William Poole

Poole was born on June 19, 1937, in Wilmington, Delaware. He received an A.B. degree in 1959 from Swarthmore College and an M.B.A. in 1963 and a Ph.D. in economics in 1966, both from the University of Chicago. Swarthmore honored him with a Doctor of Laws degree in 1989.

Poole began his career at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in 1964 and worked as a senior economist there from 1969 to 1974. In 1974, he joined the faculty at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, twice served as chairman of the economics department, and for five years directed the university’s Center for the Study of Financial Markets and Institutions. He was the Herbert H. Goldberger Professor of Economics there when he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

Throughout his career, Poole has served as a visiting scholar and an adviser at numerous institutions. From 1970 to 1990 he was a member of, and became senior adviser to, the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity. In 1980-81, he was a visiting economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. From 1982 to 1985, Poole was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers and a member of the Academic Advisory Panels of the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Boston. From 1985 until his appointment to the St. Louis Bank, Poole was an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. In 1991, Poole was Bank Mees and Hope Visiting Professor of Economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. From 1989 to 1995, he served on the Congressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Advisors. In addition, he has been an adviser and consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, and a visiting economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Poole has engaged in a wide range of professional activities, including publishing numerous papers in professional journals. He has published two books, Money and the Economy: A Monetarist View, in 1978, and Principles of Economics, in 1991. During his 10 years at the St. Louis Fed, he gave over 150 speeches on a variety of topics.

Poole is a director of United Way of Greater St. Louis and member of the Webster University Board of Trustees. He was a member of the Chancellor’s Council of the University of Missouri-St. Louis 1999-2003. He was inducted into The Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars in 2005 and presented with the Adam Smith Award by the National Association for Business Economics in 2006. In 2007, the Global Interdependence Center presented him its Frederick Heldring Award.

Mark Vitner

Mark Vitner is a managing director and senior economist at Wells Fargo, responsible for tracking U.S. and regional economic trends. Based in Charlotte, N.C., he also writes for the company’s Monthly Economic Outlook report, the Weekly Economic & Financial Commentary, and provides regular updates on the housing markets, commercial real estate, regional economies, and inflation.Mark joined Wachovia (then First Union) in 1993. Before that, he spent nine years as an economist for Barnett Banks in Jacksonville, Fla.

Mark’s commentary has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and many other publications.
Originally from Atlanta, Mark earned his B.B.A. in economics from the University of Georgia, an M.B.A. from the University of North Florida, and has completed further graduate work in economics at the University of Florida. He also completed the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) Advanced Training in Economics program at Carnegie Mellon University.

Mark is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and co-founded its Charlotte chapter, The Charlotte Economics Club. He serves as a distinguished lecturer and practitioner at the University of Georgia. He is also a member of the American Economic Association, the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, and the Charlotte Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth. Mark currently chairs the economic advisory committee for the Bond Dealers of America. In addition, Mark serves as the chief economist for the North Carolina CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member). He is a member of the Blue Chip Economic forecasting panel and was recently named one of the 2009 North Carolina Power Players, 50 most powerful people in business, by Business Leader magazine. Mark currently serves on the Joint Advisory Board of Economists for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Maria Pia Olivero

Education

AS International Trade – Instituto Superior de Comercio Exterior Argentina 1995
BS Economics – Universidad Nacional de Cordoba Argentina 1997
MA Economics – Duke University Durham, NC USA 2001
Ph.D. Economics – Duke University Durham, NC USA 2005
Selected Works
Articles

Olivero, Maria P and Madak, Robert . “Financial Integration within Europe and the International Transmission of Business Cycles among Industrialized Countries” APPLIED ECONOMICS . (forthcoming)

Olivero, Maria P and Yotov, Yoto . “Dynamic Gravity: Theory and Empirical Implications” CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS . (forthcoming)

Luca, Alina and Olivero, Maria P. “Twin Crises in Emerging Countries: The Role of Liability Dollarization and Market Power in Banking” REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS . (forthcoming)

Aliaga-Diaz, Roger and Olivero, Maria P. “Do Bank Capital Requirements Amplify Business Cycles? Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Empirics” MACROECONOMIC DYNAMICS . (forthcoming)

