Economic Rescue

GAMBIER, Ohio (April 15, 2009) National economics experts will dissect the global financial crisis and discuss the efforts being made to restore stability during a lecture at Kenyon on April 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Randall Kroszner, former governor of the Federal Reserve Board, and Phillip Swagel, former assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury, will discuss the "Preventing Financial Market Meltdown: Inside the Rescues" at Higley Auditorium. Both men played roles in U.S. economic rescue efforts.

William R. Melick, Bruce L. Gensemer Professor of Economics at Kenyon and a former research economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., said the discussion will shed light on the role of government in the ongoing financial rescue. "Anyone who wants to understand how and why the government is using its tax dollars to support the financial system should attend this lecture," Melick said. "Those interested in how the sausage of governmental policy gets made in a crisis should also attend. Finally, the lecture will present an insider's view of the politics and personalities involved in the rescue efforts."

Kroszner, while at the Fed, voted to approve the extension of credit to Bear Stearns and American International Group as well as lending programs that have led to more than $1.5 trillion in credit extended by the U.S. central bank. Kroszner is the Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and is a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers.

Swagel, in his position at the Treasury, was one of five members of the Troubled Asset Relief Program investment committee and helped determine the allocation of about $350 billion in assistance to banks. Swagel, adjunct professor at the University of Chicago, is a former resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and is a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers.

The event is sponsored by the Richard Grandin Shepherd Lecture in Economics. The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.