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Economist Richard Rahn Gives Lecture "Washington and the Economy: Abating or Abetting?"

The Pepperdine University School of Public Policy welcomes Richard Rahn, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and former chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who will give a lecture titled, "Washington and the Economy: Abating or Abetting?" at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27 in the Drescher Graduate Campus auditorium in Malibu. 

While pundits say that the nation's current economic downturn is the most challenging since the Great Depression, economists are using this experience both to reassess the Great Depression and its failures, and prescribe solutions for systemic problems in the current federal economic policies in Washington, D.C.

Rahn was formerly chief economist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and one of the architects of the dramatic turnaround in the economy of the 1980s and after, when the economy experienced the longest growth period in American history. During that time, Rahn also served as executive vice president and board member of the National Chamber Foundation, and as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Economic Growth.

Currently, he is a weekly economic columnist for The Washington Times, and serves on the editorial board of the Cayman Financial Review. Rahn is also a member of the Board of Visitors of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy and a frequent commentator on national economic news programs.

Rahn served for two terms (2002-2008) as the first non-Caymanian member of the Board of Directors of the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, which regulates the world's largest offshore financial center.

Previously, he was the Executive Director of the American Council for Capital Formation. In 1990-1991, he served as the U.S. co-chairman of the Bulgarian Economic Growth and Transition Project. In 1982, President Reagan appointed Dr. Rahn as a member of the Quadrennial Social Security Advisory Council. During the 1988 Presidential campaign, he served as an economic advisor to President G.H.W. Bush.

In 1990, Rahn founded the Novecon companies, which included Sterling Semiconductor (now owned by Dow Corning). He continues to serve on boards of private companies.
As a professor, Rahn has taught at Florida State, George Mason, George Washington, and Rutgers Universities; and at the Polytechnic University of New York, where he served as head of the graduate Department of Management. He also was an instructor for the U.S. Air Force and the Washington economic advisor for New York Mercantile Exchange.

In addition to hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, The American Spectator, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and The National Interest, Rahn has contributed to numerous books and professional journals and is the author of the book The End of Money and the Struggle for Financial Privacy (1999). As an economic commentator, he has appeared on such programs as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Kudlow and Co., Wall Street Week, MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour and Crossfire, and was a weekly commentator for Radio America. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on economic issues more than 75 times.

Rahn earned: a B.A. in economics at the University of South Florida, from which he received the "Distinguished Alumnus Award," an M.B.A. from Florida State University, a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by Pepperdine University.

Find out more about featured speakers at the Pepperdine School of Public Policy Web site.