Ralph Nader to Discuss Banking Deregulation at RIT, March 24

Ralph Nader is a force to be reckoned with—a social and political advocate honored by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Americans of the 20th Century. The former presidential candidate (1996, 2000, 2004) has worked with private citizen groups as well as lawmakers on a variety of pertinent issues in American society—from Auto Safety and student Public Interest Research Groups, to Occupational and Consumer Product Safety, Air and Pollution Control, Safe Drinking Water Act, the Freedom of Information Act and more.

The College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology has invited Nader to speak on “Banking Deregulation and The Consumer Interest: Can Corporate Ethics be Legislated in the post-Sarbanes-Oxley Era?” The lecture will be held from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on Friday, March 24, at RIT’s Webb Auditorium, James E. Booth Building. Following the event, Nader will be signing copies of his most recent best-seller, Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for President.

“We are honored to have Ralph Nader come to RIT,” says Robert Manning, economist and professor of finance at RIT, author of Credit Card Nation and a recent Lending Tree.com-commissioned-study, Living With Debt.

“I am planning to use Nader’s visit as an opportunity to announce the development of a new degree program on consumer financial services at RIT,” Manning explains.

Manning is a specialist in consumer finance, socio-economic trends and retail banking deregulation, and has testified before Congress on the use of credit. He says during the last 25 years of government deregulation, the United States financial services have experienced a profound transformation. “Ralph Nader will offer his astute insights on the aftermath of the enormous corporate bankruptcies that have been facilitated by banking deregulation, such as Enron and WorldCom,” Manning says. “He’ll also address one of our main concerns: Can greater confidence in United States investment markets be imposed through more stringent government legislation?”

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Donna Slavin at (585) 475-2199 or dslavin@rit.edu.

RIT’s College of Business is recognized nationally as a leading provider of career-oriented business education, offering undergraduate and graduate level programs in accounting, finance, international business, management, management information systems, marketing and graphic media marketing. Fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), RIT’s College of Business has been cited by U.S. News and World Report as ranking among the top four percent of undergraduate business programs in the country.