Martin Feldstein

February 16, 2006

There's More to Growth Than China

Journal Article, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

February 16, 2006

"There's More to Growth than China . . ."

Magazine or Newspaper Article, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

When President Bush visits India next month, he will see a country that is making remarkable economic progress despite enormous structural problems. That progress will, however, be far less visible than it is in China. In India he will not see the modern high-rises or the general level of prosperity that he has seen in urban China. But the progress in India is nevertheless real.

May 9, 2013

"The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End"

Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

"The Federal Reserve recently announced that it will increase or decrease the size of its monthly bond-buying program in response to changing economic conditions. This amounts to a policy of fine-tuning its quantitative-easing program, a puzzling strategy since the evidence suggests that the program has done little to raise economic growth while saddling the Fed with an enormous balance sheet."

AP Images

March 13, 2013

It’s Time to Cap Tax Deductions

Op-Ed, Washington Post

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

Raising revenue without increasing tax rates requires eliminating or reducing the subsidies in the U.S. tax code. Such subsidies, for things as varied as hybrid cars and increased health insurance, are really the government spending through the tax code. That is why they are officially referred to as “tax expenditures.”

February 20, 2013

"A Simple Route to Major Deficit Reduction"

Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

Putting a cap on tax expenditures—those features of the tax code that are a substitute for direct government spending—can break the current fiscal impasse and prevent the dangerous explosion of the national debt, writes Martin Feldstein. "If a cap is combined with entitlement reforms, the government will also be able to reduce tax rates and increase some spending to accelerate the economic recovery."

AP Images

January 17, 2013

"The Wrong Growth Strategy for Japan"

Op-Ed, Project Syndicate

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

Japan’s new government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, could be about to shoot itself in the foot. Seeking to boost economic growth, the authorities may soon destroy their one great advantage: the low rate of interest on government debt and private borrowing. If that happens, Japanese conditions will most likely be worse at the end of Abe’s term than they are today.

January 2, 2013

"The Fed's Dangerous Direction"

Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

The Federal Reserve is heading in the wrong direction. What the central bank describes as "unconventional monetary policy" is creating dangerous bubbles in asset markets that will lead to higher future inflation and is supporting the explosive growth of the national debt. Its new "communications strategy" will, moreover, only further confuse markets.

December 11, 2012

"The Tax Hike Canard"

Op-Ed, Foreign Affairs

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

"The wrong way to get that extra revenue is to go over the fiscal cliff, which would cause tax rates on personal earnings, dividends, capital gains, and corporations to rise," writes Martin Feldstein. "When combined with the mandatory spending sequester scheduled to be implemented in 2013, demand next year could fall by a total of $600 billion -- about four percent of GDP -- and by larger sums after that. The Congressional Budget Office rightly predicts that would push the economy into a new recession."

September 28, 2012

"Fed joins ECB in a high-risk move"

Op-Ed, Financial Times

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

The Federal Reserve has now embarked on a very dangerous strategy, buying $40bn of mortgage-backed securities each month for an indefinite number of years. That could lead to high inflation, to destabilising asset bubbles and to legislative changes that limit the Fed’s future powers.

August 29, 2012

"Romney's Tax Plan Can Raise Revenue"

Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal

By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University

Martin Feldstein, a former economics adviser to President Reagan and member of the Belfer Center's Board of Directors argues in a new Wall Street Journal op-ed that while "Mitt Romney’s plan to cut taxes and offset the resulting revenue loss by limiting tax breaks has been attacked as 'mathematically impossible'....careful analysis shows this is not the case"