(Editor's Note: A podcast and other materials from this conference are available at www.law.uiowa.edu/debtconference.)

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart and world-renowned economist Allan Meltzer will discuss the Federal Reserve’s recent monetary policy in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007-08 and competing ideas about how to handle America’s national debt in a conference at the University of Iowa on April 13.

“Fiscal Reform, Monetization, or Default: How Will the United States Solve the Problem of its National Debt?” will be held on Saturday, April 13, at 1 p.m. in the Pappajohn Business Building in Iowa City. Admission is free and open to the public.

Lockhart, who was a member of the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee for 2012, has supported the Federal Reserve’s recent policies of buying large quantities of government bonds and asset-backed securities. Meltzer, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University, has been critical of these policies and has argued that they eventually cause inflation.

Lockhart will also hold a brief media availability following his presentation at the conference, to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Other speakers scheduled to appear at the conference are Steven Schwarcz of Duke University, who has been a leading voice on systemic risk in the financial system, and Charles Himmelberg, who is head of Global Credit Strategy at Goldman Sachs.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI- sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact Janey Piersall in the UI College of Law in advance at 319-335-9158.