The Role of the Fed in Calm or Crisis
July 21, 2006
Centenary College
Shreveport, Louisiana

Sponsored by Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans Branch Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Louisiana Council on Economic Education Centenary College of Louisiana

Addressing the financial needs of individuals, communities and businesses after a natural disaster is a huge undertaking. When Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, the widespread destruction tested the operations of the Federal Reserve System and, in particular, those of the Atlanta Fed.

This one-day conference addresses the Federal Reserve’s role in the U.S. payments system and focuses on the Fed’s efforts through its cash and check operations to ameliorate the chaos brought about by this disaster.

In addition to discussions on the economic effects of natural disasters and the Fed’s role in crises, teachers will be given classroom ideas for economics and personal finance education.

Agenda, July 21, 2006

8:00 a.m.		Continental Breakfast
8:20 a.m.		Welcome
		Harold Christensen Director, Center for Economic Education Centenary College of Louisiana
8:30 a.m.		Federal Reserve System: Our Central Bank at Work
		Claire Loup Economic and Financial Education Specialist Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans Branch
9:15 a.m.		Paper Not Plastic! Katrina Confirms Cash Is King
		Claire Loup
10:30 a.m.		Hurricane Katrina: Economic Effects
		Michael J. Chriszt Director of International and Regional Analysis Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
11:15 a.m.		The Certain Teaching of Economic Uncertainty
		Harold Christensen
Noon		Lunch
12:45 p.m.		Preparing for a Rainy Day
		Sherry Kiser Director of Economic Education Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
1:30 p.m.		Virtual Economics
		Sheri Lazare President Louisiana Council for Economic Education
3:30 p.m.		Adjourn

Speakers

Harold R. Christensen
Professor of Economics and Director,
Center for Economic Education
Centenary College of Louisiana
Christensen joined the Centenary faculty in 1980 after having taught at the University of Central Oklahoma. His primary teaching responsibilities are in macroeconomic theory, money and banking, and industrial organization. Christensen’s research interests are economic history of railroads and energy economics. He has published in the Journal of Economics, Southwestern Economic Review, Atlantic Economic Journal and The Social Science Journal. He also contributed to An Encyclopedia of Keynesian Economics. Christensen holds a B.A. in philosophy and M.S. and Ed.D. degrees in economics education from Oklahoma State University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in applied economics at the University of Chicago.

Michael J. Chriszt
Director of International and Regional Analysis
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Chriszt’s duties at the Atlanta Fed include research and analysis of international economic and political developments and economic conditions in the Sixth District. He has been with the Bank since 1989 and in his current position for three years. He is a board member of the University System of Georgia’s European Union Center and the Atlanta Council for International Relations. Chriszt earned a master’s degree in political science with emphasis on international economics and comparative politics from Miami University. He also holds a certificate of study in the European Union and bachelor’s degrees in diplomacy and foreign affairs and history. He is a graduate of executive education programs at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration.

Sherry Kiser
Director of Economic Education
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Kiser is charged with developing and implementing economic education initiatives for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Before assuming her current position in the Public Affairs Department, she worked in the Bank’s Research Department. Her responsibilities included analyzing international economic and political conditions, particularly in Latin America, as well as organizing international visits and conferences sponsored by the Center for Latin American Economics. Kiser has taught at the secondary, junior college and university levels. She has also been a social studies curriculum writer and secondary social studies instructional facilitator for the Dallas Independent School District. Kiser received a B.A. in Spanish and history from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.L.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Sheri Lazare
President
Louisiana Council for Economic Education
In addition to her leadership role at the Louisiana Council for Economic Education, Lazare is the lead faculty member for the University of Phoenix and former director of advancement research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She previously worked in the nonprofit legal industry with the Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers and Lafayette Parish Bar Foundation and in the charity hospital industry. Lazare is president of the Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement–Southwest and the 2002 recipient of APRA’s Researcher of the Year award. In 2006–07, she will serve as vice president of education for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Baton Rouge chapter. Lazare has undergraduate degrees in English, history and criminal justice from the University of Southwestern Louisiana and a master’s in English and rhetoric from the University of Louisiana.

Claire Loup
Economic and Financial Education Specialist
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta,
New Orleans Branch
Loup has nearly 20 years of teaching experience in the secondary, postsecondary and corporate arenas. At the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, she supports strategies to promote economic and financial literacy education efforts in the New Orleans Branch zone and throughout the district. She has visited hundreds of schools, educating teachers and students (grades K–12 and college) on the critical personal finance topics of money management, banking, and credit and credit card management. In addition, she has conducted professional development workshops in conjunction with other Federal Reserve offices, the Louisiana and Mississippi Councils on Economic Education and Louisiana Council for the Social Studies, as well as the Louisiana JumpStart Coalition with the Louisiana State University AgCenter. Loup is a business education graduate of the University of New Orleans.