Speaking about the economic outlook at a luncheon sponsored by the SMU Faculty Club in February, Niemi didn’t mince words: “2009 looks like a painful year.”

To the SMU community and national audiences, faculty members like Niemi offer historical context, scholarly deliberation and research to explain recent economic developments. Cal Jillson, political science professor in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; Ravi Batra, economics professor in Dedman College; David Croson, business economics professor in the Cox School; Kathleen Cooper, senior fellow of the Tower Center for Political Studies, Dedman College; and Bruce Bullock, director of the Maguire Energy Institute in Cox, are only a few of the SMU experts recently quoted in the media on the economy. They see providing such perspectives as part of their educational mission.

Niemi, who holds the Tolleson Chair in Business Leadership, credits Bush administration tax cuts for fending off the downturn until the end of 2007 and believes that a $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February was necessary. “Nothing else seems to be working,” he says. “We need a shock to the system, a huge infusion of new spending.”

Although the final legislation may not be perfect, “there’s a lot of job creation in the stimulus package that hasn’t been accounted for yet,” he says. He notes that refilling shrinking state coffers ultimately could boost the economy by putting furloughed state employees back to work around the country.

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