Economist Clyde Prestowitz to deliver Feb. 8 Thompson Forum talk

Clyde Prestowitz, founder and president of the Economic Strategy Institute, will present the Lewis E. Harris Lecture on Public Policy at the next E.N. Thompson Forum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St. It will be broadcast live on the UNL Web site (www.unl.edu), Lincoln cable Channel 21, UNL campus TV Channel 8, NEBSAT 105 and KRNU radio station (90.3 FM). UNL agricultural economics professor Wes Peterson will deliver a pre-talk at the Lied Center at 6:30 p.m. Events are free and open to the public.

Prestowitz played a key role in achieving congressional passage of the North American Free Trade Act, and provided the intellectual basis for current U.S. trade policies toward Japan, China and Korea. Prior to founding ESI, he served as counselor to the Secretary of Commerce in the Reagan Administration, leading numerous U.S. trade and investment negotiations with Japan, China, Latin America and Europe. He has served as vice chairman of the President's Committee on Trade and Investment in the Pacific and he sits on the Intel Policy Advisory Board and the U.S. Export-Import Bank Advisory Board.

Prestowitz regularly writes for the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fortune, and Foreign Affairs. He is the author of "Trading Places," a best-selling book on U.S.-Japan relations, and co-author and editor of several other books on international trade and business strategy, including "Asia After the Miracle," "Powernomics," and "Rogue Nation." His latest book, "Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East," deals with the economic rise of Asia and its impact on the United States.

After receiving his bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, Prestowitz earned a master's degree in East-West policies and economics from the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii, and a master of business administration from the Wharton Graduate School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

For 19 years, the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues has brought a diversity of view points on international and public policy issues to UNL and the citizens of Nebraska. The forum seeks out forceful speakers who are committed to the issues they address, seeking balance over the range of its programs rather than in each presentation. The forum does not endorse the views of the individual speakers nor limit their freedom to express their points of view.

The Thompson Forum is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, the Lied Center and UNL. In 1990, the series was named in honor of E.N. "Jack" Thompson (1913-2002), a 1933 graduate of the University of Nebraska who served as president of the Cooper Foundation from 1964 to 1990 and as its chairman from 1990 until his death.

More information about the Thompson Forum is online at www.unl.edu/unlpub/special/thompsonforum.

CONTACTS: Annette Wetzel, University Communications, (402) 472-8524;
Kelly Bartling, University Communications, (402) 472-2059