When Al Jazeera America launches later this month, a familiar University of Oregon economist may get some airtime.

Tim Duy, professor of practice in the Department of Economics and senior director of the Oregon Economic Forum, was interviewed Wednesday for about 30 minutes for a segment the network is planning on the Federal Reserve System.

The interview, done on campus, covered a lot of territory for a general background piece on the Federal Reserve, created in December 1913 with 12 branches spread over the country with the role of overseeing U.S. monetary policy. President Obama is expected to name a replacement sometime this fall for Ben Bernanke, who has served as chairman since Feb. 1, 2006.

In the interview, Duy discussed the system's early history, current frontrunners for Bernanke's post -- Lawrence H. Summers, former Obama economic adviser and treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, and Janet Yellen, vice chairwoman of the Federal Reserve -- and the dynamics and political controversies involving the Federal Reserve in the last decade.

Duy's FedWatch blog, (http://economistsview.typepad.com/timduy/ ) is regularly monitored by national media. Duy's work also appears on the blog Economist's View (http://economistsview.typepad.com/) led by his colleague Mark Thoma, professor of economics.

Al Jazeera America, based in New York, launches Aug. 20 as a new 24-hour cable news network. It is planning to cover national and international news aimed at U.S. audiences.

- by Jim Barlow, UO Office of Strategic Communications