Penn State has formed a new, interdisciplinary research center to study the strength and security of the global financial system. The Center for the Study of Global Financial Stability seeks to build academic, government and industry partnerships to engage in joint research efforts that will develop a better understanding of the complexity of the global financial markets and help improve international financial stability. The main objective of the center is to contribute to the understanding of the global financial system and identify new approaches to use data to monitor the global financial system and enhance its stability, ultimately leading to improved financial regulation, better-informed policy decisions, and industry-led, market-driven stability initiatives. For more information, visit stability.psu.edu. (more)
The lingering effects of the global financial crisis, growing global diversification of investments and changes to the banking, securities, commodity and investment industries are all driving increased demand for professionals who can deal with finance issues. Nearly 50,000 openings for financial analysts, for example, will need to be filled each year in the coming decade, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. To help meet this demand, Penn State will offer a master of finance degree online starting in January 2012. (more)
John Liechty, professor of marketing and statistics at the Penn State Smeal College of Business and director of the Center for the Study of Global Financial Stability, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, on July 14 regarding oversight of the newly created federal Office of Financial Research (OFR). The OFR, which is Liechty's brainchild, was formed last year to begin collecting data on the financial system to allow the government to effectively monitor its stability and ward off potential threats. (more)
The ongoing utilization of Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits has the state weighing the pros and cons of taxing the drilling activity. A study recently released by faculty in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences used state tax information in an effort to begin an objective analysis of the drilling's impact on local economies and state tax collection. (more)
Penn State Cooperative Extension, in conjunction with the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and Penn State's Department of Accounting, is sponsoring the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, from now through April 14 on the University Park campus. (more)
Investors and investment professionals are invited to attend the spring Finance Research Symposium at noon on Friday, Feb. 25, at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. (more)
The early bird doesn't always get the worm. Moreover, said a consumer-finance expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, being in a hurry to file your federal income tax forms in pursuit of a quick refund isn't always the best idea. Tax-filers eager to receive their federal income tax refund can use the services of commercial, for-profit tax preparers as early as December and thus get a jump on receiving their refunds. Robin Kuleck, consumer-finance educator and director of Penn State Cooperative Extension in Elk County, points out that using this method can have some drawbacks. (more)
During a February 2009 conference on the financial crisis, Smeal College of Business professor John Liechty noticed that there was no federal oversight agency to collect data on the interconnectedness of the financial system in order to identify and respond to systemic risk. So he spent the next 18 months creating one. His long nights of research and frequent trips to Washington for meetings on Capitol Hill paid off when his idea -- the Office of Financial Research -- was signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama as part of this summer's financial reform legislation. (more)
Federal income tax experts estimate that the families of many Pennsylvania undergraduate college students may have missed out on a valuable tax credit when they filed their 2009 income tax return. But a consumer-finance specialist with Penn State Cooperative Extension says it's not too late to take advantage of this credit, which is also available on the 2010 return. (more)
Students in Penn State Great Valley's Master of Finance program will ring the Opening Bell at NASDAQ Stock Market accompanied by University President Graham B. Spanier at 9:15 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 21. Penn State joins the many listed and nonlisted companies and trading customers that have come to the iconic NASDAQ Tower over the past 10 years to participate in the Opening and Closing Bell ceremonies. NASDAQ is the largest electronic screen-based equity securities trading market in the United States. (more)
