A Quarterly Economic Update October 9, 2008

Organizer: Mercatus Center. Featuring: Dr. Bruce Yandle, Professor Emeritus and BB&T Scholar, Clemson University.

This summer has proved to be a turbulent time with troubled financial markets seeking to rebuild capital, rising and falling gas prices, presidential campaigns, and destructive hurricanes - but what will this mean for the American economy? In order to keep Congressional staffers up to date on the latest economic trends, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University hosts quarterly briefings that survey the economic scene. Specific attention will be paid to trends in GDP growth, employment, inflation and interest rates, all conveyed in a way that is understandable to the economist and non-economist alike. This “birds-eye-view” of the economy will be valuable to staffers interested in promoting policies intended to aid economic performance.

We will be addressing such topics as: 1) How have shoppers in the world market adjusted to the United States’ changing economic condition? 2) How did the economy bounce to 3.3% growth? What explains 6.1% unemployment and which states have been hit the hardest? 3) How does the United States compare to the rest of the world in developing a knowledge economy?

Hosted by Dr. Bruce Yandle, one of our most popular speakers, these quarterly briefings are free of charge and open to all senior congressional staffers. Bruce Yandle is a Professor Emeritus and the BB&T Scholar at Clemson University, where he has been a faculty member since 1969. From 1976 to 1978, he was a senior economist on the staff of the President’s Council on Wage and Price Stability, where he reviewed and analyzed newly proposed regulations. In addition, Dr. Yandle was executive director of the Federal Trade Commission and is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles. He received his Ph.D. and M.B.A. from Georgia State University and his A.B. degree from Mercer University.

Official Website: http://www.mercatus.org/EventDetails.aspx?id=22630