 "Photo: Kevin Trujillo ~ Daily Egyptian")
According to Robert Rasche, “The Report of the Death of the Economy was an Exaggeration.”
Rasche, the executive vice president and senior policy adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, delivered the annual Vandeveer Chair Lecture in Economics Wednesday in the Student Center Auditorium titled “The Report of the Death of the Economy was an Exaggeration.”
Rasche said those looking to point a finger at someone to blame the recession on should be pointing it at one place.
“We, as Americans, fundamentally want a scapegoat, and we don’t want it to be us,” Rasche said. “All of us should take part in the blame.”
Rasche said the reason for the recession is excessive leverage, too much borrowing and too many instances of high-ranking insiders using their own money to buy stock in the company they are running.
Seth Morrison, a senior from Springfield studying economics, said the highlight of Rasche’s presentation was how federal spending is unsustainable.
“That’s exactly how I feel,” Morrison said. “I’m not a big supporter of federal health insurance or anything of the sort, and I think it obviously is unsustainable.”
Rasche’s speech was the seventh annual sponsored by the Vandeveer Chair, which was endowed in 1960 through a gift from SIUC alumnus W.W. Vandeveer. The lecture series brings in economists for discussions on topics of general interest related to economics and social sciences.
Rasche said to rebuild the economy, a fundamental cultural change needs to take place, and he expects numerous new regulations to come from the recession.
“Recovery will take place, but it will be a relatively slow process,” Rasche said.
Andrew Jones, a senior from Mt. Vernon studying economics, said he doesn’t know if he agrees with Rasche on introducing a new health care system right away.
“I think it’s a good ideal,” said Jones, who is also the president of Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Honor Society. “How practical is it at this point in time? I don’t know.”
Daniel Eck, a senior from Springfield studying mathematics, said it was encouraging to hear Rasche say the recession has stabilized and bottomed out.
“He was saying there’s no indication of it going down,” Eck said. “It could go further down, but not at such a rate that it went when it crashed.
Eck, who is the vice president of Omicron Delta Epsilon International Economics Honor Society, said there is even a small chance that the inverse of the same unlikely circumstances that caused the recession could cause an upswing in the economy.
Stile Smith can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259 or sts34@siu.edu
