Government Spending
Mercatus Events

Debt and Deficits: Implications for US and Global Economic Recovery

Jul 20, 2010 – Jul 21, 2010
10:00am – 10:45am
Zenger Room, National Press Club

This Newsmaker at the National Press Club discusses the growing problem of sovereign debt and what it means for the average citizen. The panel takes on the important topic of sovereign debt and highlighting how specific concerns about countries such as Greece and Ireland are not limited to Europe. For instance, many U.S. investors are expressing concern about this country's massive debt obligation.

Politicians and some economists say that debts and deficits don't matter. Do they? Is the sky really falling or are those who worry about the U.S. debt overreacting? What are the costs of debt? What are the lost opportunities? A panel of academics who are focused on these issues answers following questions:

  • How much debt is too much?
  • What does the U.S. debt mean for the average citizen?
  • What can be done to reduce the country's debt and spending deficits?

The panel's discussion addresses some of the best questions to ask and ways to examine spending, deficit, fiscal gimmicks and tricks as well as proposals for fixing the issues associated with spending, deficit, and debt.

The scholars are a group of academics who are examining the economics of spending and budgets and what is surely going to be a heated issue during the upcoming elections:
 
Veronique de Rugy, senior research fellow, Mercatus Center
 
Jeff Miron, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics, Harvard University

David Primo, associate professor of political science, University of Rochester
Primo authored Rules and Restraint: Government Spending and the  Design of Institutions (University of Chicago Press, 2007), on the design and enforcement of budget rules. The book is recipient of the 2008 Alan Rosenthal Prize awarded by the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association.
 
Bruce Yandle, Dean Emeritus, Clemson College of Business and Behavioral Science
Dr. Yandle was a senior economist on the staff of the President's Council on Wage and Price Stability from 1982-1984 he was executive director of the Federal Trade Commission. He briefs Capitol Hill staff quarterly on his economic forecast.

Photo courtesty of flickr user Thomas Hawk.

Government Spending