Kautz Lecture Focuses on Economy and 2000 Elections

Cincinnati -- The economy could prove to be a "sleeper" issue in the stretch run to the 2000 presidential election.

That's according to Thomas Mann, a leading expert on governmental affairs from the Brookings Institution who will bring his views on the election to the University of Cincinnati through the 2000 James C. Kautz Lecture on "The Economy and the 2000 Elections." Mann's lecture is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in Room 112 of Lindner Hall.

With a tight race and no single issue dominating voter concern, the stage is set for the economy to play the role it usually does in an election. "Even though it's not showing up yet, (the economy) is there as a backdrop and it tends to be a deciding factor for late-deciding voters, if history is any guide," says Mann, the W. Averell Harriman Senior Fellow in American Government at the Brookings Institution.

Mann will also discuss the historical impact the economy has had on elections and how elections, in turn, shape the performance of the economy. He will also touch upon the economic policies that George W. Bush and Al Gore would likely pursue if elected.

The lecture is sponsored by the James C. Kautz Speakers Program in Political Economy, the departments of economics and political science in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Taft Memorial Fund. It is free and open to the public.