Panel to Discuss European Financial Crisis

Media contact: Noelle Lemoine, communications assistant; tele: (413) 597-4277; email: [email protected]

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 27, 2012 – Williams College will host a panel discussion on the Euro Crisis on Monday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Griffin Hall, room 3, on the Williams campus. The moderator will be Kenneth Kuttner, professor of economics at Williams College. The panelists will include Adam Posen, member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England; Edwin Truman, visiting professor economics at Williams College; and Jan Van Eck ’85, head of Van Eck Associates. The event is free and open to the public.

The Euro Crisis is an ongoing sovereign debt crisis that emerged in late 2009. As a result of rising government debt levels around the world as well as the downgrading of government debt in some European countries, certain European states are unable to refinance their government debt without the assistance of third parties. Eurozone leaders have agreed on measures designed to prevent the collapse of member economies such as Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. As of now, the European currency has remained stable, although the situation remains precarious.

Kuttner has been a professor of economics at Williams since 2008. He also serves as a research associate to the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Center on Japanese Economy and Business at Columbia University. His research interests include macroeconomics, monetary economics, central banking, and financial markets. He received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Posen joined the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee in 2009. He is also a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Posen’s research focuses on macroeconomic policy and performance, the political economy of Europe and Japan, central banking issues, and the resolution of the financial crisis. He received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Truman is an economist specializing in international financial institutions, specifically the International Monetary Fund and sovereign wealth funds. He has been a senior fellow with the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 2001. Truman received his B.A. from Amherst College and his Ph.D. from Yale University.

Van Eck is the principal and director of Van Eck Associates Corporation, a company that manages $35 billion in assets worldwide. He has created a multitude of international, emerging markets, and commodity-related investment strategies in mutual fund and alternative investment formats. He received his B.A. from Williams and his J.D. from Stanford University.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Development Economics and the economics department.

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Published March 27, 2012