For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Contact: Isaac Morehouse
Director of Campus Leadership
Students for a Free Economy
989-631-0900

MIDLAND - Mackinac Center President Emeritus Lawrence W. Reed will discuss the Great Depression and how its lessons relate to today's economy at Central Michigan University on April 13. The event begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Park Library Auditorium.

Reed, president of the Foundation for Economic Education, will discuss his popular monograph, "Great Myths of the Great Depression," which explodes the conventional thinking about the Great Depression and the role the federal government played in it.

"The history books are full of errors and omissions regarding the true role the federal government played in the Great Depression," Reed said. "FDR's policies did not alleviate the suffering of the 1930s and in many cases made it worse - a legacy we're still trying to overcome today."

Reed said the lessons of the Great Depression are important in today's economic climate.

"This message is crucial today because Washington seems headed down the same path it did more than 70 years ago," he said. "Too many politicians from both parties are scrambling to give away trillions of dollars under the mistaken notion that more government spending and regulations can revive a slumping economy."

Reed holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Grove City College and a master's degree in history from Slippery Rock State University. He taught economics at Northwood University in Midland from 1977 to 1984 and was the founding president of the Mackinac Center, serving for 20 years. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Administration by CMU in 1994.

The event is sponsored by the Mackinac Center's Students for a Free Economy, the CMU Collegiate Forum and the CMU Campus Conservatives. It is open to the public and free of charge.

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