Finance Association to host David Walker '02H

The April 22 event will feature the Former Comptroller General of the United States and a screening of “I.O.U.S.A.,” a documentary about the debt problems of the United States.

The event is rescheduled from the original date of Monday, March 2.

Alexander Walsh ’09 (Tiverton, RI) and fellow members of the Bryant Finance Association Executive Board had an inspiration last summer. After watching a clip of the documentary “I.O.U.S.A.,” a film about America’s ballooning national debt, the group wanted to help educate the Bryant community.

On Wednesday, April 22, at 3 pm in Janikies Theatre, the Finance Association, the John H. Chafee Center for International Business, and Bryant's College of Business will sponsor a screening of “I.O.U.S.A.” followed by commentary from David M. Walker '02H, former Comptroller General of the United States, and a key architect in the creation of the film. (Watch the trailer or learn more about the film.)

“After watching the film, we were motivated to share these eye-opening facts with as many people as we could,” says Walsh, a double concentrator in finance and economics.

Following the film, a panel discussion and Q & A moderated by Raymond Fogarty '79, Director of the John H. Chafee Center for International Business will feature:

Peter J. Nigro, Sarkisian Chair in Financial Services, and Professor of Finance, Bryant University
Edinaldo Tebaldi., Assistant Professor of Economics, Bryant University
Jack W. Trifts, Dean of the College of Business, Bryant University

The program is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Bryant students faculty, and staff can pick up tickets at the Bryant Center Info Desk.The general public can reserve tickets by calling (401) 232-6407. (Tickets picked up for the original event will be honored.)

“Addicted to debt”

It will be Walker’s second visit to Bryant in the last six months. He headlined an Economic Summit in August that focused on the country’s financial crisis. At the conference, Walker told 230 business and academic leaders that the United States was in a $53-trillion financial hole. The debt, which includes unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare, is the equivalent of $175,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country, according to Walker, who currently travels the country to raise awareness of the nation’s debt in his role as president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation in New York.

“Washington is out of touch and out of control,” said Walker, who, for more than a decade, has tried to focus the government's attention on the consequences of an out-of-control national deficit. (Read a recap of the Economic Summit.)

Like the federal government, too many Americans are spending more than they earn, he said. “Both America and Americans are addicted to debt.

“America is at a crossroads,” Walker added. “We have much to be proud of and much to be thankful for, but we have strayed from the nation’s founding core values.”

Education is power

Reuters said the nonpartisan film, which focuses on America’s four key deficits – budget, savings, balance of payments/trade, and leadership – “may be to the U.S. economy what “An Inconvenient Truth” was to the environment.”

“I.O.U.S.A.” is especially timely following the passage of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The best way to avoid a future crisis is to raise awareness among the world’s current and future leaders, says Walsh, who is pursuing his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. “By working to educate each other and bring this issue to the attention of those in Washington, we can bring about change.”

Regardless of a person’s career plans, this is an issue that will affect each student as he or she prepares to enter the workforce, he says.

“Unless our generation is prepared to turn over most of our income to the U.S. government by the time we retire, we need to start working towards a solution today.”