Retired French diplomat and Brenau University Scholar-in-Residence Jacky Musnier will provide a candid view of the U.S. economy at a public lecture on the Gainesville campus Thursday, Feb. 21. However, if you think the former ambassador´s assessment will make you feel good about your stock portfolio, real estate investments, retirement planning or even the financial stimulus grant you´re about to get from the government, think again.

    "Whenever I hear the president say that the U.S. economy is in good shape, I say to myself, ´and pigs will fly´," the former diplomat said somewhat undiplomatically. Do not for a moment, however, suspect Musnier is picking on the White House. He´s got a message for Congress as well: that $150 billion economic stimulus package, which will provide the average middle income family about $1,800 in cash, is merely a device "to keep people happy until the election is over," and probably will hurt the economy more than help it.

    Musnier will appear at a "meet and greet" for the public at 5:30 p.m. (Thursday, Feb. 21) at the Brenau Trustee Library, 625 Academy St., Gainesville. His lecture, entitled "Is the Subprime Debacle Only the Tip of the Iceberg That Threatens to Wreck the World Economy?" begins at 6 p.m. in adjacent Thurmond-McRae Lecture Hall.

    A former diplomat with extensive credentials in global economics and finance, Musnier spent 35 years in the French diplomatic corps, including service as consul general in Atlanta, ambassador to New Zealand and previous service in the Middle East, Germany, Latin America and Southeast Asia.

    He cautions that the United States should brace for "unpleasant days" and that "quick fixes," like the economic stimulus package and the recent cuts in the prime rate by the Federal Reserve Bank, may be "too little, too late."

    What will pull the U.S. economy out of a nosedive, he added, will be for the government to start acting less like a business and more like a government insofar as managing the economy is concerned. That will mean tighter reigns on the financial industry to forestall future debacles like the recent subprime mortgage disaster; putting the U.S. financial house in order and forcing it to live within its means; stopping the decline in U.S. manufacturing prowess; and "learning the difference between free trade and fair trade" in dealing with international partners.

    "Consumers have to have money to consume anything," Musnier says. "And they won´t have money unless they have a job."

    In addition to the public lecture, Musnier is teaching an eight-week undergraduate course this semester in the politics and economics of the European Union.