involved with undergraduate teaching.

3.  We are hosting cross-campus urban policy seminars (such as Rucker Johnson's recent presentation).

4.  We are now planning focused urban research conferences in Spring. I am especially excited about the possibility of partnering with the Fed of Richmond on a Baltimore conference where we will bring in urban experts to discuss the implications of their work for the Baltimore economy.

5.  Given that I am jointly appointed with the Carey School of Business, we are forming partnerships with businesses who have specific urban questions that dovetail with our research agenda.  For firms that want to contact us,  Evan Zaletel is the right point of contact.

6.  At a recent 21CC Steering Committee, my Hopkins colleagues strongly encouraged me to build up the convening capacity of our center as a place where bridging social capital takes place as discussions between urban practitioners, academics,  and urban business interests meet and discuss mutual interests. This is still a work in progress but I agree that such dialogue is key for helping academics influence policy and the greater urban discussion.

7.  My 21CC team continues to meet urban officials both in Baltimore and in Washington DC to keep up with our understanding of what challenges these "real world" urbanists face and what role data analysis and economic logic can play in helping them to achieve their goals.

8.  I have been in touch with urbanists at the Bloomberg Philanthropy to understand what issues they are working on and how my center can be of use.

As you can see, I have the opportunity (and the responsibility) to speak to many different stakeholders.

I do not believe that any other BDP at Hopkins has such Ambassadorial responsibilities.   Each day, I have to figure out how much time I am devoting to private goods (my own research) versus public goods production!