ECONOMIC POLICY
September 11, 2009
"Wall Street’s New Gilded Age"
Op-Ed, Newsweek
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"But now, barely a year after one of the worst crises in all financial history, we seem to have returned to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century-the last time bankers came close to ruling America," argues Niall Ferguson, member of the Belfer Center's board of directors. "A few Wall Street giants, led by none other than JPMorgan, are back to making serious money and paying million-dollar bonuses," Ferguson says, while "every month, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans face foreclosure or unemployment because of a crisis caused by ... a few Wall Street giants."
AP Photo
September 7, 2009
"ObamaCare's Crippling Deficits"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
Martin Feldstein believes that while the deficits caused by the fiscal stimulus package will end in 2011 and will help to sustain a fragile recovery in 2010, the deficits projected for the longer term are a threat to our economic future. The starting point for controlling those future deficits is for Congress to abandon the administration's health-care plan-a plan that will cost more than $1 trillion.
August 27, 2009
"America's Mortgage Meltdown"
Op-Ed, The Age
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
"The bursting of America's housing bubble in the northern summer of 2006 triggered the global financial crisis and recession," argues Martin Feldstein, a member of the board at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. "The sharp fall in house prices that followed dramatically reduced household wealth, leading to lower consumer spending and a fall in gross domestic product," Feldstein says.
AP Photo
August 19, 2009
"ObamaCare Is All About Rationing"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
The best solution to this problem of private overconsumption of health services would be to eliminate the tax rule that is causing the excessive insurance and the resulting rise in health spending. Alternatively, Congress could strengthen the incentives in the existing law for health savings accounts with high insurance copayments. Either way, the result would be more cost-conscious behavior that would lower health-care spending.
iStock
August 17, 2009
"Getting Your Fix"
Magazine or Newspaper Article, Corporate Counsel
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"The fixed fee is not an easy answer to the economic conflicts between firms and corporate clients. But the current economic crisis makes it imperative to have greater predictability and regularity on billing and payment for both law firms and corporate clients. Beyond economic necessity, the fixed fee provides the opportunity for better cooperation on money, just as the enhancement of in-house lawyers has made for much better cooperation on matters."
AP Photo
August 11, 2009
"A Runaway Deficit May Soon Test Obama’s Luck"
Op-Ed, Financial Times
By Niall Ferguson, Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
President Barack Obama reminds me of Felix the Cat. One of the best-loved cartoon characters of the 1920s, Felix was not only black. He was also very, very lucky. And that pretty much sums up the 44th president of the US as he takes a well-earned summer break after just over six months in the world’s biggest and toughest job.
AP Photo
August 8, 2009
"How to Save an ‘Underwater’ Mortgage"
Op-Ed, Wall Street Journal
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
Borrowers should get relief now, and the banks should get a guarantee down the road.
AP Image
July 30, 2009
"Executive Compensation: Let's Look at Fund Managers' Pay,"
Op-Ed, Harvard Business Review
By Ben Heineman, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Yes, inside corporations we need to alter executive compensation dramatically to reduce the naked annual bonus and the naked stock option as outsized components of executive compensation. Yes, we need to devise compensation systems that pay over time for real economic performance and creation of economic value, that pay for financial discipline and risk management, and that pay for creating a culture of integrity(law, ethics, values). But will needed executive compensation reform inside companies founder because relentless short-term pressure from (some) powerful institutional investors undermines the need to reward executive achievement of performance, risk and integrity measures over a number of years."
July 29, 2009
"U.S. saving rate and dollar's future"
Op-Ed, The Korea Herald
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
The increase in the household saving rate reduces America's need for foreign funds to finance its business investment and residential construction. Taken by itself, today's $750 billion annual rate of household saving could replace that amount in capital inflows from the rest of the world.
AP Photo
July 28, 2009
"Obama's Plan Isn't the Answer"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University
For the 85 percent of Americans with health insurance, President Obama's plan is bad news.
