About one hundred and fifty students attended the "Financial Crises at Home and Abroad-Imagining the next President's agenda" forum to discuss the current state of the United States economy on Sept. 24, according to Student Union Director of Communications Jamie Ansorge '09.The event, sponsored by the Student Union and the Office of Communications, featured Dean Bruce Magid of the Brandeis International Business School and Dean Lisa Lynch of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management as they discussed the current state of the United States economy as part of the Brandeis University "Spotlight on Economic Distress."

The goal of the hour-and-a-half forum was to have a better-informed student body by providing insight into the origins of the economic crisis by discussing how the crisis will affect the United States domestically and abroad in the future and addressing the challenges the next president of the United States will face in order to facilitate the economic recovery.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Daniel Acheampong '10 wrote, "[The session] was really informative and appropriate, especially at a time when the economic situation is highly affecting everyone in some regard. [The panelists] provided an in-depth analysis to explain why the economy is in a downfall, the future of the economy, and the long/short-term benefits and consequences of government intervention."

Lynch, currently chair of the Board of Directors of the Boston Federal Reserve and former chief economist at the Department of Labor under the Clinton administration, explained that the significant signs of the economic crisis emerged in February and March of 2007. At this point in time, the prices of homes began to decrease dramatically. Additionally, as a result of the price decrease in homes the default rate of sub-prime mortgages increased.

Lynch also discussed the Bush administration's proposed $700 billion rescue plan. She explained that there would be "opportunity cost" associated with spending that amount of money to assist with the economic recovery because spending that much money will have an impact on the next president's financial plans.

Additionally, Lynch said, "I identified the significant constraints that either candidate would face in light of what was currently being proposed. The $700 billion rescue packet is going to impose a significant budget constraint on whoever is the next president."

Lynch said that "additional issues will arise for the next president, including worse conditions in the labor market to our exports weakening and loss of investments. All of this will shape the economic climate and affect the revenues that are available to a president to spend on programs."

Magid, the former managing director and senior vice president at Bank of America, compared the economy to a "house of cards," explaining that the economy is based on credit. Magid said this is the "worst financial crisis since the [Great] Depression."

In his presentation, Magid explained that if foreign nations lose interest in the American dollar, it will exacerbate the current economic crisis. He stressed the importance of the United States' improving its relationship with emerging countries, since the U.S. is "no longer a superpower" and that the U.S. is going to have to "change its diplomatic tone."

David Warsh, an economic journalist, led the question-and-answer portion of the program. Warsh posed the question to the deans regarding the impact of the economic crisis on Massachusetts and the nation as a whole. Dean Lynch said that Massachusetts has not been heavily affected by the economic crisis because of the state's investment in higher education and in the life sciences. The forum concluded with another question-and-answer session involving the students in the audience.