University News

Jeff Rubin, Economist and Author, to Speak at Bishop’s

SHERBROOKE, QC - February 10, 2010

Jeff Rubin, one of Canada’s leading and  provocative economists will speak at Bishop’s University as part of the Donald  Lecture Series on Tuesday, February 16 at 7:00 pm in Bandeen Hall.

Jeff Rubin is the former Chief Economist at CIBC World  Markets and is the author of the number one bestselling book Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller.

Rubin argues that the price of oil will increase  significantly and, that as it does so, distance will be understood to cost  money. He predicts a corresponding shift in the economics of geography that  will reverse the trends of globalization and cause a re-emergence of the local  economies.

“Jeff Rubin’s work hits squarely at the intersection of the  economic, social, political and environmental challenges of our time,” said  Michael Goldbloom, Bishop’s University Principal and Vice-Chancellor. “He has  also helped us understand some of the hard decisions that we will have to make,  both as individuals and as nations, if we want to safely steer our society through  the rough waters ahead.”

Internationally known for his work on global energy  markets, Rubin was one of the first economists to recognize the full implications  of depletion for future oil supply growth. His work on the impacts of OPEC oil  subsidies has appeared on the front page of The New York Times and his research  on how soaring transport costs will soon reverse the decline of North American manufacturing  jobs made headlines in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Newsweek and The  Economist.

Rubin will discuss how where we reside, how we make a  living, and what we eat is all about to change because of rising energy prices.  From a mass exodus of North American drivers off the roads to the reconversion  of far flung exurbs back into farmland, Rubin will discuss the many ways in  which we will have to adjust to the reality of energy scarcity, and why it’s an  adjustment that we may all be the better off for making.

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