Supply-side economics founder to discuss public policy at KU
LAWRENCE – The father of supply-side economics and a major contributor to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's new tax policy is coming to Lawrence.
Arthur Laffer will present "The Next Act for Policy Makers: A Primer on Economic Reality, Myths and Fallacies" at 5 p.m. Oct. 11 in Woodruff Auditorium at the Kansas Union.
Laffer's discussion will focus on the many economic plans put forth by the president and Republican challengers as prescriptions for increasing employment, improving the U.S. budget deficit and growing the economy.
Laffer is chairman of Laffer Associates and The Laffer Center for Supply-Side Economics. His economic acumen, achievements and influence in triggering a worldwide tax-cutting movement in the 1980s has earned him the distinction in many publications as "The Father of Supply-Side Economics." A March 1999 Time Magazine cover story, "The Century's Greatest Minds," deemed the Laffer Curve, the main theoretical construct of supply-side economics, one of "a few advances that powered this extraordinary century."
He has a long history of public service, including serving as a member of Ronald Reagan's economic policy advisory board for both of his presidential terms. Laffer has held professorships at Pepperdine University, the University of Southern California and the University of Chicago.
Laffer received a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University in 1963. He received an MBA and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1965 and 1972, respectively.
The lecture is sponsored by the University of Kansas School of Business, 1st Global and the Fred and Mary Koch Foundation. It is free and open to the public.
1st Global is a Dallas-based diversified financial services company. Tony Batman, chief executive officer, was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of the KU School of Business in 2007.
The Fred and Mary Koch Foundation was established in 1953 and focuses its resources on not-for-profit organizations in Kansas that significantly enhance the state's quality of life through arts, environmental stewardship, human services, enablement of at-risk youth and education.