PAST EVENT
Friday, May 16, 2008
Washington, DC
How could America's sophisticated financial system go so wrong and cause so much damage? Martin Baily, Douglas Elmendorf and Robert Litan answered that question in a new paper released at this public forum. The authors, following opening remarks by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, put forward a specific agenda of policy actions to reduce the chance that history repeats itself. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Martin Neil Baily, Douglas W. Elmendorf and Robert E. Litan, May 16, 2008, The Brookings Institution
With the U.S. financial system still in a perilous state, Martin Baily, Doug Elmendorf and Bob Litan diagnose what caused the crisis and offer prescriptions for policy change. The authors of this new Brookings paper address two challenges: to resolve the immediate problems and to reduce the likelihood that these problems recur. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alan J. Auerbach, Jason Furman and William G. Gale, May 08, 2008, The Brookings Institution
This paper discusses the most recent Congressional Budget Office baseline projection, and uses it to examine the causes of the fiscal decline since 2000 and the medium- and longer-term fiscal outlook.
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PAST EVENT
Monday, April 21, 2008
Washington, DC
On April 21, the Brookings Institution and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hosted a presentation of recent cross-country IMF research on the housing sector and monetary policy, as released in the April 2008 World Economic Outlook. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Douglas W. Elmendorf, April 10, 2008, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Congress and the administration are moving forward in myriad ways to boost beleaguered homeowners and put the economy back on track. Doug Elmendorf, testifying before the Senate, urged policy-makers to expand the role of the Federal Housing Administration to help families in trouble refinance their mortgages, and offered comments on the compromise Senate housing bill. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Bill Frenzel and Ron Haskins, April 07, 2008, The Washington Times
As the baby boomers begin to retire this year, the burden of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will grow relentlessly. With more people in the programs and more expensive benefits, the nation will quickly encounter a budget disaster. Bill Frenzel and Ron Haskins say that dramatic reforms are needed to avoid budget chaos for future generations. Read More
PAST EVENT
Friday, April 04, 2008
Paris, France
With the problems in the subprime mortgage market having grown into a full-blown crisis of the international financial system, the conference brought together leading economists and practitioners to examine the questions of how this crisis happened and how to avoid a similar event in the future. The event featured such key figures as former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard, economists Martin Baily and Douglas Elmendorf of Brookings and Jean Tirole of Institut d’Économie Industrielle in Toulouse, and business leaders Michel Pébereau of BNP Paribas and Claude Bébéar of AXA and Institut Montaigne. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Jason Furman, April 04, 2008, Slate
As part of a series offering detailed policy prescriptions for the next president, Slate asked Hamilton Project Director and Brookings Senior Fellow Jason Furman for his views on how to remedy the current fiscal crisis. Furman offers a three-part response: fully account for the budget, stick to the budget and work with the other party. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
April 2008, The Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation
Unsustainable deficits in the federal budget threaten the health and vigor of the American economy. When the next president and Congress take office in January 2009, they will face one crucial question that has been almost absent from the current election campaign: how to close the enormous gap between projected federal spending and revenues. Read More
PAST EVENT
Monday, March 31, 2008
Washington, DC
Some of the nation’s top economists and budget policy experts presented a new paper arguing that the first step toward establishing budget responsibility is to reform the budget decision process so that Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—the major drivers of escalating deficits—are no longer on auto-pilot. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Matt Fellowes, March 08, 2008, House Committee on Financial Services
Matt Fellowes testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services on his research into the high costs of being poor. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Rebecca M. Blank, March 07, 2008, Joint Economic Committee
Testifying before the Joint Economic Committee, Rebecca Blank argued that the low unemployment rate is misleading when compared to earlier years because the composition of those in the workforce is changing. In fact, she said, the very high rates of long-term unemployment suggest that it might be time to extend Unemployment Insurance benefits beyond the standard 25 weeks. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Douglas W. Elmendorf, February 2008, The Brookings Institution
Without government action, mortgage foreclosures will rise steeply for the next several years, argues Doug Elmendorf. He analyzes the wide range of proposals for tackling this problem, arguing that policy-makers should weigh the fairness of alternative approaches and effects on future mortgage credit, as well as the consequences of inaction. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Alice M. Rivlin, February 26, 2008, House Committee on Financial Services
Alice M. Rivlin testified before Congress on the current economic situation and what policy makers can do to curb a possible future recession. "The Federal Reserve has used the tools in its limited arsenal aggressively and imaginatively and clearly indicated its intention do more if necessary," she said. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Isabel V. Sawhill, February 05, 2008, McClatchy Tribune
Isabel Sawhill argues that the fiscal stimulus package is a good idea, but is merely a stopgap that will do little to change the fundamental problems. She says that Congress should not lose sight of how the economy got to where it is and what is needed to prevent such vulnerabilities in the future. Read More