Over the past 12 months, the price of crude oil has fluctuated wildly from $110/barrel in June 2014 to $45/barrel in January 2015 to the current price of around $60/barrel. What factors have made oil prices so volatile? Will the sharp decline in energy prices (oil and related products) boost economic growth? Or has it heightened the risk of global deflation and recession?
Michael Staten
Michael Staten, director of the Take Charge America Institute at the University of Arizona, will speak to these questions at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday (June 10) in an Arizona Senior Academy lecture entitled “The Economic Impact of Variations in the Price of Oil and Gasoline.”
Staten leads an institute charged with promoting and improving economic education. “The world seems much less mysterious (and arbitrary) when one is armed with a basic understanding of economics,” he said. “That knowledge also makes us much more informed citizens and voters, less likely to be swayed by a populist pitch that isn’t grounded in solid analysis of an issue.”
To understand the consequences of oil price variations, consumers need to understand how those changes impact various segments of the national and world economy. “Will it shore up economies in oil-dependent countries and destabilize the politics of oil producing regions? What has been the net effect on Americans, as both producers and consumers of oil? In this lecture we’ll explore the impact of falling oil prices on consumers, producers and economic growth/stability, both globally and here in the U.S.,” he said.
Staten holds the Take Charge America endowed chair in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Arizona, and is Assistant Dean for Careers, Commerce and Industry for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Since 2007 he has served as director of the University’s Take Charge America Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research.
Academy Village is an active-adult community located off Old Spanish Trail six miles southeast of Saguaro National Park East. Its residents support the Arizona Senior Academy, a non-profit charitable organization whose mission includes offering free concerts and lectures to the public. These events are held in the Great Room of The ASA Building adjacent to the Academy Village Community Center.
Due to the popularity of cultural events, non-residents who wish to ensure priority seating are advised to make reservations by email at info@arizonasenioracademy.org or by phone at (520) 647-0980. To learn more about the Academy, go to www.asa-tucson.org.
Written by Mike Maharry, Academy Village Volunteer
