Advisers to Clinton, Trump to debate economic policies

Weidenbaum Center to host Navarro, Sperling in Steinberg Auditorium

Economic advisers to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will offer their insight into the candidates’ economic platforms as they square off in their own debate at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, in Steinberg Auditorium in Steinberg Hall on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis.

VIDEO OF THIS EVENT IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR WEB STREAMING.

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The Clinton campaign will be represented by Gene B. Sperling, former director of the National Economic Council and an economic adviser to presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Representing the Trump campaign will be Peter Navarro, a business professor at The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California-Irvine, and a frequent media commentator on economic issues.

The debate will be moderated by Steven Fazzari, a leading scholar on the relationship between rising income inequality and macroeconomic trends in the United States and the Bert A. and Jeanette L. Lynch Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University.

Sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, the event is one of many campus activities scheduled in advance of the Clinton-Trump debate to be held at 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, in the university’s Athletic Complex.

Tickets for the event are now sold out. Registered attendees must present a ticket and a photo ID to gain admittance to the event. Please note that public access to the Danforth Campus on Oct. 9 will be restricted to university students, faculty and staff with a valid university ID; credentialed media or vendors; and participants in certain ticketed events.

For the Trump campaign

Navarro earned his doctorate in economics from Harvard University, and is a business professor at The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California-Irvine. He appears regularly in such media outlets as the BBC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and CBS News, including “60 Minutes”. He has written 10 books, most recently “Death by China: Confronting the Dragon,” “Seeds of Destruction,” “Always a Winner,” and the bestselling “The Coming China Wars.”

In 2001, his “If it’s Raining in Brazil, Buy Starbucks” was also a bestseller. Navarro’s other books include the path-breaking management book, “The Well-Timed Strategy.” His unique and internationally recognized expertise lies in his “big picture” application of a highly sophisticated but easily accessible macroeconomic analysis of the business environment and financial markets for investors and corporate executives.

For the Clinton campaign

Sperling served as director of the National Economic Council (NEC) and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy from January, 2011 until March, 2014. Upon his appointment on Jan. 7, 2011, Sperling became the first person to serve as NEC director and principal economic policy adviser for two presidents: first under President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001, and then under President Obama.

In the Obama Administration, Sperling played a key role representing the White House in budget negotiations with Congress as well as in designing several of the president’s economic initiatives. During his eight years at the White House in the Clinton Administration, Sperling helped negotiate the 1993 and 1997 Deficit Reduction Acts and the increase in the earned-income tax credit and a champion of Saving Social Security First, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit and the Direct Student Loan program.

Editor’s Note: Media who are credentialed to be on campus Oct. 9 may access the event without a ticket, as space permits. For more information on media access, contact Gerry Everding at 314-603-0057; gerry_everding@wustl.edu.

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