economy experts to tackle free trade, flat taxes and health issues at nwu symposium

LINCOLN, Neb. —An award-winning journalist who says the free-market economic revolution is capitalizing on cataclysmic events will kick off an upcoming Nebraska Wesleyan University symposium, "Economic Justice: The Colors of Money."

Naomi Klein, author of the New York Times and no. 1 international bestseller The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, will speak at the annual Visions & Ventures Symposium, September 16 at 7 p.m.

Klein says whether covering Baghdad after the U.S. occupation, Sri Lanka after the tsunami, or New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed remarkable similar events: that people still reeling were hit again, this time with economic shock treatment, losing their land and homes to corporate makeovers.

The symposium will continue September 17 with lectures by Annie Leonard, an expert on international sustainability and environmental health issues, and Stephen Moore, a Wall Street Journal editorial writer and flat tax proponent. Moore was part of the research team hired by Americans For Fair Taxation to create FairTax, the most co-sponsored tax reform proposal in Congress.

Also included in this year's lecture series is a panel discussion by local experts who will discuss "Economics and the Constitution." Panelists will discuss whether free enterprise and the U.S. constitution are at loggerheads with one another; government's increased regulation, government's use of eminent domain, and whether the current healthcare proposal challenges the constitution.

The Visions & Ventures Symposium will be held in O'Donnell Auditorium, located in the Rogers Center for Fine Arts at 50th Street and Huntington Ave. The symposium is free and open to the public.

The following is a schedule of events:
Wednesday, September 16
*7 p.m. — Naomi Klein, journalist and author, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism."

Thursday, September 17
*10 a.m. — Annie Leonard, expert on international sustainability and environmental health, "The Story of Stuff."
*1 p.m. — Panel discussion, "Economics and the Constitution," featuring panelists Honorable Jodi Nelson, Lancaster County District Judge; Robert Routh, attorney with Cline William Law Firm; Jeff Schroeder, Assistant Attorney Genernal for the State of Nebraska; and Larry Ruth, lobbyist with Ruth, Mueller, Robak, LLC.
* 7 p.m. — Stephen Moore, economic writer and Wall Street Journal editorial writer, "The Road Back to Prosperity."

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