News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - University of Illinois finance professor Jeffrey R. Brown will be nominated by President Bush to serve on the board of trustees for the nation's Social Security and Medicare programs, the White House announced Tuesday.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Kevin Warsh, the former chief liaison to Wall Street for the Federal Reserve System, is scheduled to be at the University of Illinois on Monday (March 12) to give a talk about the financial crisis.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Consumer behavior in an increasingly buyer-oriented world is the focus of a three-day conference that will bring an international panel of experts to the University of Illinois next month.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The state of Illinois needs to get serious and create a fiscally sustainable pension-reform plan, a former government economic adviser warns.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Five pioneers will be honored for their contributions to the field of marketing during an international symposium April 17-19 at the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A repeat of a corporate tax holiday that found little success in stimulating the economy in 2005 is still a long-shot to jump-start a stagnant U.S. economy, says a University of Illinois expert in corporate and international taxation.

After three years, the University of Illinois Flash Economic Index has broken through the 100 level, the dividing line between a sluggish and vigorous economy.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Diversity in university business schools - and ultimately the U.S. workforce - could be another casualty of a deep and lingering economic downturn, says a longtime administrator and economist who will soon lead one of the nation's top business programs.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Proposals to reign in wallet-draining gasoline prices by curbing speculation in oil markets would likely increase costs at the pump instead of trimming them, a University of Illinois economist says.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Another fiscal stimulus package would be premature and could be counterproductive if the U.S. economy rebounds next year, as many analysts expect, a University of Illinois economist says.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms a case of smallpox in a Midwest city. Minutes later, officials declare that the country is under a terrorist smallpox attack. Panicked families swamp hospital emergency rooms nationwide.

A Minute With™... tax policy expert Richard L. Kaplan

The U. of I. Flash Index rose to 106.8 in January from its 106.5 level in December. The Illinois economy continues to improve as we enter 2015. This month builds on almost three years of slow and steady growth in which the index remained well above 100, the dividing line between growth and decline.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - David J. Luban of the Georgetown University Law Center will deliver the Paul M. Van Arsdell Jr. Memorial Lecture on Litigation and the Legal Profession on Feb. 24 (Tuesday) at 4 p.m. in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium at the College of Law, 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave, Champaign.

The U. of I. Flash Index fell in February to 106.8 from its 107.2 level in January. The index has remained in a narrow range from 106.5 to 107.2 since July of last year, demonstrating how slow the recovery from the recession has been in Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Changes in corporate legal structures will be the focus of a conference sponsored by the University of Illinois College of Law April 23 (Friday) at the Illini Center, 200 S. Wacker Drive, Chicago.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- John D. Colombo today was named interim dean of the College of Law at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The university Board of Trustees, meeting in Chicago, approved the appointment, effective immediately. His appointment expires Aug. 30, by which time a new dean is expected to have been named.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Legalizing online poker and other Internet betting would be a high-stakes loser for the still-sputtering U.S. and global economies, a leading national gambling critic warns.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Three nationally known experts will discuss the future of financial regulation in the wake of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The “University of Illinois Tax Workbook,” used by tax schools in 17 states (including Illinois), has been published at the UI since 1965. Originally called the Farm Income Tax Workbook, the book is created annually by staff members in the UI Tax School Program (in the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences) and Facilities and Services’ Printing Department.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Alberto Alesina, a professor of economics and government at Harvard University, will deliver the annual David Kinley Lecture in Economics at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With™... Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the wake of financial crises, governments that wish to assist crisis victims must choose between publicly financed bailouts and "bail-ins," which use the law to retroactively modify agreements in favor of victims so that private resources support the victims. While bail-ins are politically appealing and may seem fair, a University of Illinois business and law expert argues that they amplify the highs and lows of future business cycles and undermine the policy goals of those who believe free markets allocate investments optimally, as well as those who prefer government guidance in allocating investments.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Another crippling financial crisis looms unless the U.S. government thaws credit markets that are starting to freeze up amid a lingering and deepening recession, a University of Illinois economist warns.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois is mired in a deep employment recession that could linger for years unless the state unravels the roots of its nearly decade-long job slump, a new study by a University of Illinois economist warns.

