St. Louis Fed and Washington University To Host Conference on ''''State and Local Government Finance amid Economic Turbulence

ST. LOUIS — The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Washington University’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy will host the “State and Local Government Finance amid Economic Turbulence” conference on April 9 at the university’s Olin School of Business Simon Hall.   The conference is free and open to the public.

This timely, non-technical forum features recognized scholars from across the country, including a keynote address from Ronald Fisher of Michigan State University.  Fisher, who once served as the deputy treasurer for the state of Michigan, specializes in the study of government finance and taxation, particularly at the state and local levels.  He is currently a professor of economics and Dean of the Honors College at Michigan State.  

“A conference on state and local public finance is timely given the deteriorating fiscal conditions in state and local government,” said conference moderator Tom Garrett, economist and assistant vice president with the St. Louis Fed.  “The non-technical nature of the conference should appeal to a wide range of professionals interested in state budgeting and finance.”

For more information, or to register online, see Washington University’s Weidenbaum Center web site.  The deadline for registration is April 2. 

“State and Local Government amid Economic Turbulence” Topics and Speakers:

• “The Current Status of State and Local Public Finance” – Keynote Address
  Ronald C. Fisher, Professor of Economics and Dean of the Honors College, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
• “An Economic Evaluation of State and Local Taxes”
  Speaker | Ray Nelson, associate professor of business management , Marriott School of Management,  Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
  Discussant | Elizabeth McNichol, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Washington, D.C.
• “Fiscal Federalism in the United States”
  Speaker | Robert Inman, Richard K. Mellon Professor of Finance and Economics of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
  Discussant | Paul Rothstein, Senior Economist, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Washington, D.C. 
• “Non-Traditional Revenue Sources & Implications for Growth”
  Speaker| William Fox, Professor, Department of Economics and Director, Center for Business & Economic Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn.
  Discussant | Gary Wagner, Professor of Economics, the College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• “The Future of State and Local Government Finance” – Panel Discussion
  Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, Washington, D.C.
  Karl Kurtz, Director of Trust for Representative Democracy, National Council of State Legislatures
  Robert Tannenwald, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Boston, Mass.

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With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the Federal Reserve System. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates U.S. monetary policy, regulates state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies, provides payment services to financial institutions and the U.S. government, and promotes community development and financial education.