Podcast of WFU's financial crisis panel discussion now available

Wake Forest University hosted a panel discussion, “Exploring Today’s Financial Crisis: Business, Politics, Ethics and You” on Oct. 3 at Scales Fine Arts Center’s Brendle Recital Hall.

More than 500 attendees turned out to hear banking executives and academics address the root causes of the nation’s current financial crisis and how it is affecting taxpayers, investors, bank customers and small business owners, among others.

John Allison, chairman and chief executive officer at BB&T Corp., told the audience that the $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry authorized by Congress won’t necessarily ease the credit crisis affecting the U.S. economy because it can’t guarantee that banks will begin lending money again. He blamed the crisis on the overbuilding and overvaluation of homes across the nation.

“We built too many houses and in the wrong places,” he said.

As a potential solution, Allison said that if the government would create a 10 percent tax credit for home buyers, housing prices might drop, which could help stimulate the economy.

Reggie Imamura, the managing director of PNC Capital Markets, added that no one is putting cash to work and “liquidity is what makes the economy run.”

Dean of Business and Professor of Leadership and Strategy Steve Reinemund, who offered opening and closing remarks, said it’s a scary time for consumers, taxpayers and companies because the lack of loans could lead to more layoffs.

Wake Forest University panelists Sheri Bridges, associate professor of marketing at the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy; David Coates, professor of political science; and Alison Snow Jones, associate professor at the School of Medicine’s Program in Bioethics, Health and Society; also offered their takes on the current economy as did moderators Bill Marcum, associate professor of finance at the Calloway School, and Rob Nash, associate professor of finance at Wake Forest’s Babcock Graduate School of Management.

Want to hear more? Click here to listen to the podcast.