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Lycoming College presents John Marthinsen as the next James W. Harding Executive Speaker

Lycoming College presents John Marthinsen as the next James W. Harding Executive Speaker

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Lycoming College announces that John E. Marthinsen, Ph.D., will visit campus as the next James W. Harding Executive Speaker. The College welcomes residents of Williamsport and surrounding communities to join the College community for his presentation, “Offshoring, U.S. Unemployment, and Income Inequality,” on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m., in the Mary Lindsay Welch Honors Hall on the corner of Fourth and Basin streets. The event is free and open to the public.

In his lecture entitled, “Offshoring, Unemployment, and Income Inequality,” Marthinsen will discuss how surveys have shown that the vast majority of Americans believe the leading cause of U.S. economic problems is offshoring jobs by local firms to low-wage countries. His presentation will address questions, such as: What is offshoring, and how does it affect us? Are our income levels lower and unemployment rates higher because firms offshore? Who is most affected – low-, medium- or high-skilled workers? Has it made income inequality worse? What should Congress do (if anything) about offshoring? Is the problem self-correcting?

“John has a strong track record in researching issues in economics, and as an educator, he is in a unique position to bring an unbiased look at offshoring to our campus,” said Mehrdad Madresehee, professor of economics and chair of the department. “Discussions such as these are very important to the education of our business majors here at Lycoming, and we feel very fortunate that our Institute for Management Studies is able to bring such a respected expert to campus, and also very proud that he is an alumnus of the program.”

Marthinsen is a member of the Lycoming College class of 1970 and a member of the Lycoming College Board of Trustees. He holds a doctorate from The University of Connecticut where he was awarded academic honors. Marthinsen currently holds the Distinguished Chair in Swiss Economics at Babson College, where he is a professor of economics and international business. His teaching and research focuses on the areas of international macroeconomics, risk management and international finance. He is the author of several books, including “Risk Takers: Uses and Abuses of Financial Derivatives,” “International Macroeconomics for business and Political Leaders,” and “Managing in a Global Economy: Demystifying International Macroeconomics.” Marthinsen has also consulted for domestic and international companies and the U.S. government, and has served on the United Nations Association’s Economic Policy Council.

His presentation is sponsored by the College’s Institute for Management Studies. The James W. Harding Executive Speaker Series is named for James W. Harding, a 1938 graduate of Lycoming College and native of Montoursville, Pa. Harding was an executive with Kemper Insurance. As the result of a grant from the James S. Kemper foundation to endow the series, students have the opportunity to meet and network with some of America's top business executives from numerous internationally-recognized companies and firms.