March 15, 2022

Media Advisory – SIU faculty can discuss inflation, gas prices, changing economy

Two professors from Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s College of Business and Analytics are available for interviews about skyrocketing inflation and gas prices and various other factors now affecting the economy such as the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine and global climate change.

Kevin Sylwester, professor of economics and interim director of the School of Analytics, Finance and Economics, can be reached at ksylwest@siu.edu. Scott Gilbert, economics program coordinator, can be contacted at gilberts@siu.edu.

The annual inflation rate surged to 7.9% in February, the highest it has been since January 1982, and gasoline prices alone have soared 38-40% each of the past two months. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is expected to begin raising interest rates this week for the first time in three years, with additional increases anticipated later in 2022. Nationally and internationally, the impact of COVID-19 is still being felt economically, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused stock market volatility and economic uncertainty.

Among the other timely issues affecting the changing economy, which Gilbert and Sylwester can address, are:

  • The economic aspects of environmental concerns/issues, including global warming.
  • The aging of society and how that affects government budgets and entitlement programs.
  • The growth of artificial intelligence and robotics and how that and other changing technologies affect the way businesses operate.
  • Increasing globalization.
  • Changes in health care and their economic implications.