Notice Board

The Public Professor Series brings ULethridge researchers into the community to share their work and explore the ideas shaping our world. Join us and discover how far a question can take you.

PLEASE PRE-REGISTER HERE: https://www.ulethbridge.ca/public-professor

Event date: Thursday, Nov. 26

Location: Excite Lethbridge  |  Lakview Room  |  3423 Exhibition Way South

Time: Check-in - 6:30 p.m. 

         Presentation: 7 p.m. 

Light appitizers and a cash bar will be availalbe

Speaker: Dr. Danny Le Roy

The curious task of economics and why it matters more than ever in Canadian agriculture

Bio

Dr. Danny Le Roy is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Lethbridge and Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute. He received his BA (Honours) in Economics from Carleton University and his MSc and PhD in Agricultural Economics and Business from the University of Guelph. Dr. Le Roy was Chair of the Department of Economics from 2011-2014 and has served as the coordinator of the Agricultural Studies Program since 2010.    

Dr. Le Roy’s research focusses on production, marketing and trade of agricultural commodities. He is particularly interested in the effects of government interventionism. Dr. Le Roy teaches courses in agricultural systems modeling, commodity marketing, agricultural policy and microeconomics. He has been nominated twice for the Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Lethbridge and has received the Agricultural Students Association Distinguished Teaching Award on two occasions. Dr. Le Roy was the Prairie Baseball Academy’s Professor of the Year in 2018.

Talk description

Financial pressures. Environmental concerns. Technological change. Shifting consumer preferences. Infrastructure limitations. Government interventionism. These factors, and more, contribute to the complexity and challenges owned by farmers, ranchers and others in the agri-food industry in Canada. Agri-entrepreneurs and producers operate at an intersection of scarcity, uncertainty, natural resource stewardship and business efficiency — a balance that seems increasingly difficult to maintain, or even to achieve.

Economic science enables us to better grasp the source, the nature and the consequences of these issues. It helps guide decision making and informs what the implications of those choices are, both intended and unintended. Economics is not about money, being able to predict the future, or what the level of something should be. It is about people; it is who we are, and omnipresent trade-offs we each face. Join Dr. Danny Le Roy as he highlights his application of economic principles in view of better understanding and resolving problems in Canadian agriculture and agri-food.