Sunday, September 26, 2010

Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, will speak at Vassar

Paul Volcker, internationally acclaimed economist and Chairman of the Federal Reserve under presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, will speak at Vassar on September 28. Since February 2009, Volcker has served as Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama.

Volcker served as Fed Chair during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. Known as the "inflation fighter," he helped lower double-digit inflation rates in the early 1980s and is widely credited with ushering in an era of economic prosperity. He graduated summa cum laude from Princeton in 1949, and then earned a graduate degree in political economy from Harvard. In 1952, he joined the staff of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York.

I took many courses in Vassar's Economics Department, and I'm so jealous that current students will have the opportunity to speak with this leader in American macroeconomic policy. Hope they'll record the event for the Vassar YouTube Channel!

Volcker's discussion will take place on September 28 at 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Students' Building. Vassar Economics professor Robert Rebelein, who served for the last two years on the Council of Economic Advisors, will moderate. Jeffrey Goldstein (Vassar class of 1977) and current Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, will introduce the speakers. Read more about Volcker in a fascinating recent profile in The New Yorker.

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