Olivero, Maria P, Li, Yuan and Jeon, Bang Nam . “Consolidation in Banking and the Lending Channel of Monetary Transmission” JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL MONEY AND FINANCE 30.6 (Oct 2011):1034-54

Jeon, Bang , Olivero, Maria P and Wu, Ji . “Do foreign banks increase competition? Evidence from emerging Asian and Latin American banking markets” JOURNAL OF BANKING AND FINANCE 35.4 (Apr 2011):856-875

Olivero, Maria P, Li, Yuan and Jeon, Bang Nam . “Competition in Banking and the Lending Channel: Evidence from Bank-Level Data in Asia and Latin America” JOURNAL OF BANKING AND FINANCE 35. (Mar 2011):560-571

Aliaga-Diaz, Roger A. and Olivero, Maria P. “The Cyclicality of Price-Cost Margins in Credit Markets: Evidence from US Banks” ECONOMIC INQUIRY 49.1 (Jan 2011):26-46

Aliaga-Diaz, Roger A. and Olivero, Maria P. “Macroeconomic Implications of ‘Deep Habits’ in Banking” JOURNAL OF MONEY, CREDIT AND BANKING 42.8 (Dec 2010):1495-1521

Aliaga-Diaz, Roger A. and Olivero, Maria P. “On the Firm-Level Implications of the Bank Lending Channel of Monetary Policy” JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC DYNAMICS AND CONTROL 34. (Nov 2010):2038-2055

Aliaga-Diaz, Roger A. and Olivero, Maria P. “Is there a Financial Accelerator in US Banking? Evidence from the Cyclicality of Banks’ Price-Cost Margins” ECONOMICS LETTERS 108.2 (Aug 2010):167-171

Olivero, Maria P. “Government Spending, Distortionary Taxation and the International Transmission of Business Cycles” JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION 25.2 (Jun 2010):403-426

Olivero, Maria P. “Market Power in Banking, Countercyclical Margins and the International Transmission of Business Cycles” JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS 80.2 (Mar 2010):292-301
Proceedings

Olivero, Maria P. The Puzzles on International Comovement: The Role of International Trade and Non-Competitive Banking 2004 first annual DG ECFIN research conference on “Business Cycles and Growth in Europe” Oct 2004 Economic Papers, European Commission, Brussels:Jan 2005
Awards

2007 Excellence in Teaching Award for Assistant Professor (LeBow College of Business)

2004 Exceptional Graduate Teaching Assistant Award (Duke University)

2000-2001 Joseph J. Spengler Fellowship (Duke University)
Professional Experience

Junior researcher, IERAL Fundacion Mediterranea Argentina, — Jul 1996-Jun 2000

John Mauldin

Editor, Thoughts from the Frontline

John Mauldin is a renowned financial expert, a New York Times best-selling author, and a pioneering online commentator. Each week, over 1 million readers turn to Mauldin for his penetrating view on Wall Street, global markets, and economic history.

Mauldin’s weekly e-newsletter, Thoughts from the Frontline, was one of the first publications to provide investors with free, unbiased information and guidance. Today, it is the most widely distributed investment newsletter in the world. Mauldin also offers The Mauldin Circle, a free service that connects accredited investors to an exclusive network of money managers and alternative investment opportunities.

Tom Hoenig

Thomas M. Hoenig was president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a member of the Federal Reserve System’s Federal Open Market Committee from 1991-2011. He retired on Oct. 1, 2011, due to age requirements for regional Reserve Bank presidents.

Mr. Hoenig directed Federal Reserve activities in the Tenth Federal Reserve District — an area that spans a large portion of the central United States including: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, the northern half of New Mexico, and the western third of Missouri. The Bank is one of 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System. In addition to its participation in setting national monetary policy, the Bank is also responsible for supervising and regulating numerous commercial banks and bank holding companies, serving as the bank for the U.S. government and for commercial banks, and providing other payments services to depository institutions.

