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Business School hosts fourth annual forum on U.S. economy

  • What lies ahead for the economy?
    What lies ahead for the economy?  The School of Business hosts a forum on the United States economy – “What Happened?” What’s Ahead?” – on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. From left are Professors John Boschen, John Merrick, Deborah Hewitt, Eric Kades and Richard Ash.  Photo courtesy of the Mason School of Business
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The William & Mary School of Business is hosting a forum on the United States economy – “What Happened?” What’s Ahead?” – on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Brinkley Commons Room at the Mason School of Business Alan B. Miller Hall. The event is free and open to the public.  Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

This is the fourth annual forum on the economy hosted by William & Mary since the financial collapse in 2008.  Top-ranked business school professors, along with faculty from the Law School and Government Department, will discuss the fundamental issues currently facing the U.S. economy.  Topics include the debt ceiling debate, credit downgrades, public policy, market crashes and surges, and Congress and Wall Street.

Panelist include:

John Merrick
John Merrick, Richard S. Reynolds Associate Professor of Business, has split time between academia and Wall Street, and currently serves as a professor of economics and finance. Merrick will discuss the deleveraging of the consumer and the world bond markets.

John Boschen
John Boschen, Brinkley-Mason Professor of Economics and Finance, has extensive experience with the Federal Reserve and has published over two dozen articles in noted economics and finance journals.

Deborah Hewitt
Deborah Hewitt, Clinical Associate Professor of Economics and assistant dean for MBA programs, has lived in, traveled to, invested in, and studied global markets for the past 25 years. She worked as an international economist at the U.S. Treasury. Hewitt will discuss the jobs problem, and how lost jobs are as much due to restructuring of the economy as to the slow growth. 

Eric Kades
Law School Vice Dean and Professor Eric Kades brings decades of experience in economic analysis of property and law. Kades will discuss the “insanity” of inflation and the dissolution of the Glass-Steagall Act.

John Gilmour
John Gilmour, professor of public policy, specializes in American politics and public policy.  His research interests center on the United States Congress, and bargaining between congress and the president.  Gilmour will discuss what will happen if the super committee, a 12-member panel charged with finding an additional $1.5 trillion in debt savings over a ten-year period, cannot reach an agreement.

The panel will be moderated by Dick Ash, Clinical Professor of Entrepreneurship and Private Equity Entrepreneurship and Executive Director of the Alan B. Miller Center for Entrepreneurship at William & Mary.

"We want the community to leave knowing what kind of breadcrumbs (paths) we should be aware of to lead us out of the dark forest of our present economic climate,” said Ash.

The event will begin with remarks from each panelist followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.

For more information, email info@mason.wm.edu.