After the Fall: Capitalism and a just way forward
Fall 2009-Spring 2010
In the aftermath of the credit meltdown that began in 2007, leaders and thinkers from wide-ranging vantage points — including Barack Obama, Benedict XVI and Richard Posner —have suggested that the crisis demonstrates the need to reassess basic assumptions of capitalist economic systems. For a surprising number of major thinkers, underlying assumptions about the rationality, reward mechanisms and distribution of benefits inherent in unregulated markets all have been called into question.
This series will explore the lessons learned during the credit crisis and offer diverse perspectives on how to construct a new economy that is sustainable and just.
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Scroll down for available audio recordings after each talk.
Events
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Middle Class at Risk: The New Economic Security and What Can Be Done About It. Jacob Hacker, the Stanley Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University, reports on the broad-based risk-shift from society to individuals — across healthcare, pensions, and job security — as a result of philosophical pressure in the political arena, increased opportunity for private industry, and economic pressures.
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View the Powerpoint presentation. (.pps download)
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Islamic Law, Shariah-based Finance, and Economic Theory. Caner Dagli is assistant professor in the Religious Studies department at Holy Cross. He was an interfaith affairs consultant at the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan, providing consultative support to HM King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein and his special advisor HRH Ghazi bin Muhammad.
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Monday, October 19, 2009
The Challenge of Climate Change. William D. Nordhaus, Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University, is one of the main economists working on climate change models. He recently chaired a panel of the National Academy of Sciences that produced a report, Nature's Numbers, recommending approaches to integrate environmental and other non-market activity into the national economic accounts.
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Recasting banks in 2009: An insider's view. David A. Spina ’64, retired chairman and CEO of State Street Corporation, the world's leading provider of services to institutional investors, and a Holy Cross trustee, shares lessons learned from the collapse of the financial markets and changes that would improve the banking system.
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Due to a recording error, inaudible portions of the lecture have been edited out. Download the speaker's notes. (pdf)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
How to Prevent the Next Great Depression: A Jewish Law Perspective. Aaron Levine, the Samson and Halina Bitensky Professor of Economics and chairman of the department at Yeshiva University, has focused his research on the interface between economics and Halakhah, or Jewish religious law, especially as it relates to public policy and modern business practices.
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Flourishing Economies: Supporting and deepening personal and public awareness. Daniel Barbezat, professor of economics at Amherst College, discusses behavioral economics and argues that a deepened awareness can reduce our wants and habits of consumption without compromising our personal well being.
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Additional events will be planned for the spring 2010 semester.