Reporter
A long line of students stretched from the Student Union’s Multipurpose Room out the doors as they awaited the beginning of the Economic Forum on Oct. 26
The Economic Students Association and the economics faculty of CSU Bakersfield organized the event.
The forum discussed and analyzed presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s political propositions from an economic standpoint.
Leading the event were ESA President and ASI Vice President of University Affairs Oscar Alvarez, Associate Vice President of CSUB Academic Affairs Dr. Vernon Harper and President/CEO of Kern Schools Federal Credit Union Stephen Renock.
Alvarez said that he hoped the forum would people question their own knowledge. A panel of six professors from CSUB’s Economics Department proceeded to explain in detail the consequences both presidential candidates’ policies will have on the United States economy.
Leading the discussion section of the forum was Dr. Margaret Malixi with the topic of “International Trade.”
Aaron Hegde discussed with the audience the candidates’ policies on immigration.
The main point Hegde made is that Trump’s policies on immigration focused on minimizing undocumented immigration while Clinton’s policies appealed to the reunification of families of immigrants.
“Students get to find out how economists think and how we approach different positions. It’s not necessarily that we want them to think a certain way, but find out what the thought process is that economists engage in to assess a position,” Hedge said.
Following Hegde was John Deal who explained the plans each candidate had for the tax policy.
As the forum went on, the professors of the economics department discussed the national debt, health, welfare and poverty, energy and the environment and macroeconomic implications.
Mark Evans, Richard Gearhart, Aaron Hegde and Abbas Grammy presented these topics respectively.
As the forum went on different professors presented on various issues.
While most of the professors did not feel the need to discuss which side of the election they stand on, Grammy said, “I am currently undecided, as I have one candidate I despise and one candidate I do not trust.”
After a ten-minute break with the panel of professors took questions from the audience to wrap up the forum.
At any time during the forum an audience member could have asked a question.
Students had various reasons for attending the forum; some for extra credit, others for genuine interest.
“I thought it would be nice to hear the candidates policies from people who actually have a background specifically in economics rather than the candidates who are obviously pandering to gain undecided voters,” said Jeffrey Kenney, 20, junior and economics major.
With the forum coming to a close, Gearhart said, “[I hope] that students learn that ideas need to be supported by facts and that they need to be able to support what they believe with actual evidence.”
