Dr. Munir Sheikh
The department of economics at Western and the Western ESA co-hosted a speech given by Dr. Munir Sheikh, former Director of Statistics Canada. Dr. Sheikh arrived on November 12, 2010 and gave a speech titled: “The Census of Canada: Some Facts and Recent Developments.” As the title suggests, some rather controversial topics were covered surrounding the recent issue in the House of Commons regarding the Census Long Form.
Dr. Sheikh’s talk was followed by a question and answer period where a broad range of views were exhibited surrounding the matter. As per Dr. Sheikh’s request, the discussion was closed to outside viewers and there was no media coverage of the event.
Coverage by Department of Economics at Western
The Honourable Perrin Beatty
On October 19, 2010 the Economics Students’ Association hosted for the second time the Hon. Perrin Beatty, President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Mr. Beatty’s second discussion was titled: “Facing the Recession: What’s Next For Canada’s Economy?” The talk centred on long term structural and demographic issues that Canada will inevitably face in the near future. The speech was followed by a question and answer period where topics such as the price of oil, the Canadian dollar, the HST, and Mr. Beatty’s career at CBC were discussed.
Eric Sprott
On October 7, 2009 the Economics Students’ Association hosted iconic Canadian investor Eric Sprott.
Mr. Sprott spoke on a variety of different topics and made several public announcements that were subsequently picked up on by national media outlets. Mr. Sprott covered his investment strategy, which focuses on earnings and business fundamentals and ignores the perceived “quality of management” and the ability of the firm to meet analyst estimates. Additionally, Mr. Sprott announced that he held a significant short position on one of Canada’s largest companies, Research in Motion, that he expected gold prices to double to $2,000 in 5-7 years and that he believed the U.S. government is “virtually bankrupt”, and will soon be faced with a failed bond auction.
Press Release on PRLog | Coverage on the National Post’s Trading Desk
Coverage of Sprott at Value Investing Congress
The Honourable Perrin Beatty
The ESA co-hosted an event featuring the Honourable Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce on March 23rd, 2009. The event was held in conjunction with the Huron Economics Department. Mr. Beatty’s talk was entitled “Navigating Uncharted Waters: What’s Next for Canada’s Economy?” and included suggestions for Canada’s political leaders on how to tackle the current economic crisis.
The Right Honourable Paul Martin
On November 26, 2008 the Economics Students’ Association hosted Canada’s 21st Prime Minister, Paul Martin.
The Right Honourable Paul Martin spoke to over 1,000 students about his time as finance minister, and on some of the solutions to the current financial crisis. In addition, he shared many of his concerns on the First Nations as well as the future of Canada and the G8. Mr. Martin concluded by taking many questions from students on a broad range of topics from the troubles facing the auto industry, to web neutrality.
Introduction | Biography | Video | Complete Audio | Speech Transcript | Press Release
Western Gazette | Western News | Western Podcast | Western TV (Part 1) (Part 2) | A-Channel
London Topic | UWO Journalism | CHRW
The Financial Crisis Panel
On October 30, 2008 in partnership with the Department of Economics, the ESA hosted an event on the current financial crisis entitled, “The Financial Crisis: Past, Present and Future.” The event was meant as a short synopsis on the financial crisis, and included some of the department’s most prominent faculty members, including (left to right):
Professor Jim MacGee
Visiting Scholar, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland (2008-09)
Specialist in Macroeconomics, the Great Depression, and the Economics of Bankruptcy
Professor (Emeritus) David Laidler
Fellow in Residence, C. D. Howe Institute
Special Advisor to the Governor of the Bank of Canada (1998-99)
Specialist in Monetary Economics and its history
Professor Nathan Sussman
Chair, Department of Economics, UWO
Advisor to the Bank of Israel
Specialist in the History of Financial Markets, European Economic History
Don Drummond
On March 12th, 2008, the ESA hosted one of Canada’s foremost economist, Don Drummond. Mr Drummond served as Associate Deputy Minister during the Chretien parliament, and joined TD Bank as Senior Vice President & Chief Economist in 2000.
In his speech, Mr Drummond tackled the challenges of Canada’s place in the global economy and provided biting insight into some of the failures of the environmental movement. During the question and answer period, Mr Drummond engaged the audience of over 250 students in a candid look into the ever-changing life of a corporate and public economist, and TD’s take on the then-budding North American recession.
Biography | Curing Canada’s Ailing Productivity | 10 Economics Lessons for the Environment