Department Events

The Economics Department hosts our key annual event, the Harold G. Vatter Memorial Lecture, as well as presents seminars during select terms in the academic year. The Vatter lecture features a preeminent economist in their field discussing an important, topical issue. Our affiliated institute holds events throughout the year that highlight the issues central to its goals and mission.

Harold G. Vatter Memorial Lecture

The Harold G. Vatter Memorial Lecture is an annual, premier department event. Regionally and nationally noted economists are invited to speak to the PSU audience and the general public on a policy or issue that is timely to current events.

Our Spring 2026 lecture had to be postponed. We are working to reschedule the lecture for the fall term. Please monitor this website for more information and updates.

Institute Events

The department is affiliated with The Institute for Economics and the Environment. Check this webpage after the start of the 2026-2027 academic year for event information.

Robert McCullough, Principle of McCullough Research, recently gave a seminar titled The Political Economy of Wildfires. The seminar outlined how the wildfires in southern California last year happened and how the similarities between their electrical infrastructure, geographic similarities, and disaster response could parallel a wildfire event in Portland. Please use this link to view the video and note that there were microphone issues that cause some of the audio to be inaudible.