Mr. Hoenig received his doctorate in economics from Iowa State University. He joined the Federal Reserve Bank in 1973 as an economist and was a senior officer in banking supervision during the U.S. banking crisis of the 1980s. He assumed the role of president on October 1, 1991. He served as chairman of the Federal Reserve Conference of Presidents – Committee on Regulation, Bank Supervision and Legislation. As president, Mr. Hoenig was especially outspoken about the regulation of the financial industry and the role of monetary policy during the recent crisis.

He is a native of Fort Madison, Iowa, and resides in Kansas City, Mo.

Barry Nobel

Barry S. Nobel is Vice President NASDAQ OMX PHLX. Previous to this he was the Vice President of Marketing for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. He has held this position since May 1999.

Currently, Mr. Nobel is part of the senior management team of the NASDAQ OMX Option Markets. NASDAQ Options Markets offer equity options, Sector Index Options, and World Currency Options products.

From 1984 to 1999, Mr. Nobel was general partner of Nobel Securities, a proprietary trading firm on the PHLX that traded equities, equity options, fixed-income securities and currencies. Prior to that, Mr. Nobel was associated with Newcomb Securities (Newcomb), a New York-based arbitrage trading firm. At Newcomb, he spearheaded a partnership between Newcomb and Reuters International for a screen-based trading system for U.S. Treasury fixed-income securities that included extensive promotion throughout Europe and North America.

Mr. Nobel has been an active volunteer participant in the National Adoption Center – Global Interdependence Center, and Rutgers University.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

David Berson

Consulting Economist and former Chief Economist at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and Fannie Mae

As Chief Economist and Strategist, Dr. David Berson is responsible for analyses and forecasts of the economy, housing, and mortgage markets; domestic/global market research and planning; support of government relations and public policy; and strategic environmental planning. He also acts as a PMI spokesperson on topics related to global economic housing, as well as mortgage market conditions, prospects and policy. In addition, Dr. Berson manages PMI’s Portfolio Management, Analytics & Pricing Group, which is responsible for all credit analytic models and projections for the company.

Gretchen Morgenson

Gretchen Morgenson is assistant business and financial editor and a columnist at the New York Times. She has covered the world financial markets for the Times since May 1998 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002 for her “trenchant and incisive” coverage of Wall Street.

Ms. Morgenson joined The Times as assistant business and financial editor in May 1998. Previously, she was assistant managing editor at Forbes magazine since rejoining the magazine in March 1996. Before that, she was the press secretary for the Forbes for President campaign from September 1995 to March 1996. From August 1993 to August 1995, Ms. Morgenson was the executive editor at Worth magazine. As the number two editor, she oversaw all financial coverage. She also wrote an investigative “Full Disclosure” column monthly.

From November 1986 to August 1993, she was an investigative business writer and editor at Forbes magazine. She broke the story of anti-investor practices on the Nasdaq stock market that was followed by Justice Department and SEC investigations. Earlier, she oversaw several Forbes investing sections and their Washington bureau. From January 1984 to November 1986, she was a staff writer at Money magazine.

Ms. Morgenson was a stockbroker for Dean Witter Reynolds in New York from September 1981 to January 1984. She began her career at Vogue magazine as an assistant editor in August 1976. By the time she left the magazine in July 1981, she was a writer and financial columnist.

Born in State College, Penn., on January 2, 1956, Ms. Morgenson received a B.A. degree in English and history from Saint Olaf College, Northfield Minn., in 1976. She is the author of “Forbes Great Minds Of Business,” published by John Wiley & Co., in 1997 and co-author of “The Woman’s Guide to the Stock Market,” published by Harmony Books in 1981. She is married, has a son and lives in New York City.

