U-C Berkeley economist to take historical look at Great Recession

KALAMAZOO—A University of California at Berkeley economist will take a historical look at the Great Recession when he visits Western Michigan University as part of the 2014-15 Werner Sichel Lecture Series.

Dr. Barry Eichengreen, the George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley, will speak at 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, in 2028 Brown Hall. His presentation, titled "Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses—and Misuses—of History," is free and open to the public.

Barry Eichengreen

Eichengreen has taught at U-C Berkeley since 1987 and has been the Pitt Professor of American History and Institutions at the University of Cambridge in 2014-15. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy in London and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

His research interests are in the areas of international economics, macroeconomics and economic history. He has written extensively on currencies and exchange rate mechanisms and more recently on financial crisis in the United States and Europe.

Eichengreen has published numerous research articles covering a broad spectrum of economic issues. His most recent books include the newly published "Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses—and Misuses—of History"; "From Miracle to Maturity: The Growth of the Korean Economy" with Dwight H. Perkins and Kwanho Shin; and "Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System," which was shortlisted for the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

Eichengreen has a doctoral degree in economics from Yale University. He is the 2010 recipient of the Schumpeter Prize from the International Schumpeter Society and was named one of Foreign Policy Magazine's 100 Leading Global Thinkers in 2011.

About the series

This year's Sichel Series carries the theme "Lessons from the Great Recession" and features leading economists from across the country. The remaining date, presenter and topic in this year's series is:

• April 8: Dr. Till von Wachter, associate professor of economics at the University of California at Los Angeles, "Cleansing Effects from the Great Recession."

The Sichel Series is organized by the WMU Department of Economics and named in honor of Werner Sichel, a longtime WMU economics professor and former department chair, who retired in 2004. The series is annually cosponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. The lectures are open to the public and formatted with the general public in mind.

This year's series is being organized by Dr. Eskander Alvi, a WMU professor of economics.

For more information, contact Alvi at (269) 387-5547 or eskander.alvi@wmich.edu.

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