A Minute With™... Seung-Hyun Hong, a professor of economics

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Although policymakers believe the regressiveness of pollution taxes can be offset by returning revenue to the low paid through a reduced labor tax, that approach may not work, and also could have the unintended consequence of shrinking some workers' overall real net wages, according to research by a University of Illinois energy policy expert.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Recent efforts by Nevada and New Jersey legalizing some forms of online gambling could create virtual casinos on social media websites such as Facebook, a leading national gambling critic says.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Grocery shoppers face hefty price increases if bad weather withers a U.S. corn crop that is now tethered to grain-intensive renewable fuel mandates, a new University of Illinois study warns.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Elhanan Helpman, a professor of international trade at Harvard University, will deliver the David Kinley Lecture in Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Friday (April 11).

A Minute With™... Angela Lyons, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics and the director of the Center for Economic and Financial Education

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - U.S. companies are helping spread fair hiring practices across the world as they set up shop in developing nations, according to a new study of gender and age discrimination co-written by a University of Illinois labor expert.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - As the collegiate sports world awaits a federal judge's ruling in O'Bannon v. NCAA, the sport's governing body ought to be prepared to lose, as trial courts in the 9th Circuit are more "player-friendly" than trial courts in all other circuits, according to a statistical analysis from a University of Illinois expert in labor relations and collective bargaining in athletics.

A Minute With™... finance professor Don Fullerton

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Dorothy E. Roberts, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law, will deliver this years annual David C. Baum Memorial Lecture on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Social science research on university campuses is being stifled by "hyperzealous" rules that bear little relation to the goal of protecting human subjects from unethical or unprofessional behavior, an expert from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign writes.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A new law aimed at helping stimulate small-business job growth through tax deductions could have major consequences for anyone with a retirement savings account at work, a University of Illinois expert on taxation and elder law notes.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Ethanol helped drive two years of record profits for grain farmers, but also will hold income down during a looming recession that has already sliced crop prices in half, a University of Illinois economist says.

A Minute With™... Robert Bruno,  a professor of labor and employment relations

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - With its Nov. 23 deadline looming, the congressional "super-committee" charged with reducing the federal budget deficit may change how the government measures inflation, which could raise tax revenues and lower government expenses such as Social Security, a University of Illinois expert on taxation and retirement issues says.

A Minute With™... Peter Schiffer, a professor of physics and the vice chancellor for research

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –The recent settlement of claims by BP from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster of 2010 is a step in the right direction, but it won’t solve the most pernicious problem of the entire debacle – corporate greed, says a University of Illinois expert in maritime law and corporate and government relations.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -The recent settlement of claims by BP from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster of 2010 is a step in the right direction, but it won't solve the most pernicious problem of the entire debacle - corporate greed, says a University of Illinois expert in maritime law and corporate and government relations.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Anthony DiTommaso, the president and chief executive officer of Innerpac Inc., will speak April 3 on "Career Fulfillment From Entrepreneurism" during the 2001 Cozad Lecture at the University of Illinois. The talk will begin at 5 p.m. in 141 Wohlers Hall, 1206 S. Sixth St., Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The pension crisis roiling Illinois, which has caused Gov. Rod Blagojevich to propose cutting billions of dollars of anticipated retirement benefits to future state employees, has been a long time coming.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The College of Business at the University of Illinois honored its students in April.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Health-insurance costs could ultimately balloon if President Bush signs a bill forbidding insurers from using genetic tests that gauge disease risks when setting premiums or deciding eligibility for coverage, a University of Illinois insurance expert says.

A Minute With™... Richard L. Kaplan, a law professor and expert on taxation and retirement issues

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Many older Americans may be shortchanging their golden years by tapping into Social Security too soon, according to a University of Illinois expert who has studied the federal retirement program for nearly two decades.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A massive Wall Street bailout won't stave off a recession, but will ease a creeping economic meltdown that threatened to slice into jobs, retirement savings and access to credit across the country, a University of Illinois economist says.