Economist who Sees Business as Agent for Positive Social Change to Speak at Scranton
The former chair of President George W. Bush’s
Council of Economic Advisors, Dr. Hubbard sees business schools – MBA programs
in particular – as the best means of influencing and improving the role
business can play as an agent of social change. He said at a lecture at
Columbia University, “I am here to plant the flag, to defend business as a
social agent, the academic study of business as a way to help it better perform
that role, and the MBA as the best vehicle to do that on a large-scale basis.”
Dr. Hubbard argues in his 2009 book “The Aid Trap: Hard Truths about Ending Poverty,” which he coauthored with William Duggan, that the “reorientation of aid” from government and charity organizations to local businesses will lead to more sustained prosperity and the end of poverty in the world’s poorest nations.
In addition to publishing more than 100 articles on investing, banking, energy economics and public policy, among other topics, Dr. Hubbard is the author of two leading economics textbooks. He is a featured commentator on PBS’s “Nightly Business Report.” His commentary about budget deficit, health care reform, the mortgage industry and many other current issues regularly appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Huffington Post.
In his book “Healthy, Wealthy and Wise: Five Steps to a Better Health Care System,” which he coauthored in 2005, Dr. Hubbard proposed comprehensive reform in health care focused on five key areas: taxes, insurance, health information, control of anticompetitive behavior, and the malpractice system.
His latest book “Seeds of Destruction,” which was published in 2010, looks at anticipated results of President Obama’s policies and suggests changes in government policies that would lead to prosperity.
Over the past 30 years Dr. Hubbard has served as a research consultant with numerous private corporations, as well as government and international agencies including the U.S. Department of Treasury, the National Science Foundation, the Word Bank and the Internal Revenue Service, among others.
He earned his doctorate and master’s degrees in economics from Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. He earned both a B.A. and B.S. degree, summa cum laude from the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School, as well as the University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
The University of Scranton’s Henry George Lecture Series is the preeminent public lecture series in economics in northeastern Pennsylvania. Six of the previous lecturers have won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
The Economics and Finance Department at The University of Scranton and the campus chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, an international honor society for economics, host the Henry George Lecture, which honors the 19th century American economist and social reformer.
For additional information about the Henry George Lecture, call The University of Scranton at 941-7475.
