Dr. Runte Photo above courtesy of Carleton University.

The Presentation:
Economists and politicians alike have recently been examining past periods of financial depression for nuggets of wisdom.  The climate and causes of recession have been analyzed in the light of the 1930s, 1907, or the 1870s. Perhaps the one area of agreement is the cyclical nature of good and bad financial times.

This talk is about the ways out of recession. I will base my remarks on the period from approximately 1680 to 1780, briefly explaining the depressing similarities between that distant past and the present. They include a failure of asset-backed assets, dilution of stocks, money dumping, negative taxes and high duties inhibiting the exchange of goods across borders, excessive wealth and poverty, non-investment in education, the environment, science and technology, and a series of hard winters.

The Enlightenment was a time when brave and brilliant people shared a great vision which changed not only the course of the economy but the history of the western world.  We normally think of the Enlightenment as ending with the French Revolution.  I maintain, along with some distinguished historians, that the Revolution was caused by shortages of bread and meat.  What saved the day was the vision of these thinkers, a vision which survived the Revolution.

Today we have the opportunity to re-introduce a new set of ideals to change the course of the future. We will examine some of the philosophers’ best ideas and see how they could be translated to the world stage today.  The actors are present and when economists, politicians and humanists join hands, the context for change is ripe.  It is perhaps no longer audacious to hope. 

The Speaker: Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte:
Dr. Roseann O'Reilly Runte is President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton University since July 2008. She graduated with a BA summa cum laude in French from the State University of New York and obtained her MA and PhD from the University of Kansas. She has previously served as president of l'Université Sainte-Anne, principal of Glendon College, president of Victoria University and of Old Dominion University.

Dr. Runte is the author of numerous scholarly works in the fields of French and comparative literature and has written extensively on economic and cultural development, higher education and the importance of research.  In addition, she is a creative writer and has received a prize in poetry from the Académie française.

Dr. Runte has been awarded the Order of Canada and the French Order of Merit and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She has also been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the Palmes Académiques and several awards for her work on the environment and for community and national service. In addition, Dr. Runte holds a number of honorary degrees.

Dr. Runte has served on numerous boards and commissions in both Canada and the United States. She was president of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, president of the Humanities Federation of Canada, a member of the advisory board of the National Library of Canada, EXPO 2000 and the Associated Medical Services, an Ontario-based health charity, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. She was also chair of the Board of the Foundation for International Training, a non-profit development services agency, vice-chair of the Board of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, member of the Virginia Commission for Industry and Economic Development and the Virginia Shipbuilding Integration Center. She currently serves on the advisory board of SunGard SGT and the board of the National Bank of Canada.