AMES, Iowa -- Chris Low, chief economist for FTN Financial and a frequent TV network commentator, is the fall 2007 speaker for the Robert Stafford Lecture Series on Banking in Iowa State University's College of Business.
Low will give his economic outlook during an 11 a.m. presentation on Tuesday, Oct. 16, in the South Prairie Room at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center. A 10 a.m. reception in the Meadow Room will precede the lecture, which is free and open to the public.
"Turmoil in the financial markets and the worst housing recession in 17 years threaten the viability of the economic expansion," said Low. "The Fed has begun to respond with interest rate cuts, but the economic outlook remains cloudy."
Low's lecture will begin with some insight on the logjam in the credit market, will follow through with the impact on economic data so far, and will conclude with the likely policy response and outlook for economic growth, inflation and the markets in 2008.
The most widely quoted economist in the business press, Low is a regular economic commentator on Bloomberg TV and Radio, and Public Radio International's "Marketplace" program. He also frequently writes and delivers U.S. business news for British Broadcasting Corporation radio.
Before joining FTN Financial in the summer of 1998, Low spent 11 years as an economist and money manager at HSBC in New York.
He is a member of the Bond Market Association's Economic Committee and a graduate of New York University.
Low is the fourth Stafford lecturer at Iowa State. More information on the program is available at http://www.bus.iastate.edu/Outreach/Stafford/default.asp.
The Robert Stafford Lecture Series on Banking was established by the College of Business in 2004 and is funded by Ames National Corporation in honor of its 100 years of service to the Ames community. The gift honors Robert Stafford, who was longtime president and chairman of First National Bank, Ames, and Ames National Corporation.
