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Economists Urge Prompt Deficit Reduction Plan From Congress

MAR. 15, 2013

Economists Urge Prompt Deficit Reduction Plan From Congress

DATED MAR. 15, 2013
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Abadeer, Adel
    Ahiakpor, James C.W.
    Ahking, Francis W.
    Alexander, Donald L.
    Anderson, Barry
    Andron, Geoffrey
    Antos, Joseph
    Arias, J.J.
    Auerbach, Alan
    Baily, Martin Neil
    Baker, James A., III
    Banzhaf, H. Spencer
    Barth, James
    Beck, Stacie
    Biggs, Andrew G.
    Bird, Roger
    Bixby, Robert L.
    Bledowski, Krzysztof
    Blitz, Steven
    Bohanon, Cecil E.
    Booth, Geoffrey
    Boskin, Michael J.
    Bowsher, Charles A.
    Brady, Gordon
    Burdekin, Richard
    Butkiewicz, James L.
    Chance, Don
    Chapoton, John E.
    Chipman, John S.
    Christophe, Stephen
    Cima, Lawrence
    Coats, Warren L., Jr.
    Collier, Boyd D.
    Congleton, Roger
    Cooper, Kathleen
    Cornell, Bradford
    Davidson, Lawrence
    Davis, Peter
    Dorfman, Jeffrey
    Eckalbar, John
    Michael, R. Englund
    Enthoven, Alain C.
    Fisher, Eric
    Flanders, John
    Fratianni, Michele
    Froeb, Luke
    Froewiss, Kenneth C.
    Gale, William G.
    Gallegos, Alejandro
    Galston, William G.
    Gardner, B. Delworth
    Gelles, Gregory M.
    Gertler, Mark
    Gilley, Otis
    Glade, William
    Gold, Stephen
  • Institutional Authors
    Campaign to Fix the Debt
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2013-6291
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2013 TNT 52-79

 

Over 160 Economists and Thought Leaders Tell the President and

 

Congress to Fix the Debt

 

 

(Washington, DC) -- Today, the Campaign to Fix the Debt sent a letter signed by over 160 of the nation's leading economists and thought leaders to President Obama, House Leaders Boehner and Pelosi, and Senate Leaders Reid and McConnell. The letter urges Washington to continue its work addressing our nation's economic challenges and mounting debt burden and encourages enactment of a plan to improve our fiscal trajectory, grow the economy, and put the debt on a more sustainable path.

"Many of the country's premier economic minds have joined the Campaign's call to action, speaking to the urgency of our nation's debt crisis and hopefully serving as a wake-up call to the President and Congress to fix it," said Maya MacGuineas, head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt and one of the letter's signatories. "The 161 men and women who signed the letter have an intimate and high-level understanding of the economic implications of our growing debt and join over 350,000 grassroots supporters, 170 business leaders, 100 former Members of Congress, and many others in their support of a meaningful deficit reduction plan."

The letter was delivered to leaders at the White House and on Capitol Hill this morning. A full list of signatories can be found HERE.

Dear President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, Democratic Leader Pelosi, and Republican Leader McConnell:

We are writing to urge you to continue the work of addressing our nation's economic challenges and our mounting debt burden.

Promoting an economic expansion that accelerates job creation, while at the same time addressing the long-term debt challenge, will require that we change our current approach to fiscal issues.

Rather than indiscriminate cuts to just one part of the budget, we need a smart and gradual debt reduction plan that will promote long-term growth and stability. By enacting a comprehensive plan now that reforms the tax code and addresses the largest drivers of our fiscal problems over the long term, policymakers could avoid the negative effects of abrupt cuts, sustain key investments in productive public programs, and simultaneously set a more sustainable trajectory for the nation's debt -- creating a virtuous cycle of growth and budgetary responsibility.

While the recent Budget Control Act and American Tax Relief Act represent progress, we believe there is a need for substantial further deficit reduction if the country is to remain economically strong. This is especially true over the long-run, where rising health care costs and changing demographics threaten to drive our national debt to unprecedented levels.

We encourage you, our nation's leaders, to identify a combination of spending reductions and tax and entitlement reforms sufficient to put the national debt on a downward path relative to the size of our economy. With a well-designed deficit reduction package, we can reassure markets and employers, grow our middle class, and restore faith in our political system.

On the other hand, failing to act could very well jeopardize our economic prosperity and the future of key programs on which millions of Americans rely -- both today and for generations to come.

While we may find differences of opinion about the specific policies that should be included in any plan, we all agree on the need for significant additional progress on this front.

Policymakers should enact a plan as soon as possible to improve our fiscal trajectory, grow the economy and put the debt on a more sustainable path.

