ND Expert: Fed's interest rate cut a "bailout"
The Federal Reserve's half-point interest rate drop to 4.75 percent - a move intended to boost consumer confidence and blunt the economic damage from slumping housing and credit markets - actually was a bid to rescue ailing financial institutions, according to a University of Notre Dame economist.
"The Fed finally raised the white flag and gave the financial markets what they wanted - a big cut in the Fed funds rate. Despite all of the Fed claims that this was done for 'broader' economic reasons, in the end this is a bailout for all the financial entities that took big bets on risky sub-prime mortgages and lost," said Christopher J. Waller, an economics professor who specializes in monetary theory, dollarization and political economy of central banking.
Economist Thomas Gresik to join local energy forum
Thomas A. Gresik, professor of economics and econometrics at the University of Notre Dame, will participate in an energy forum organized by U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., from 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday (May 29) at the Studebaker National Museum, 808 W. Washington St., South Bend.
The public forum will feature experts and business leaders discussing energy issues, including record high gas prices, and answering questions from the audience.
Keough-Hesburgh Professorship lures leading economist
Renowned economist William Evans from the University of Maryland has accepted an appointment at the University of Notre Dame as the first recipient of a Keough-Hesburgh Professorship, the innovative new program created to attract world-class scholars who demonstrate a commitment to Notre Dame's Catholic mission.
Created last year through a multimillion-dollar gift from Notre Dame board chairman emeritus Donald Keough, his wife, Marilyn, and their children, the professorships are named in honor of the Keoughs and Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., president emeritus of Notre
Dame.