San Jose State University
Department of Economics
David S. Saurman Provocative Lecture Series
* * * * * * * *
�A U.S. Government Default:
Inevitable and Desirable�
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
Associate Professor of Economics, San Jose State University
STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC ARE ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND.
The U.S. government faces a looming fiscal crisis, driven by the exploding
costs of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. An outright default on
Treasury securities, therefore, is almost inevitable. Professor Hummel will
explain why and explore both the likely short-run and long-run consequences.
The short-run will be painful, but the long-run consequences, both economic
and political, will in fact be beneficial, as suggested by such historical
case studies as the American state government defaults of the 1840s.
Jeffrey Rogers Hummel is Associate Professor of Economics at San Jose State
University. He is the author of Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men: A
History of the American Civil War and has published articles in the Journal
of Economic History, Texas Law Review, International Philosophical
Quarterly, Independent Review, and Econ Journal Watch, among others. Prior
to joining San Jose State University in 2002, Professor Hummel taught at
Golden Gate University and Santa Clara University. He also served in the
U.S. Army as a tank platoon leader during the early seventies, was
Publications Director for the Independent Institute in Oakland, CA, in the
late eighties, and was a National Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford
University, for the 2001-2002 academic year. He received his Ph.D. in
history from the University of Texas at Austin.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
5:15�6:45 P.M.
Engineering Room 189
ABOUT THE DAVID S. SAURMAN PROVOCATIVE LECTURE SERIES: The Department of
Economics invites students, faculty, and the general public to consider
intellectual arguments on controversial topics. Presenters in the
Provocative Lecture Series are noted for their outstanding scholarship and
public speaking ability. This lecture series fosters the tradition of higher
education to challenge ideas and develop critical thinking in an environment
of respect for intellectual discourse. Our goal is for you to develop the
critical thinking skills necessary to reach your own informed position on
controversial issues. We invite you to attend, to relax, to ponder, and to
enjoy the thought process.