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Diplomas / Degrees

PhD, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (2000)
BS, New York University (1998)
MA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1995)
MA, Fordham University (1993)

Recent Courses

Econometrics
Economic Development
Environmental Economics
History Of Economic Thought
S/T: Math Methods For Economists
System Of Political Economy
The National Economy
The Price System

Personal Statement

As a child I was fascinated with how the world works (and doesn't!) but was not further stimulated on related subjects while in school. Only after graduating college (as a finance major) did I begin to appreciate how economics is fundamental to pretty much all of the world's issues and problems, and started to get into it more through heavy reading. The rest, as they say, is history. My free time is absorbed by playing chess and being with my three beloved children (though not necessarily in that order).

Teaching Specializations / Interests

Research: ecological economics, development, institutional economics, political economy, leisure studies

Teaching: development, environmental economics, history of economic thought, systems of political economy, global issues

Research Interests

My research is in the areas of well-being assessment, environmental and natural resource accounting, dematerialization trends, and links between power inequality and health outcomes (as well as other socioeconomic variables. Most recently I am working in the area of historical insitutional dynamics and how they bear on redistributive success, my principal focus being on contemporary Latin America.

Grants / Sponsored Research

-City University of New York, Investigator on proposal to study economic effects of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), 2005 ($39,000).

-Adelphi University Faculty Development Award, 2002 ($2,700).

-Adelphi University Faculty Development Award, 2001 ($1,428).

-Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, 1996 ($1,500).

-National Hispanic Scholarship Fund Fellow, 1992-1995 ($3900).

-Christina Seix Dow Fellowship, 1992-1993 ($6,000).

Books

Torras, M. (2003). Welfare, Inequality, and Resource Depletion: A Reassessment of Brazilian Economic Growth, 1965-1998. Aldershot & Burlington: Ashgate Press.

JK Boyce and M. Torras. (2002). Rethinking the Environmental Kuznets Curve.

Recent Articles

Torras. (2006, 1). Ecological Inequality in Assessing Well-Being: Some. Policy Sciences, forthcoming

Torras. (2006, 1). The Impact of Power Equality, Income, and the Environment on. International Review of Applied Economics, 20, 1-20

Torras. (2005, 12). Income and Power Inequality as Determinants of Environmental. Social Sciences Quarterly, 86, 1354-1373

Conference Presentations and Papers

Skinner, C., and M. Torras (15 March 2006). Kirchner, Lula, Chávez: The. Latin American Studies Association International Congress, San Juan, PR

Other Scholarly / Artistic Work

Torras, M. (2005), Ecological Inequality in Assessing Well-Being: Some Applications, forthcoming in Policy Sciences.

Torras, M. (2005), The Impact of Power Equality, Income, and the Environment on Human Health: Some Inter-Country Comparisons, International Review of Applied Economics 20(1): 1-20.

Torras, M. (2005), Income and Power Inequality as Determinants of Environmental and Health Outcomes: Some Findings, Social Science Quarterly 86(S): 1354-1373.

Torras, M. (2005), The Impact of Ecological Inequality on National Well-Being: The Case of Brazil, 1965-1998, International Journal of Political Economy 34(1): 75-93.

Torras, M. (2005), Political Ecology: Global, Historical, and Economic Perspectives—An Introduction, International Journal of Political Economy 34(1): 3-12.

Torras, M. (2003), El Impacto de la Mala Distribución Ecológica en Relación al Bienestar Nacional: El Caso de Brasil, 1965-1998, Problemas del Desarrollo 34(134): 109-125

Torras, M. (2003), An Ecological Footprint Approach to External Debt Relief, World Development 31(12): 2161-2171.

Torras, M. (2003), Global Structural Change and its De-materialization Implications, International Journal of Social Economics 30(6): 700-719.

Torras, M. (2002), Environmental Damage and the Mismeasure of Poverty and Inequality: Applications to Indonesia and the Philippines, Asian Development Review 19(2): 90-103.

Torras, M. (2001), Welfare Accounting And The Environment: Reassessing Brazilian Economic Growth,1965-1993, Development and Change 32(2): 205-229.

Torras, M. (2000), Sustainability or Natural Capital ‘Disinvestment?’ A Retrospective on Brazilian Development, 1965-1993, Estudos Econômicos 30(3): 351-375.

Torras, M. (2000), The Total Economic Value of Amazonian Deforestation, 1978-1993, Ecological Economics 33(2): 283-297.

Torras, M. (1999), Inequality, Resource Depletion, And Welfare Accounting: Applications to Indonesia and Costa Rica, World Development 27(7): 1191-1202.

Torras, M., and J.K. Boyce (1998), Income, Inequality, and Pollution: AReassessment of the Environmental Kuznets Curve, Ecological Economics 25(2):147-160.

Torras, M. (1998), Development Projects and Resource Depletion, Politica Internazionale 5 (Sept-Oct): 61-75.

Honors and Accomplishments

-Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Maestro Jesús Silva Herzog award for best article of the year in Problemas del Desarrollo, 2004 (M$30,000)

-University of Massachusetts Fellowship, 1993-1994 ($6,000)

-Presidential Scholarship, 1991-1993 ($7,500)

-NYU Founders Day Award, 1988

-NYU Student-Athlete Achievement Award, 1988

Professional Activities

-Guest editor of a symposium of Political Ecology for the International Journal of Political Economy.

-Manuscript Reviewer for:
Ecological Economics, World Development, Journal of Peace Research, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Environmental Informatics, Journal of Environment and Development

-Reviewer of textbooks for:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Addison Wesley, Inc., Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

-Reviewer of Grant Proposals for:
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Community and Corporate Leadership

BROOKLYN FREE SCHOOL, Inc. (www.brooklynfreeschool.org)
Founding member
Treasurer, Chief Administrator and Trustee, 2004 to present
Volunteer Instructor in the areas of Economics, Math, Chess, and Spanish

CENTER FOR POPULAR ECONOMICS
Consultant and Staff Economist, 1995 to 2000