Lynn E. Turner, the most recent presenter in the Distinguished Speaker Series, gave an entertaining and insightful, albeit somber, overview of the current economic crisis in which the global community finds itself.  His presentation, “The Economic Crisis—Bad Loans, Bad Gatekeepers, and Bad Regulation,” came one year after the U.S. stock market indices reached their lows during this financial crisis.

In his lecture, Turner frankly outlined the micro and macro fundamentals that led to the financial crisis, including a culture of “me, not we,” excessive deregulation, and multiple congressional conflicts of interests. Turner did not mince words when it came to many of the unscrupulous practices, greedy CEOs, and poor legislation that led to the economic downturn.

“To use our markets like a craps table in Vegas is absolutely unforgivable,” stated Turner.

Turner also warned that recovery would be a slow and tedious process. “Last year signaled what would become a lost decade,” he said.  “One thing after another befell our economy.  Tremendous amounts of dollars were lost per household and trillions of dollars were lost in pensions, investments and spending.”

Turner illustrated the severity of the crisis by sharing some crucial findings with the audience.  He said it was recently estimated that approximately 29% of Americans will actually work longer now, which will dramatically decrease the number of open positions for those trying to enter the workforce.  He also drove home the fact that the national debt is now ten times greater than not just the country’s GDP, but the collective GDP of the world. 

Turner, who has more than 30 years of business, regulatory, and academic experience, is widely recognized as an expert on financial reporting requirements, corporate governance standards, and economic risk.  Many in attendance already knew the economy was in severe turmoil, but some left the lecture with an even deeper understanding of just how widespread and dire the economic crisis really is and that there are no quick fixes to the problems the market faces. 
Turner did say that when the tenets of honesty and integrity are maintained within the structure of capitalism, the markets will usually perform well.

“Capitalism is a great system—when it’s true capitalism,” Turner stressed. “Subprime lending [and other unfavorable practices] was nothing short of fraud.”

“It’s hard for students to get to speakers like Mr. Turner and to have a chance to interact with them because our access to them is often limited,” said Ngoc Pham, a third year student majoring in accounting.  “Speakers like him are so knowledgeable and so lectures like this are a real benefit to the students.”
Turner, who spoke very candidly about the state of the economy also managed to infuse humor and a fair amount of sarcasm into the discussion, garnering chuckles throughout the evening.  He jokingly concluded his talk with “my condolences to the young people, but thank you for paying the bills.”

Dr. Lawrence Kalbers, R. Chad Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics and director of the Center, formally closed the lecture by presenting Turner with the Accounting in the Public Interest Award from the Center for Accounting Ethics, Governance, and the Public Interest in recognition of ethical leadership and values in his service to the public and the accounting profession.”

Kalbers later said, “Lynn Turner is an incredible role model for our students and the professional community. He has great integrity and competence. His career, which includes experience as an auditor, a preparer, a regulator, an educator, and an investor advocate, provides him with a unique point of view to make sense of the economy, financial reporting, and regulation of the financial markets and the accounting profession. Many of our accounting students met and talked with him in classes during his visit to campus, which was a unique opportunity for them to interact with someone of his stature. Lynn obviously enjoyed his time with students, faculty, and members of the professional community during the day and evening. He clearly made an impact, and it was an honor to have him here at LMU.”

More about Lynn E. Turner:

Mr. Turner is a senior advisor and managing director in the forensic accounting practice at LECG, a global expert services and consulting firm. He served as the chief accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from 1998 to 2001. Prior to his tenure at the SEC, Mr. Turner spent 20 years at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), where he was a national SEC review partner.
After leaving the SEC, he was a professor of accounting and director of the Center for Quality Financial Reporting at Colorado State University, managing director of research at Glass Lewis & Co., and senior advisor with Kroll Zolfo Copper, Kroll, Inc.

Prior to his tenure at the SEC, Mr. Turner spent 20 years at Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), where he was a National SEC Review Partner and head of the National High Technology Audit Practice.

Mr. Turner has also served as an expert witness and has testified before Congress on various occasions. He is a frequent speaker at national and regional conferences, and he has appeared on National Public Radio and all the major television networks including NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, CNBC, CNNfn, Bloomberg TV, and MSNBC.