WMU News

War's economic consequences in developing countries

Oct. 7, 2003

KALAMAZOO -- An expert on war and state-sponsored violence in developing countries will speak on the Western Michigan University campus this month as part of the Werner Sichel Economics Lecture-Seminar Series.

Dr. Wayne Nafziger, professor of economics at Kansas State University, will present "Economic Development, Inequality and War," at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, in Room 3508 of Knauss Hall.

"Ruling elites of a society are at the root of most humanitarian emergencies," says Nafziger. "They are usually in the dilemma of deciding whether to expand elite opportunities for private benefit from public resources, contributing to further economic stagnation. Or, they can reduce the number of the allies they support, risking opposition and increasing the probability of repression and insurgency."

His lecture is based on case studies and analysis done by 40 scholars he co-directed at the United Nations University's World Institute for Economic Research at Oxford University.

He is the author or co-author of 15 books, including "Economics of Developing Countries," and "Learning from the Japanese: Japan's Prewar Development and the Third World." His presentations have taken him around the world, including to the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the International Technology and Economy Institute in Beijing, the Czech Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of State Conference on Nigeria.

The 2003-04 Werner Sichel Lecture-Seminar Series features six internationally known economists who focus on this year's theme, "The Economics of Sustainable Development." The series, named for a current faculty member and longtime chairperson of WMU's Department of Economics, is co-sponsored by that department, WMU's College of Arts and Sciences and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Media contact: Matt Gerard, 269 387-8400, matthew.gerard@wmich.edu


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