Michael Lewitt

Michael E. Lewitt co-founded Harch Capital in 1991. Mr. Lewitt has functioned as a research analyst, investment strategist and portfolio manager for HCM Group’s high yield fixed income and bank loan portfolios. Mr. Lewitt has worked in the securities business since 1987 and has substantial experience and knowledge of the legal, tax and financial issues involved in complex corporate transactions, corporate securities and hedge funds. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Lewitt was an investment banker at Drexel Burnham and Security Pacific Merchant Bank, where he originated, processed and marketed equity and debt offerings, merger and acquisition transactions and exchange transactions. Mr. Lewitt graduated Magna Cum Laude and with Honors from Brown University in 1979, studied Comparative Literature as a doctoral candidate at Yale University from 1979 to 1981, and earned his JD and LLM in Taxation degrees from New York University School of Law in 1985 and 1988, respectively. Mr. Lewitt authors The HCM Market Letter, a monthly review of the financial markets and political world. Mr. Lewitt serves on the editorial board of Trusts & Estates magazine. From time to time, Mr. Lewitt also serves on the boards of a number of non-profit institutions.

Michael Lewitt began writing The HCM Market Letter in January 2000. Since then, the publication has gained a large following in financial, political and academic circles for its outspoken views on financial markets, market regulation, politics and culture. Mr. Lewitt and The HCM Market Letter are often featured in the financial media, particularly in times of financial crisis. Mr. Lewitt is a proud graduate of Brown University, where he majored in Comparative Literature and History. He then studied Comparative Literature at Yale University and then earned a JD and LLM in Taxation at New York University School of Law. After practicing law for a mercifully brief period of time, he joined the Corporate Finance Department of Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc. in 1987. In 1991, Joseph Harch and he founded Harch Capital Management, Inc. (now known as Harch Capital Management, LLC), a money management firm headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida that has managed billions of dollars of private equity, high yield bond and bank loan assets for a variety of institutional clients. Today, Mr. Lewitt is the President of Harch Capital Management, LLC and is actively involved in the day-to-day management of the firm’s investments.

Chris Whalen

Christopher Whalen is Senior Managing Director of Tangent Capital Partners in New York, where he works as an investment banker providing advisory services focused on companies in the financial services sector.

He is co-founder and Vice Chairman of the board of Lord, Whalen LLC, parent of Institutional Risk Analytics, the Los Angeles based provider of bank ratings, risk management tools and consulting services for auditors, regulators and financial professionals.

Christopher is the author of the December 2010 book, “Inflated: How Money and Debt Built the American Dream,” now in a second printing from John Wiley & Sons. Christopher currently edits The Institutional Risk Analyst, a weekly news report and commentary on significant developments in and around the global financial markets.

He also contributes articles to Zero Hedge, Housing Wire and The Big Picture. Christopher has appeared before Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on a range of financial, economic and political issues.

Christopher is a Fellow of the Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University. He is a member of Professional Risk Managers International Association. He was regional director of PRMIA’s Washington D.C. chapter from 2006 through January 2010. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Global Interdependence Center in Philadelphia.

Josh Rosner

Managing Director, Graham Fisher & Co.

Joshua Rosner is Managing Director at independent research consultancy Graham Fisher & Co and advises regulators and institutional investors on housing and mortgage finance issues. Previously he was the Managing Director of financial services research for Medley Global Advisors and was an Executive Vice President at CIBC World Markets. Mr. Rosner was among the first analysts to identify operational and accounting problems at the Government Sponsored Enterprises and one of the earliest in identifying the peak in the housing market, the likelihood of contagion in credit markets and the weaknesses in the credit rating agencies CDO assumptions.

Paul McCulley

Chair, GIC Global Society of Fellows

Paul McCulley is Chairman of the Society of Fellows of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Society, founded in late 2010, is an evolving work, with its inaugural event slated for Spring 2012.

Prior to endowing the Society and becoming its first Chair, Paul was a senior partner at PIMCO, the world’s premier fixed income investment advisory firm, where he was a member of the Investment Committee from its inception, manager of multi-billion dollar portfolios and founding author of the research publication, Global Central Bank Focus

Charles I. Plosser

President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Dr. Charles Plosser is president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In his current role, he participates on the Federal Reserve System’s Federal Open Market Committee, which is responsible for conducting our nation’s monetary policy.

Dr. Plosser joined the Philadelphia Fed in 2006. During his term, he and his colleagues have faced the challenges of a global financial crisis followed by a severe recession. The Federal Reserve took unprecedented actions, in both monetary policy and in its lending operations, that helped mitigate the effects of the financial crisis and address deteriorating economic growth.