By Nathaniel Luce
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Leading economic thinkers, including President Obama’s senior economic advisor Paul Volcker, and vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Donald Kohn, came together to talk about the current financial crisis at the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management on April 18 for the 22nd annual Financial Markets Research Center Conference.
In his remarks, Volcker, who was chairman of the US Federal Reserve from 1979 to1987, said that the U.S. economic recovery will be a “long slog” but that the rate of decline should slow. He added that the U.S. is not in another depression, but, “in a great recession for sure.” He also talked about the outlook for the Federal Reserve’s role as a regulator of financial markets and accounting standards. You can watch Volcker’s full speech by clicking here or on www.vanderbilt.edu/news or www.youtube.com/Vanderbilt.
Kohn said that the federal government’s heavy financial bailout of banks and other businesses will help the stock market and is “necessary, safe and effective and will not lead to adverse aftereffects.” Kohn also talked about the impact of the central bank’s emergency lending programs on taxpayers, credit market capital allocation, the stress tests of U.S. banks and the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Kohn and Volcker had a lively back-and-forth during the question and answer portion of Kohn’s speech at Owen when Volcker “grilled” Kohn over statements he made about a 2 percent inflation rate being appropriate for the economy in the long term. You can watch the exchange and Kohn’s full speech by clicking here or on www.vanderbilt.edu/news or www.youtube.com/Vanderbilt.
Volcker, Kohn and dozens of current and former members of the Federal Reserve, along with other economic and political heavyweights came to Owen to honor Owen professor and former governor of the Federal Reserve Board Dewey Daane for his 90th birthday. Many of the economic leaders have lectured in Daane’s seminar on monetary and fiscal policy. The Seminar has been in continuous operation since Daane joined the Owen faculty in 1974, after retiring as governor of the Federal Reserve Board.
Numerous news stories on the FMRC conference and the comments the attendees made can be seen in the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, the Tennessean and other publications.
Contact Person: Amy Wolf
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Vanderbilt University
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu
