Nobel Prize-Winning Economist to Speak as Part of Kennedy Lecture Series
Contact: George Mauzy, media specialist, (740) 597-1797 or (740) 593-1043
ATHENS, Ohio (September 29, 2000) -- Robert Mundell, who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in economics, will speak on "Currency Areas and the International Monetary System at the Turn of the Century" at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
Prior to the lecture, Mundell will be the featured guest on two WOUB-TV shows with Ohio University President Robert Glidden serving as moderator. Four Ohio University economics professors will interview Mundell during the shows, which will be taped in front of a student audience. The first show begins at 4 p.m. in the Telecommunications Center's fifth-floor studio.
The first show, titled "The Euro and the Dollar: Changing Currencies for Changing Times," will include Glidden, Mundell, Professor of Economics Douglas Adie and Assistant Professor of Economics William Shambora.
During the second show, titled "A Help or a Hindrance?: The Role of International Organizations in Economic Development," Glidden and Mundell will be joined by Distinguished Professor of Economics Richard Vedder and Assistant Professor of Economics Julia Paxton.
A professor at Columbia University since 1974, Mundell became the 31st recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics on Oct. 13, 1999. He was given the award in recognition for his analysis of monetary and fiscal policy under different exchange rate regimes and his studies of optimum currency areas. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which gives out the Nobel Prize, said his work has inspired generations of researchers and that his contributions constitute the core of teaching in international macroeconomics.
Mundell specializes in the economic theory of international economies, a topic on which he has written more than 100 articles. He also is a historian on the international monetary system.
Called the most important economist of the 20th century by The Wall Street Journal, Mundell is considered by many the intellectual godfather of the Euro, the European Monetary Union's new form of currency used by more than 10 European countries.
"Robert Mundell is considered by many to be the leading economist in the world today on issues relating to international economic relations," Vedder said. "He is an imaginative visionary -- that rare person who can make arcane economic theory understandable and important in solving real-world problems."
During his accomplished career, Mundell has taught economics at Stanford University, the Johns Hopkins Bologna Center of Advanced International Studies and the University of Chicago. He also is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as an adviser to numerous agencies and organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission, the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. Treasury and the Canadian government.
Mundell received his bachelor's degree in economics from the University of British Columbia in 1953 and his doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1956. He was born in Kingston, Ontario, in 1932.
The events, which are sponsored by the Center for International Studies, the Kennedy Lecture Series and the Economics Department, are free and open to the public.
