Aug. 20, 2010

Morningside College professor presents paper at economics conference

Thomas Swanke, associate professor of finance at Morningside College, presented a paper titled “The Social Creation of Financial Instruments” at the World Congress of the Association of Social Economics meeting held in Montreal, Canada.

Swanke’s paper argued that financial instruments are social conventions, and they can be destroyed by changes in the social beliefs that created the financial instruments.  Changing views about financial instruments may initiate another financial collapse, Swanke contended, under certain conditions.

In addition to presenting his paper, Swanke also served as moderator for a conference session on economic crisis.

Swanke joined the faculty of Morningside's business administration and economics department in 2008. He has a master's degree and a doctorate from the University of Colorado.