America’s Financial Crisis

Graziadio faculty discuss the factors that led to the crisis and offered an outlook for the financial sector and the overall economy.

By David M. Smith, PhD, Edward H. Fredericks, Jr., MBA, CFA, Joetta Forsyth, PhD and Ron Ford, PhD

2008 Volume 11 Issue 3

On Tuesday, September 30, 2008, members of the Graziadio School community came together from New York to Los Angeles on a conference call to hear about America’s financial crisis from a distinguished panel of professors.

During the 45-minute conversation, moderated by the Graziadio School’s Associate Dean of Executive Education Dr. Ron Ford, listeners from across the country submitted questions to the panel that ranged from explaining the sophisticated complexities behind credit-default swaps (CDS) to understanding the practical reasons that led to the crunch in financial markets. The panel discussed the factors that led to the crisis and offered an outlook for the financial sector and the overall economy.

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Read the transcript

On the GBR Blog:

Read why Dr. Forsyth thinks a flawed bailout is better than none at all.

Panelists:

David M. Smith, PhD
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Economics

Joetta Forsyth, PhD
Assistant Professor of Finance

Ed Fredericks
Practitioner Faculty of Finance and Portfolio Manager at East Wind Asset Management

Moderator:

Ronald D. Ford, PhD
Associate Dean of Executive Education and Practitioner Faculty of Finance

Excerpts:

“The most constructive thing to do is to understand this situation and try to determine how we can move ourselves forward.” ~ Ed Fredericks

“The extent to which we can’t address important issues sooner, rather than later, will be correlated with the performance of the worldwide economy over the coming months.” ~ Dave Smith, PhD

“If we fail to pass a comprehensive bill of some kind, we could potentially be headed for a financial collapse.” ~ Joetta Forsyth, PhD

About the Author(s)

David M. Smith, PhD, is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and an associate professor of economics at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. His economic expertise includes the areas of labor pay and productivity, forecasting, and analysis of specific labor markets. A labor economist with an applied focus, Dr. Smith has published numerous articles that have appeared in both academic and practitioner journals. In addition, he has a chapter in an edited volume, a monograph, and published book reviews to his credit. His research on credit unions research has been used in arguments before the US Supreme Court as well as in state legislative hearings. Dr. Smith closely follows current economic trends and has appeared on radio and television and in several newspapers and magazines, including most recently the London Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the New York Times, and the Investor's Business Daily.

Edward H. Fredericks, Jr., MBA, CFA

Joetta Forsyth, PhD, , is an assistant professor of finance at the Graziadio School. Dr. Forsyth received her bachelor's and master's in economics at the University of Chicago; in 1995, she graduated from the Harvard Business School with a PhD in business economics and a concentration in finance and industrial organization. Prior to joining the Graziadio School, Dr. Forsyth taught finance at the University of Michigan's Business School and the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business.

Ron Ford, PhD