Jackson Free Press

While discussing politics and the economy with senior economist Marianne Hill, 58, I feel privileged to be sitting next to such an intellect. Hill earned her bachelors in economics from the University of Maryland. After graduating, she attended the London School of Economics to pursue her masters. She furthered her education with a Ph.D from Yale.

"I have always had an interest in economics. I knew this is what I wanted to do," she says.

In 1990, Hill moved to Madison to work with the Center for Policy Research and Planning, which is part of the Institution of Higher Learning. Hill is in charge of the state economic forecast.

Being a feminist, she pushes feminism in the state, nationally and in general. Her writings on feminism have been published in Feminism Economics. Her writings show how much she cares for women's equality. Hill is the founder of the Mississippi Coalition for Women. Its main accomplishment is to get legislation passed for the Commission on the Status of Women. It has been established but not yet funded.

"I would like to see it get funded," Hill says. "I think everybody knows that Mississippi ranks the lowest on the status of women because of our economical research."

Hill has passion for International Folk dancing, hiking, scuba diving and the Rain Forest. She made her acting debut in 2003 in "M*A*S*H" at the then Madison Cultural Center.

So, how do you reconcile Hill the person and Hill the economist? Well, she believes in an increase of the people's voice, political participation and involvement in the state.

She says, "My goals in life are similar to those in economics—I am interested in improving people's economical lot."

As for her future plans, she wants to talk to more people, especially economists in Mississippi, about feminist economics. She believes we need an approach to our economic activities that recognizes the importance of many goods. This includes the environment and many forms of unpaid labor that don't pull down a high price in the market but whose value is far greater than that of goods traded in the marketplace.

Previous Comments

ID

82396

Comment

Marianne is a wonderful human being--glad to see she's still fighting the good fight! Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2005-06-27T17:35:57-06:00