September 07, 2007

Vandeveer Speaker Series lineup announced

by Andrea Hahn

CARBONDALE, Ill. — If money makes the world go 'round, then the Department of Economics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale can help explain the global spin.

The Fall 2007 Vandeveer Speaker Series, sponsored by the Department of Economics and Vandeveer Endowed Professor Sajal Lahiri calls on experts at SIUC and also guest lecturers from both the private and the academic sectors to address issues such as micro-credit, foreign aid and economic fluctuations.

Lahiri opens the lecture series himself, addressing foreign aid efforts in the east central African nation of Rwanda, a topic he researched with two scholars from the World Bank. Lahiri said economic scholarship contributes to public policy as public leaders review the latest scholarship.

Vandeveer lectures will be in Faner 4135 at 3 p.m. The full schedule of the Fall 2007 Vandeveer Speaker Series follows:

Sept. 21 – Sajal Lahiri, SIUC, "Fiscal Implications of Foreign Aid in Rwanda."

Sept. 28 – Eric Bond, Joe L. Roby Professor of Economics at Vanderbilt University, "Trade Liberalization and Collusion."

Oct. 12 – Miklos Koren, Princeton University and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, "Import and Productivity."

Oct. 19 – AMK Mahbub Morshed, SIUC, "Output Demand and Micro-credit."

Oct. 26 – Rajdeep Sengupta, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, "Entry and Competition in Credit Markets."

Times and places will be announced for the following speaker dates:

Nov. 16 – Scott Gilbert, SIUC, "Is Economic Fluctuation a Really Long Night at the Casino?"

Nov. 30 – Santanu Chatterjee, University of Georgia at Athens, "Where Has All the Money Gone? Foreign Aid and the Quest for Growth."

Dec. 7 – Kevin Sylwester, SIUC, "Why Did Democratic Countries in Africa Grow Faster in the 1990s?"

The lectures are free and open to the public.