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is a non-partisan movement to put America on a better fiscal and economic path. We come together from a variety of social, economic and political perspectives, around the common belief that America's growing federal debt threatens our future and that we must address it. The Campaign will mobilize key communities -- including leaders from business, government, and policy -- and people all across America who want to see elected officials step up to solve our nation's fiscal challenges.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Over 160 economists and thought leaders

 

are urging you to fix the debt.

 

 

Dear President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, Democratic Leader Pelosi, and Republican Leader McConnell:

We are writing to urge you to continue the work of addressing our nation's economic challenges and our mounting debt burden.

Promoting an economic expansion that accelerates job creation, while at the same time addressing the long-term debt challenge, will require that we change our current approach to fiscal issues.

Rather than indiscriminate cuts to just one part of the budget, we need a smart and gradual debt reduction plan that will promote long-term growth and stability. By enacting a comprehensive plan now that reforms the tax code and addresses the largest drivers of our fiscal problems over the long term, policymakers could avoid the negative effects of abrupt cuts, sustain key investments in productive public programs, and simultaneously set a more sustainable trajectory for the nation's debt -- creating a virtuous cycle of growth and budgetary responsibility.

While the recent Budget Control Act and American Tax Relief Act represent progress, we believe there is a need for substantial further deficit reduction if the country is to remain economically strong. This is especially true over the long-run, where rising health care costs and changing demographics threaten to drive our national debt to unprecedented levels.

We encourage you, our nation's leaders, to identify a combination of spending reductions and tax and entitlement reforms sufficient to put the national debt on a downward path relative to the size of our economy. With a well-designed deficit reduction package, we can reassure markets and employers, grow our middle class, and restore faith in our political system.

On the other hand, failing to act could very well jeopardize our economic prosperity and the future of key programs on which millions of Americans rely -- both today and for generations to come.

While we may find differences of opinion about the specific policies that should be included in any plan, we all agree on the need for significant additional progress on this front.

Policymakers should enact a plan as soon as possible to improve our fiscal trajectory, grow the economy and put the debt on a more sustainable path.

Sincerely,

 

 

Adel Abadeer

 

 

James C.W. Ahiakpor

 

 

Francis W. Ahking

 

 

Donald L. Alexander

 

 

Barry Anderson

 

 

Geoffrey Andron

 

 

Joseph R. Antos

 

 

J.J. Arias

 

 

Alan Auerbach

 

 

Martin Baily

 

 

James A. Baker, III

 

 

Spencer Banzhaf

 

 

James Barth

 

 

Stacie Beck

 

 

Andrew Biggs

 

 

Roger Bird

 

 

Robert Bixby

 

 

Krzysztof Bledowski

 

 

Steven Blitz

 

 

Cecil E. Bohanon

 

 

Geoffrey Booth

 

 

Michael J. Boskin

 

 

Charles Bowsher

 

 

Gordon Brady

 

 

Richard Burdekin

 

 

James L. Butkiewicz

 

 

Don Chance

 

 

John E. Chapoton

 

 

John S. Chipman

 

 

Stephen Christophe

 

 

Lawrence Cima

 

 

Warren L Coats Jr.

 

 

Boyd D. Collier

 

 

Roger Congleton

 

 

Kathleen Cooper

 

 

Bradford Cornell

 

 

Lawrence Davidson

 

 

Peter Davis

 

 

Jeffrey Dorfman

 

 

John Eckalbar

 

 

Michael R. Englund

 

 

Alain Enthoven

 

 

Eric Fisher

 

 

John Flanders

 

 

Michele Fratianni

 

 

Luke Froeb

 

 

Kenneth C. Froewiss

 

 

William Gale

 

 

Alejandro Gallegos

 

 

William G. Galston

 

 

B. Delworth Gardner

 

 

Gregory M. Gelles

 

 

Mark Gertler

 

 

Otis Gilley

 

 

William Glade

 

 

Stephen Gold

 

 

Lawrence Goodman

 

 

Eric Graber

 

 

Kenneth V. Greene

 

 

Alan Greenspan

 

 

Earl Grinols

 

 

Reza G. Hamzaee

 

 

Eric Hanushek

 

 

John A. Haslem

 

 

Kevin Hassett

 

 

Robert Heller

 

 

Robert Stanley Herren

 

 

Gregory Hess

 

 

G. William Hoagland

 

 

John Hoftyzer

 

 

Lee Hoke

 

 

Glenn Hubbard

 

 

James L. Huffman

 

 

L. Dwight Israelsen

 

 

Randall W. Jackson

 

 

John Kagel

 

 

Melissa Kearney

 

