The Fall International Seminar Series, A New Normal in a Global Context, concludes with a final presentation at noon, Wednesday, November 3 by Dr. David L. Cleeton of Illinois State University speaking on “U.S. and EU Fiscal Policy responses to COVID-19: Too Little, Too Late, or Too Much?” The event will be presented as a live Zoom webinar, free and open to the public. Advance registration is required to receive the Zoom link.

Cleeton’s presentation will compare and contrast the fiscal policy responses to the COVID crisis in the United States and the European Union in combating the shortest but deepest economic recession in living memory.  Fiscal policy has played a key role during an environment of limitations of monetary policy due to the effective lower bound on interest rates.  An examination of the appropriateness and timeliness of the alternative fiscal policy paths will highlight how targeting of aid to limit unemployment and sustain needed consumption expenditures were differentially designed.  He will conclude with a comparative look at the recovery paths of output and employment across the United States and the member states of the European Union. 

Cleeton is department chair of the Illinois State’s Department of Economics. His research appears in the American Economic Review, Public Finance Quarterly, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, Health Care Financing Review, and the Southern Economic Journal. He is coauthor (with Zvi Bodie and Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton) of the textbook Financial Economics. He was selected as the Fulbright-Schuman Chair of EU-US Relations at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium and recognized as a fellow of the Euro Area Business Cycle Network affiliated with the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London. Cleeton has held multiple visiting professorships throughout the U.S. and internationally (Turkey, the Netherlands, France, and Austria). He currently holds an affiliated faculty appointment with the EU Center of Excellence at the University of Illinois and serves as co-chair of the Economics Interest Section and member of the Advisory Board of the European Union Studies Association. 

The International Seminar Series has become one of the most popular internationally focused events on the Illinois State campus and continues to provide international perspectives on critical issues around the world. This semester the series is a collaboration between the Office of International Studies and Programs and the Department of Politics and Government. The faculty coordinator is Dr. T.Y. Wang, University Professor and chair of the Department of Politics and Government.

Seminar series events are free and open to the public. Advance registration is required to receive the log-in link. Those who have questions or who need an accommodation to participate fully should contact InternationalSeminar@IllinoisState.edu or call 309-438-5276.