A Nation in Financial Trouble: Causes and Solutions
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 7:00pm
UCLA Campus: Humanities A51
Many regard the financial crisis as a failure of the free market and "greedy" businessmen. But is capitalism really to blame for our current economic mess?
In this panel, Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, and Jerry Jordan, president of the Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies, will argue that today's crisis is a failure of the un-free market. Massive government intervention, from Washington's affordable housing crusade, via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to the Federal Reserve's easy money policies, laid the groundwork for the crisis. Dr. Brook and Dr. Jordan will go on to evaluate the government's response to the crisis and suggest alternatives.
Dr. Brook also will explain why the free market has taken the blame for a crisis caused by government intervention. While most people are quick to blame capitalism for any evil because it encourages selfishness and rewards the profit motive, Dr. Brook will argue that these traits are precisely what make capitalism a moral system.
Yaron Brook is president and executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute. A former finance professor, he has published in academic as well as popular publications and is frequently interviewed in the media. He has appeared on CNN, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, CNBC and PBS, among others. He lectures on Objectivism, business ethics and foreign policy at college campuses and for corporations across America and throughout the world.
Jerry L. Jordan is president of the Pacific Academy for Advanced Studies. He was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1992 to 2003 and a member of the Federal Open Market Committee. Dr. Jordan has worked in government, academia and commercial banking. He served as a member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers from 1981 to 1982, during which time he was on the U.S. Gold Commission.
6:30pm Doors Open
7:00pm Panel Begins
8:30pm Q&A
