Warrington hosts panel discussion on “The State of the U.S. Economy”

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Four of the Warrington College of Business Administration’s most accomplished scholars along with special guest speaker Dr. David E. Altig, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, gather for a panel discussion and in-depth analysis of the U.S. financial crisis Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. in the George W. and Lisa Onkey Etheridge Classroom (Room 150) in William R. Hough Hall.

The event, which will also be streamed live online at http://www.floridamba.ufl.edu/cib, is sponsored by UF MBA’s Critical Issues in Business Series which examines the industry’s most significant trends and events through discussion and engagement with the field’s top scholars and policy makers.

This is the second time the Hough Graduate School of Business has organized a panel discussion analyzing the U.S. financial crisis. In October 2008, more than 700 people gathered on the Warrington campus for the event.

“The focus in 2008 was on a rapidly-changing financial situation that was relatively poorly understood at the time,” Dr. Flannery said. “We were focused primarily on explaining what was happening in the financial sector and why. The real sector—unemployment, GDP, etc.—was not the main focus. In contrast, the real sector is primary now. We have a complex situation in Europe unfolding, which will affect the real-sector U.S. outlook, but it’s not the prime concern. As they said in 1992, ‘it’s the economy, stupid.’ Our main focus [Tuesday] is the U.S. economy.”

Dr. Altig will open the program with a presentation, then join Warrington’s esteemed faculty for the panel discussion. Dr. Flannery said having Dr. Altig provide his analysis of the situation provides a necessary context from a policy maker’s point of view.

“It’s a big plus for us and for the discussion,” Dr. Flannery said. “Dave attends Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meetings—where they set monetary policy—and advises his Reserve Bank President on the state of the economy. He brings a perspective and a set of insights that are more tested under fire than the academics have.”

Joining the panel is:

Dr. Jay Ritter, Joe B. Cordell Eminent Scholar Chair. Dr. Ritter, who will be moderating the panel discussion, is a leading academic authority on initial public offerings (IPOs) and teaches corporate finance classes at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels. He has served as a consultant to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Mark Flannery, Bank of America Eminent Scholar Chair. Dr. Flannery teaches corporate finance and financial management of financial institutions at the graduate level and his research has explored government regulation of the financial sector. He has served as Resident Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as an Advisory Committee member on the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Center for Financial Innovation and Financial Stability.

Dr. David Denslow, Distinguished Service Professor & Director of Policy Studies. Dr. Denslow is one of Warrington’s most tenured professors and has taught the principles of macroeconomics to more than 30,000 students during his career. His research focuses on spatial price indexes and comparisons of cost of living across geographic areas.

Dr. Mike Ryngaert, Graham-Buffett Professor. Dr. Ryngaert teaches financial theory and investments in the undergraduate and graduate programs. His research focuses on corporate control and mergers and acquisitions. Dr. Ryngaert previously served as a senior economist at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

After the panel discussion, panelists will take questions from Hough graduate students in attendance.