Could the initial attribution to the Hunt Brothers' attempt to corner the market be wrong?

===NOTE: this event will now take place in Executive 1===

Professor Jeffrey Williams is a member of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at University of California, Davis. His main specialisation is commodity markets. National College of Ireland is proud to welcome him, while he is in Europe, to lecture here in Dublin, by invitation of a member of our faculty: Gaia Barone, lecturer in Economics and Finance.

The title of the lecture is “The spike in the price of silver in 1979-1980 viewed with 40 years of hindsight”.

At the time, analysts attributed the spike to the Hunt Brothers’ attempt to corner the silver market. But there have been subsequent spikes in precious metals, so could this initial analysis be a misattribution to a coincidental occurrence?

Professor Williams will talk about how unusual movements in the price of a commodity are explained by expert witnesses – including economists such as himself - but how explanations may change with the benefit of hindsight. As this lecture starts with the tale of the Hunts, it will also look at the continuing legacy of their attempt to manipulate financial markets.

The tone of the lecture will be more story-telling, rather than quantitative analysis and econometrics (though, of course, drawing on Professor Williams’ erudition), so will appeal to a more general audience. The following Q&A will give those whose knowledge might run deeper the chance to ask more specific questions.

A light lunch will be served: 1pm, Thursday March 5th, in Executive 1 at National College of Ireland.

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