KINGSTON, R.I. — March 7, 2016 – Salvador Marín Hernandez, Ph. D., the president and CEO of Spain’s Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (COFIDES), a major finance and development company, will present a lecture entitled: “Spain’s Financial Crisis and Austerity Policy Response: Economic, Political, and Social Impact,” at the University of Rhode Island Monday, March 28 at 6 p.m.
Part of the University’s Distinguished Visiting International Scholar’s program, Marín’s lecture will be followed by a panel discussion with URI faculty who have expertise in the topics Marín will have discussed. Panelists are: Professor of economics Richard McIntyre; Associate Professor of Management Silvia Dorado; and URI business lecturer Michael Ice, who is a former Managing Director of Merrill Lynch in Europe. The Vangermeersch Chair in Accounting, Professor Alejandro Hazera will moderate the discussion. A Q&A session will follow.
Free and open to the public, the event will be held at the Ryan Family Auditorium in the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences, 120 Flagg Road.
During his lecture, Marín will describe the measures the Spanish government took to reverse the nation’s financial crisis and stabilize the economy. He will also discuss some of Spain’s post-crisis challenges and events, such as persistently high unemployment and the rise of new political parties, such as Podemos, which seek to address corruption, income inequality, and high unemployment.
Marín was appointed to his position at COFIDES — which is a joint state and privately owned company that is housed within Spain’s national commerce ministry – shortly after Spain began to experience the full effects of the financial crisis. He has been at the forefront of not only banking, but the development of small and medium size businesses in Spain and Latin America. COFIDES finances the establishment and expansion of innovative Spanish firms in all regions of the world.
“This lecture and panel discussion will not only provide an opportunity for us to learn about Spain’s financial crisis and recovery, but it will also provide important lessons for the United States’ own current economic and political situation,” said URI’s Hazera. “For example: How was Spain’s anti-austerity coalition able to quickly form into a potent political force, while America’s “Occupy Wall Street” movement continues to struggle?”
Prior to becoming CEO, Marín was the Minister of Finance and Minister of Higher Education of Murcia, an “Autonomous Community” (i.e. Province), on Spain’s Southeast Mediterranean Coast. In the latter position he oversaw two universities, the University of Murcia and Polytechnic University of Cartagena, with an approximate enrollment of 45,000 students. Before that, he presided over the Regional Institute for Internal Development of Murcia, and served as vice president of the regional government´s Comprehensive Internationalization Committee.
With a Ph. D. in Economics and Business Administration, Marín has been a professor at the University of Murcia for more than 20 years. He has published more than 100 articles on bank accounting and small business in Spain’s most prestigious journals and international journals. He has also written or edited three books, including Bank Accounting, Bank Accounting in Mexico, and Bank Accounting in the 21st Century.
Most recently, Marín has studied the impact of financial crisis on the evolution of bank accounting and how bank accounting may impact the creation of pre-crisis “speculative bubbles.” Much of this research has been co-authored by URI Professor Hazera.
More about the Panelists:
• Professor of Economics Richard Mcintyre will discuss the relative (in)effectiveness of austerity policies in resolving financial crisis.
• Lecturer in Finance Professor Michael Ice will describe some financial and business aspects of austerity vs non-austerity policies in addressing financial crisis.
• Associate Professor of Management Silvia Dorado will discuss some social, economic, and political impacts of Spain’s post-crisis austerity policies (such as the rise of “Podemos” and the issue of independence for Cataluña).
In addition to this public event, Marín will tour the University; visit with Rhode Island trade officials; conduct technical lectures on banking and trade; explore opportunities for further collaboration between URI and the University of Murcia; and discuss possible state-level contacts. His visit was supported by URI’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar program and organized by Professor Hazera and College of Business Associate Dean Shaw Chen.
Pictured above: Distinguished Visiting Scholar: Salvador Marín Hernandez, Ph. D., the president and CEO of Spain’s Compañía Española de Financiación del Desarrollo (COFIDES), is shown here at left with URI College of Business Associate Dean Shaw Chen and URI Accounting Professor Alejandro Hazera. Chen and Hazera traveled to Spain to invite the COFIDES President Marin to Campus this month. (Photo courtesy of Hazera.)