Kansas City Fed Vice President, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Will Lead Off Colorado State Economics Department’s Fall Lectures

A regional Federal Reserve Bank vice president and the principal economist of the federally chartered agency that serves the mortgage industry will lead off a series of fall semester talks sponsored by the Department of Economics at Colorado State University.

Lectures are free and open to the public. All are held from 3-4:30 p.m. in Room C358 Clark Building unless otherwise noted.

Keynote speaker Mark Drabenstott, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and director of the Center for the Study of Rural America, will deliver two addresses on campus Sept. 14.

From noon-1 p.m., Drabenstott will talk about "Rural America in the 21st Century" in Room 118 Shepardson Hall. He will present a more technical discussion of "The Challenges and Opportunities of Economic Analysis in Rural Areas" from 3-4:30 p.m. in Room C358 Clark Building.

A nationally recognized observer of agricultural and rural economies, Drabenstott leads the Center for the Study of Rural America, which the Federal Reserve established in 1998 as its focal point for research on rural and agricultural issues. An expert on the leading issues facing the food and agriculture sector and the rural economy, he has published more than 100 articles and has edited four books.

Drabenstott, who grew up on an Indiana farm, received a bachelor’s degree from Earlham College and master’s and doctoral degrees from Iowa State University.

Marsha Courchane, principal economist for Freddie Mac, will speak on "Evolution of the Housing Finance System in America from 3-4:30 p.m. Sept. 21. Her work involves forecasting for the quasi-governmental agency, chartered in 1970, that stabilizes the nation’s mortgage markets and expands opportunities for home ownership and affordable rental housing.

Based in Washington, D.C., Courchane earned her doctorate from Northwestern University.

Additional dates and lectures include the following.

  • Oct. 5: Dan Rickman, professor at Oklahoma State University, "The Waxing and Waning of State Economies: The Chicken-Egg Question of Jobs vs. People," Room 214-216 Lory Student Center.
  • Oct. 12: Jeff Romaine, regional economic analyst for the Denver Regional Council of Governments, "Emerging Challenges in Applied Regional Economic Analysis."
  • Oct. 19: Malcolm Rutherford, professor at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, "Walton Hamilton, Amherst and the Brookings Graduate School: Institutional Economics and Education."
  • Oct. 26: Sueann Ambron, dean of the University of Colorado-Denver Business School, "Reflections on the Business Role of Academic Economists."
  • Nov. 9: John Tschirhart, professor of economics at the University of Wyoming, "Toward Merging Economics and Ecology."
  • Nov. 16: Walter Schwarm, instructor of economics at Colorado State University, "Modeling Interregional Factor Competition: Does Anybody Gain?"

For additional information call the Economics Department at (970) 491-6324.