March 16, 2018
Vandeveer lecture looks at 2008 financial crisis recovery
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The performance of the nation’s economy since the financial crisis a decade ago and the forecast for future economic growth is the focus of an upcoming lecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Cletus C. Coughlin, senior vice president and chief of staff to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis will present the 12th annual Vandeveer Chair Public Lecture in Economics on March 28. The lecture starts at 6 p.m. in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium.
The presentation, “The U.S. Economy: From Crisis and Recession to Recovery and Beyond,” is free and open the public. Sajal Lahiri, professor and Vandeveer Chair of Economics in the Department of Economics, said the topic “will interest those who want to know how their economic well-being is likely to be affected in the future.”
Media Advisory
Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover Coughlin’s lecture. To arrange an interview earlier in the day, contact Professor Sajal Lahiri, distinguished scholar and Vandeveer Chair of Economics, at 618/536-7746.
Federal Reserve reaction to nation’s financial crisis is highlighted
Coughlin will discuss actions taken by the Federal Reserve System after the 2008 recession and subsequent mortgage crisis, during which millions of people lost their jobs.
Coughlin hopes those who attend the lecture will get a better understanding of the “depth of the recession and the challenges faced by the Federal Reserve System as it normalizes monetary policy.”
Coughlin will also use a variety of forecasts in discussing economic growth and future inflation and will identify key factors underlying those forecasts.
Joined the Federal Reserve Bank in 1987
Coughlin joined the Federal Reserve as a senior economist in 1987 and was promoted to vice president in 1994, serving as deputy director in the Bank’s Research Division until July 2011.
In addition to writing numerous articles in leading journals and the Federal Reserve Bank’s “Review” on international and regional economies, Coughlin’s faculty positions include Drake University and the University of Georgia, along with adjunct faculty appointments at St. Louis University and Washington University. He has also held visiting positions at City University in London, England, and Erasmus University in the Netherlands.
Coughlin earned his doctorate in economics from the University of North Carolina and a bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Iowa.
First endowed chair at SIU
The Vandeveer Chair of Economics was endowed in 1960 through a gift of Ashland Oil and Refining Co. stock made to SIU by the late philanthropist W.W. Vandeveer, a university alumnus. This lecture is part of the Vandeveer Lecture Series, which features some of the leading economic scholars in the field visiting campus throughout the year.
Lahiri, a professor, university distinguished scholar and Vandeveer Chair of Economics in the Department of Economics, joined SIU Carbondale in 2002. Prior to that, Lahiri was a well-known economist in the United Kingdom and professor of economics at the University of Essex. He earned the university’s Scholar Excellence Award in 2016.