PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (September 17, 2021) – Prairie View A&M University’s (PVAMU) College of Business (COB) hosted an engaging discussion with Robert Kaplan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and PVAMU President Ruth J. Simmons last Thursday, September 9. The hour-long virtual conversation consisted of an informal interview, with questions posed by President Simmons about the state of the local and national economies, as well as Kaplan’s thoughts on newer economic facets, such as cryptocurrency. The event was attended by nearly 200 students, supporters and local thought leaders. It was moderated by Munir Quddus, dean of the COB.

“The COB has a number of programs where we try to bring business leaders to the campus, sometimes as guest speakers, but also as executive professors,” Quddus said. “For some time, we have been interested in bringing Mr. Kaplan to the campus, so we were delighted that he was able to give us an hour during a busy day of Fed meetings.”

In introducing the event, Quddus said, “I believe the discussion is highly relevant for our students, and will elevate the economic and financial IQ and literacy of us all.” Kaplan then gave an expansive overview of the economy and the Dallas Fed’s view of the immediate future outlook and the different forces that may affect the country in the short and long term.

In his introductory remarks, Kaplan highlighted a number of statistics and economic indicators: GDP growth estimates, job numbers, the current supply-demand imbalance, and the risk of inflation. Businesses in Texas, he said, have struggled but have shown resilience in the COVID-19 era. Despite the disruption caused by the Delta variant, demand and markets remain strong.

“We’re finding by the numbers we’re tracking that consumers and businesses are surprisingly resilient,” Kaplan said. “Not without some difficulty, but they’re adapting. And we’ve got more tools to help them adapt; we’ve got vaccines, upcoming booster shots, masks, testing, other protocols – and people are aggressively using them. We think this recovery is continuing in the economy, but it’s going to go in fits and starts, and the fits and starts are going to be heavily related to where we are with the virus.”

The centrality of the pandemic in Kaplan’s narrative was expected, with the country’s ability to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror serving as the most vital aspect of current economic forecasts. Kaplan also made clear that a healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce.

“All I’ll say is that each of us has to make our own decision about whether or not we’re going to get vaccinated, but I would emphasize you just have to accept that that’s more than a personal decision,” Kaplan said. “What we each decide affects the entire community. Whether we like it or not, it does. And there are limits to what government can do — they can spend money, they can make vaccines available, they can make sure there’s good vaccine distribution. Every individual in society is going to have to make decisions, and to the extent that we all do, the most powerful action that we can take is what we do individually. The government can’t do that for us.”

Prompted by Simmons, Kaplan went on to discuss Texas-specific indicators, such as the energy market. “Education,” he noted, “is the vehicle to improve the productivity, employability, and adaptability of the workforce, and it’s one of the big opportunities for Texas, as well as one of the big challenges.”

A significant portion of the hour was devoted to answering questions from students, including some anxious job-seekers whose future prospects depend heavily on how rapidly the economy bounces back.

“The most important thing you can do right now is understand your strengths and weaknesses. You also need to ask yourself, ‘What do I have a passion for?’” Kaplan said. “The trick is thinking about jobs that can combine those two ideals. Passion, I would say, is the rocket fuel that drives high performance in whatever you’re doing. You’re going to have to work on your strengths and weaknesses for the rest of your life, and passion is what motivates you to do it.”

Additional audience members included Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, a former chair of the Maryland Democratic Party and member of President Simmons’ Advisory Council, and Melanye Price, director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for Race and Justice. Both posed questions to Kaplan about issues relating to how America’s “racial reckoning” will impact diversity efforts among businesses, as well as the country’s efforts to confront its persistent racial wealth gap.

In closing, Kaplan re-emphasized the critical role education plays in lifting a community and contributing to GDP growth. “I come from education, and education is critical to the country and the state,” he said. “Education is the key in the years ahead to how well we do and how well Prairie View flourishes, and the whole ecosystem we just talked about is going to be central to how well the country does.”

To view the entire Q&A, as well as the complete discussion that preceded it, click here.

By Andrew Cohen

-PVAMU-