Faculty at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business have summarized 2012 forecasts for individual sectors of the national economy. “Several important dynamics frame the 2012 economic outlook,” said Cliff Rossi, Tyser Teacher Fellow and executive-in-residence. These factors include:

The annual Top 10 Summer Reading List for Business Leaders – as recommended by Robert H. Smith School of Business faculty and staff - is several and months and a change-of-season away. Perhaps something to whet reader appetites for the 2012 summer list, a few Smith leaders reflected on books they have recently read and recommend for winter reading. The following selections cover "behavioral" economics and finance, “dark” secrets of the Internet, the revolutionary effect of the shipping container, social media as a driver of social change, and more.

The Smith School congratulates the first place winners: Kishore Radhakrishnan, Jeff Williamowsky, Asheel Kakkad, Matthew Kannan, Gursean Singh and Aaron Fagan (not pictured) with event organizers Anna Mayr, John Chukundah and Elinda Kiss. Also shown in the photograph are the judges of the competition.

Robert H. Smith School of Business faculty members Cliff Rossi and Dilip B. Madan are among experts selected by U.S. Treasury officials to speak at a conference on financial reform. The event, "Macroprudential Toolkit: Measurement and Analysis" takes place Thursday and Friday, Dec. 1-2 at the Hyatt on Capitol Hill. (Macroprudential refers to focus on the financial system as a whole, as opposed to individual institutions, markets, and infrastructures).

College Park, Md. – Oct. 24, 2011 – A college football weekend likely comes to mind when a mid-autumn competition is associated with beer and the likes of UCLA, Texas A&M and the University of Virginia. Teams from these schools and others recently concluded a pressure-packed competition. But it involved neither athletics nor tailgating fans. Instead, MBA students matched their skills as the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business staged its 5th annual Mergers and Acquisitions Competition.

Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011, 7:30 a.m. Bank Fees Bank of America recently announced a drastic increase in debit fees and Citi also announced an increase in other account fees. With the banking industry still struggling, are consumer stuck paying the bill?

Peter A. Schnall, chief risk officer and executive vice president at Capital One, spoke at the CRO Lecture Series on Oct. 11, 2011 about "Risk Management in Action: How Risk and Business Managers Drive Strategy and Control Risk" to an enthusiastic group of practitioners and graduate students at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

CRO Lecture SeriesPeter Schnall, CRO, Capital OneOctober 11, 2011 | Washington, D.C.

MEDIA ALERT: July 28, 2011 UMD BUSINESS FACULTY AVAILABLE TO EXPLAIN ISSUES SURROUNDING DEBT CEILING DEBATE Finance and economics faculty experts at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business are available to comment on the federal debt ceiling debate. They can help explain the implications for the global economy should a deal not be reached, and they can provide perspective on why the political fight has been raging in Washington.

MEDIA ALERT: July 26, 2011 Pitfalls of Qualified Residential Mortgages and a Simple Solution