Elliott Parker, chairman of the economics department at the University of Nevada, Reno, will be the sole academic to participate today in a U.S. Capitol discussion on jobs and the deficit in the U.S.
Parker, who is also a Nevada Appeal columnist, will join about a dozen other economists, including the chief economists from the FedEx Corp., the American Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders, in the discussion with the Senate Democratic Steering and Outreach Committee.
He was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the committee chairman, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska.
"I am flattered to have been asked, and I can only presume it is because Senator Reid is familiar with my columns, and because Nevada is ground zero of the recession," he wrote in an email.
Parker has taught courses at UNR and abroad on international trade and finance, the Chinese economy, comparative economic systems and economic development. He has had papers published on Chinese economic reform, international financial policy, firm productivity and comparativeefficiency.
