Martha Olney, Teaching Professor Emerita of Economics at UC Berkeley, on “Inflation!”

Drawing on her most recent book, Olney will trace the arc of inflation from the 1980’s to the COVID pandemic, explain the competing metrics economists use to track it, and unpack the foundational concepts that inform the debate: supply and demand dynamics, the Phillips Curve, and inflationary expectations. She will also examine the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of price stability and full employment and assess its credibility in the eyes of financial markets and the public alike. She brings her considerable teaching skills to her lectures: the ability to render complex economic theory accessible and to show how competing economic frameworks illuminate different facets of the same problem.

Olney is a Teaching Professor Emerita in Economics at UC Berkeley, where she has been recognized repeatedly for distinguished teaching. She has also held faculty positions at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is the author or co-author of four economics textbooks. She is a recipient of the Jonathan Hughes Prize for Excellence in Teaching Economic History from the Economic History Association.

Michael Baker, retired surgeon and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, will speak on “Bombing Iran – Destroying the Global Order and the U.S. Economy.” Baker is a widely known speaker in the Bay Area for Commonwealth Club/World Affairs and teacher for Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on history, political science, and military affairs. He will detail why the U.S. has blundered into another Middle East fiasco, which will trash our economy and image abroad.