Peter Gordon

Peter Gordon is Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California Price School of Public Policy, where he taught and conducted research for 43 years, until his retirement at the end of 2013. Gordon's research interests are in applied urban economics. Gordon and his colleagues have developed various economic impact models which they applied to the study of the effects of infrastructure investments or disruptions from natural events or terrorist attacks. In addition, he continues to be interested in urban structure and how it relates to economic growth along with the associated policy implications. Peter Gordon has published in many urban planning, urban transportation and regional science journals. He is a Fellow of the Regional Science Association International. He has consulted for local, state and federal agencies, the World Bank, the United Nations and many private groups. Gordon received the Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.

Courses taught by Peter Gordon

Economic Thinking for Planners: Cities, Externalities, and Governance

Through history, people have become better off as they urbanized. This course investigates how and why the quality of life has improved in cities.

56 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Economic Thinking for Planners: Economics of the Environment

This course provides an introduction to environmental economics by exploring the economic effects of national and local environmental policies. By the end of the course, you'll understand market failure, externalities, and private and social costs, applying these concepts to issues like recycling, species preservation, and climate change.

56 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Economic Thinking for Planners: Gains from Trade, Labor, and Immigration

This course focuses on the example of the Prisoner's Dilemma to illustrate the fact that gains from trade opportunities are lost if transactions and/or communications costs are high, property rights and contracting rules are not enforced, and levels of trust are low.

47 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Economic Thinking for Planners: Local Government and Governance

This course uses economic thinking to investigate local government. The course includes discussions of public goods, market failure, private communities, and homevoter cities.

53 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Economic Thinking for Planners: Overview

This course shows how "Economic Thinking" can inform our thinking on big questions like why some countries are rich while some are poor and how so many us have become so much better off than our ancestors.

56 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Economic Thinking for Planners: Supply and Demand

"Supply and demand" is one of the most fundamental concepts of economic thinking. The familiar supply and demand curves are seemingly simple, but in reality, the relationship between supply in demand is complex.

78 Mins

AICP CM

SACPLAN CPD

Thinking About Post-Pandemic Cities

Former University of Southern California Professor Peter Gordon takes a different approach, presenting some unexpectedly informative concepts to inform new ways of thinking about the pandemic and the mark it will leave on the world.

36 Mins

AICP CM

Understanding the Great Recession

This course explores the causes of the Great Recession, the recession's impact on local policy discussions, and how planners should think about economic impacts when thinking about long-term plans.

74 Mins