 

Joe Kennedy

 

 

Michael Keran

 

 

Anne Krueger

 

 

J.B. Kurish

 

 

Francis Laatsch

 

 

Stephen Layson

 

 

Philip Levy

 

 

Lawrence Lindsey

 

 

Maya MacGuineas

 

 

N. Gregory Mankiw

 

 

Will Marshall

 

 

Timothy Mathews

 

 

David Mayers

 

 

Patrick McCarthy

 

 

John McDowell

 

 

James T. McIntyre

 

 

W. Douglas McMillin

 

 

James D. Mietus

 

 

James Miller

 

 

Frederic S. Mishkin

 

 

Olivia Mitchell

 

 

James Moncur

 

 

Ronald Moomaw

 

 

Anthony N. Negbenebor

 

 

Robert Niehaus

 

 

Marne Obernauer

 

 

Daniel O'Brien

 

 

Paul O'Neill

 

 

Peter Orazem

 

 

Jim O'Sullivan

 

 

Donald J. Oswald

 

 

Scott E. Page

 

 

Donald O. Parsons

 

 

Lubos Pastor

 

 

George G. Pennacchi

 

 

Rudolph G. Penner

 

 

Marvin Phaup

 

 

Gordon Phillips

 

 

Mark Pingle

 

 

William Poole

 

 

Michael Porter

 

 

Reza Ramazani

 

 

James Ramsey

 

 

David Ranson

 

 

James Refalo

 

 

Christine Ries

 

 

Alice Rivlin

 

 

Christina Romer

 

 

Larry Ross

 

 

James Roumasset

 

 

Charles K. Rowley

 

 

John Ruggiero

 

 

John Rutledge

 

 

John Ryding

 

 

Donald Sabbarese

 

 

Isabel Sawhill

 

 

Allen Schick

 

 

Robert H. Shrouds

 

 

George P. Shultz

 

 

Donald S. Siegel

 

 

Kent Smetters

 

 

James F. Smith

 

 

Francis J. Spreng

 

 

Eugene Steuerle

 

 

Jerry L. Stevens

 

 

Derek Stimel

 

 

Daniel A. Sumner

 

 

Phillip Swagel

 

 

Eric Toder

 

 

Kuo-Chen Tseng

 

 

Larry Van Horn

 

 

Richard Vietor

 

 

Paul Volcker

 

 

David M. Walker

 

 

Thomas Warschauer

 

 

Murray L. Weidenbaum

 

 

Michael Wohlgenant

 

 

Gary Wolfram

 

 

Art Woolf

 

 

Joseph Wright

 

 

Mark Zandi

 

 

Jeffrey Zax

 

 

Jerold Zimmerman

 

 

Robert Zoellick
DOCUMENT ATTRIBUTES
  • Authors
    Abadeer, Adel
    Ahiakpor, James C.W.
    Ahking, Francis W.
    Alexander, Donald L.
    Anderson, Barry
    Andron, Geoffrey
    Antos, Joseph
    Arias, J.J.
    Auerbach, Alan
    Baily, Martin Neil
    Baker, James A., III
    Banzhaf, H. Spencer
    Barth, James
    Beck, Stacie
    Biggs, Andrew G.
    Bird, Roger
    Bixby, Robert L.
    Bledowski, Krzysztof
    Blitz, Steven
    Bohanon, Cecil E.
    Booth, Geoffrey
    Boskin, Michael J.
    Bowsher, Charles A.
    Brady, Gordon
    Burdekin, Richard
    Butkiewicz, James L.
    Chance, Don
    Chapoton, John E.
    Chipman, John S.
    Christophe, Stephen
    Cima, Lawrence
    Coats, Warren L., Jr.
    Collier, Boyd D.
    Congleton, Roger
    Cooper, Kathleen
    Cornell, Bradford
    Davidson, Lawrence
    Davis, Peter
    Dorfman, Jeffrey
    Eckalbar, John
    Michael, R. Englund
    Enthoven, Alain C.
    Fisher, Eric
    Flanders, John
    Fratianni, Michele
    Froeb, Luke
    Froewiss, Kenneth C.
    Gale, William G.
    Gallegos, Alejandro
    Galston, William G.
    Gardner, B. Delworth
    Gelles, Gregory M.
    Gertler, Mark
    Gilley, Otis
    Glade, William
    Gold, Stephen
  • Institutional Authors
    Campaign to Fix the Debt
  • Subject Area/Tax Topics
  • Jurisdictions
  • Language
    English
  • Tax Analysts Document Number
    Doc 2013-6291
  • Tax Analysts Electronic Citation
    2013 TNT 52-79
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