Smith Business magazine-summer24-paperturn - Flipbook - Page 16
Photo by Mike Morgan
ON CAMPUS
TACKLING FINANCE’S BIGGEST ISSUES
Smith School’s new speaker series attracts full-house crowds
This spring, the Smith School
introduced the Finance Grand
Challenges Speaker Series. The series,
presented by the Smith School’s Of昀椀ce
“Do we want the
government we have now
that we can’t afford, or do
Americans say we don’t
want to pay more? Let’s
昀椀gure out the services we
are going to get for what
we are willing to pay.”
—Phillip Swagel, director,
Congressional Budget Office,
at the Feb. 12 federal budget event
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summer 2024
of Executive Education, examines the
nation’s most pressing economic and
昀椀nancial challenges. The 昀椀rst four
events—which launched in February
“We need dollardenominated stablecoins.
I’d call them a monetary
instrument, the equivalent
of cash, and have them
regulated by the Fed, but we
need to distinguish between
commodities and securities.”
—Heath Tarbert, chief legal officer
and head of corporate affairs, Circle,
at the March 6 fintech discussion
and took place monthly—covered the
federal budget, 昀椀ntech, student loan
forgiveness, and entrepreneurship and
small business.
“These loans are
straining the people
who are supposed to
possess economic buying
power. Something will
have to change.”
—Diane Jones, former acting undersecretary,
Department of Education for Postsecondary
Education, at the April 2 student
loan forgiveness talk
rhsmith.umd.edu