2007
The Sixth Annual ERIE Conference

Local Government the Erie Economy

8:15 Welcome
- Dr. John Magenau, Director, Sam and Irene Black School of Business

8:20 25 Years of ERIE: a Brief Review
- Dr. James Kurre, Director, ERIE, and Associate Professor of Economics

8:30 Overview of the Erie Economy
- Dr. James Kurre, Director, ERIE, and Associate Professor of Economics

9:00 National Economic Overview
New Employment Forecasts for the Erie County Economy
- Dr. Todd Nesbit, Research Associate, ERIE, and Assistant Professor of Economics

9:20 What Is the Appropriate Role of Government in a Free Market Economy?
We Need More Government
- Dr. John K. Gamble, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Law, Penn State Erie
We Need Less Government
- Mr. Robert Chitester, President and Founder of Free to Choose Media, Erie, PA

10:00 BREAK with refreshments

10:15 How Does Local Government Compare in Size?
- An overview of the size of the government sector in Erie and PA compared to other areas.

10:20 Local Government: Consolidation, Cooperation, and/or Competition?
- Dr. Kathryn A. Foster, Director of the Regional Institute at the University of Buffalo

11:20 Reactions and Thoughts: How Does This Apply to Erie?
- Mayor of Erie Joseph Sinnott
- Erie County Executive Mark DiVecchio

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Smoke-Free Laws: Economic Issues
- Dr. Michael R. Pakko, Research Officer and Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

1:45 Reactions on the Smoking Ban Issue
- Discussion of Dr. Pakko's presentation and how the issues apply to Erie and PA.

2:15 BREAK with refreshments

2:30 Recent Research by ERIE on Erie

A Split Rate Tax: What It Is and What It Would Mean for Erie
- Dr. Kerry King, Research Associate, ERIE, and Assistant Professor of Economics
- Dr. King will present results of an ERIE study that she and Dr. Nesbit did for the Tech Council of Northwest Pennsylvania on the pros and cons of a split rate tax and how it might be implemented in the City of Erie, including likely winners and losers.

Golf in the Erie Economy
- Statistics on the golf industry in Erie county such as the number of courses, prices, and quality compared to other metro areas of the U.S.. Do we have more than our share of golf courses?

How Is the Distribution of Income Affected by the Decrease of Manufacturing Jobs?
- Results from a thesis written by recent graduate Jason Pflueger show were Erie stands relative to other American metro areas in terms of the inequality of income, and how the presence or absence of manufacturing industry affects it.

Labor Productivity in Erie County
- Research presented at a previous ERIE conference found that labor productivity (output per hour worked) was significantly lower in Erie manufacturing than the national average. Is Erie doing better now? New estimates will be released at this conference for Erie and all metro areas, along with analysis of some of the causes of high and low productivity.

Migration Into and Out of Erie County
- Where are the Erie exiters going, and where are the new Erieites coming from? And how are those areas different from each other and from Erie?

4:00 Adjournment