Economics scholar to share insights on the dangers of escalating debt

The Oakland University School of Business Administration will present the 2011 Gorlin Memorial Lecture featuring Carmen Reinhart, Weatherstone Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24.

Reinhart's presentation, titled "A Decade of Debt," will focus on evidence that public debts in advanced economies have recently surged to levels not recorded since the end of World War II. At the same time, private debt levels – particularly those of financial institutions and households – are in uncharted territory and represent a contingent liability of the public sector in many countries.

The lecture will suggest that these trends are of concern because, historically, high leverage episodes have been associated with slower economic growth and a higher incidence of default and restructuring of public and private debts.

Reinhart's work has helped to inform the understanding of financial crises for more than a decade. Her numerous papers on macroeconomics, international finance and trade have been published in leading scholarly journals. Her best-selling book, "This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly," documents the striking similarities of recurring booms and busts that have characterized financial history.

Sponsored by the Alice Conner Gorlin Memorial Fund, the Center for Integrated Business Research and Education, the Dean of Students, the Department of Economics, the Executive MBA Program and the Economics Students Association, the Gorlin Lecture will take place in the Banquet Rooms of Oakland Center, located in the heart of the Oakland University campus. Interactive and printable campus maps are available at www.oakland.edu/map.

This event is free and open to the public. To reserve a place, contact Lisa Desmet at desmet@oakland.edu. For more information on the event, visit oakland.edu/gorlinlecture.