Free Enterprise Speaker Series | The Future of Jobs and the Minimum Wage

Free Enterprise Speaker Series

Economists Panel Discussion on the Future of Jobs and the Minimum Wage

How are jobs changing in today’s global economy?
Will enough jobs be sustainably created for the next generations of workers?
Do well-intentioned policies like minimum wages help or harm workers?
Should laws be enacted preventing or slowing the pace of Artificial Intelligence replacing workers?
How might minimum wage laws be implemented differently in urban versus rural settings?
This panel discussion will cover these main topics, and more!

Experts representing WCU as well as visiting economics faculty will cover these important issues.

Panelists:

Edward J. Lopez is Professor of Economics, BB&T Distinguished Professor of Capitalism, and Director, Center for the Study of Free Enterprise at Western Carolina University, where he teaches classes in macroeconomics, applied business economics, and the moral foundations of capitalism. 

Dr. Audrey Redford is Assistant Professor at Western Carolina University where she teaches Economics of Vice, Micro Principles and Introductory Macroeconomics. Her research focuses on illicit markets, prohibition, and applied entrepreneurship.

E. Frank Stephenson is a Henry Gund professor of economics at Berry College in Rome, Georgia where he is Department Chair of Accounting, Economics and Finance. His research interests include Public Policy and Sports Economics. Suring Spring 2020 he is a Visiting Scholar with WCU’s Center for the Study of Free Enterprise. 

Gary Wagner is a professor of economics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is also the Acadiana Business Economist/Board of Regents Support Fund Endowed Chair in Economics. He previously worked for the Federal Reserve.