The first installment of a new lecture series at Western began with Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz Monday, Sept. 25.
The series was created as part of the Paul Storer Memorial Fund. The fund is in honor of Paul Storer, an economics professor at Western. Storer passed away in November 2015.
Donations to the fund go towards the inaugural lecture series which focuses on business and economic relations between the U.S. and Canada.
Poloz and Storer met in 1984 while working together at the Bank of Canada.
“It’s very touching for me to have been invited to give this lecture in [Storer’s] memory,” Poloz said. “I wanted badly to do something that Paul would’ve appreciated.”
“It’s about exchange of ideas. So what I try to do is go into something that’s pretty deep and show how it could actually affect everybody.”
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz
During the talk, Poloz explored cross-border trade integration, an issue he said Storer cared about deeply. Poloz spoke on how international trade practices are creating more assimilated economies.
Focusing on how integration can affect monetary policy, Poloz said policy-makers rely on the economic models affected.
“It’s about exchange of ideas,” Poloz said. “So what I try to do is go into something that’s pretty deep and show how it could actually affect everybody.”
Lecture attendee Terje Vold said he appreciated how Poloz discussed the return on investment people should expect in the coming decades compared to past eras. That return is being why people, especially students, should pay attention to these issue, Vold said.
Having a perspective on economics allows for everyone to be realistically aware of the possibilities and likelihoods for the future, Vold said.
“I think lecture series are important because they expose students to these extremely important issues of the world community and how different countries interact,” Vold said.
Understanding it can be complicated material to some, Poloz said to research until the ideas fall into a natural place.
Alyssa Peter attended the lecture without any background on economics.
“I think it’s important to expand your knowledge,” Peter said. “I think it’s important to get a well-rounded education.”
These ideas are not purely academic research, but rather practicalities implemented into people’s lives, Poloz said.
“I think having this kind of lecture series allows a wide array of new ideas to come though the university,” Poloz said.
