The Economists' Voice

by Stiglitz, Joseph E.; Edlin, Aaron S.; Delong, J. bradford

• ISBN13: 9780231143653
• ISBN10: 0231143656
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-14
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

In this valuable resource, more than thirty of the world's top economists offer innovative policy ideas and insightful commentary on our most pressing economic issues, such as global warming, the global economy, government spending, Social Security, tax reform, real estate, and political and social policy, including an extensive look at the economics of capital punishment, welfare reform, and the recent presidential elections. Contributors are Nobel Prize winners, former presidential advisers, well-respected columnists, academics, and practitioners from across the political spectrum. Joseph E. Stiglitz takes a hard look at the high cost of the Iraq War; Nobel Laureates Kenneth Arrow, Thomas Schelling, and Stiglitz provide insight and advice on global warming; Paul Krugman demystifies Social Security; Bradford DeLong presents divergent views on the coming dollar crisis; Diana Farrell reconsiders the impact of U.S. offshoring; Michael J. Boskin distinguishes what is "sense" and what is "nonsense" in discussions of federal deficits and debt; and Ronald I. McKinnon points out the consequences of the deindustrialization of America. Additional essays question whether welfare reform was successful and explore the economic consequences of global warming and the rebuilding of New Orleans. They describe how a simple switch in auto insurance policy could benefit the environment; unravel the dangers of an unchecked housing bubble; and investigate the mishandling of the lending institutions Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Balancing empirical data with economic theory, The Economists' Voiceproves that the unique perspective of the economist is a vital one for understanding today's world. To learn more about the electronic journals published by The Berkeley Electronic Press, please visit http://www.bepress.com/ev.

Author Biography

Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor at Columbia University and former chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. Among his books are Escaping the Resource Curse and Globalization and Its Discontents, which has been translated into twenty-eight languages. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. Aaron S. Edlin is the Richard W. Jennings Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds professorships in both economics and law. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Formerly, he was the senior economist covering regulation, antitrust, and industrial organization on the President's Council of Economic Advisors. J. Bradford Delong is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy in the United States Treasury. A popular economist blogger, he specializes in macroeconomic policy and economic history.

Table of Contents

Global Warming
Climate Change: The Uncertainties, the Certainties, and What They Imply About Action
Global Climate Change: A Challenge to Policy	p. 13
A New Agenda for Global Warming	p. 22
A Meaningful Second Commitment Period for the Kyoto Protocol	p. 28
The International Economy
Divergent Views on the Coming Dollar Crisis	p. 39
U.S. Offshoring: Small Steps to Make It Win-Win	p. 43
Advance Market Commitments: How to Stimulate Investment in Vaccines for Neglected Diseases	p. 52
Should We Still Support Untrammeled International Capital Mobility? Or Are Capital Controls Less Evil Than We Once Believed?	p. 62
Economics of the Iraq War
The Economic Cost ofthe Iraq War	p. 73
The High Cost of the Iraq War	p. 80
Fiscal Policy
Sense and Nonsense About Federal Deficits and Debt	p. 87
Government Deficits and the Deindustrialization of America	p. 99
Social Security
Confusions About Social Security	p. 109
The Many Definitions of Social Security Privatization	p. 120
The Virtues of Personal Accounts for Social Security	p. 127
Could Social Security Go Broke?	p. 136
Tax Reform
A Broader Perspective on the Tax Reform Debate	p. 141
Tax Reform: Time for a Plan C?	p. 153
Taxes on Investment Income Remain Too High and Lead to Multiple Distortions	p. 161
Progressive Consumption Taxation as a Remedy for the U.S. Savings Shortfall	p. 170
Social Policy
Was Welfare Reform Successful?	p. 185
Cutting the Safety Net One Strand at a Time	p. 194
The Choose-Your-Charity Tax: A Way to Incentivize Greater Giving	p. 203
Should, the Government Rebuild New Orleans or Just Give Residents Checks?	p. 209
Does College Still Pay?	p. 21
How to Deal with Terrorism	p. 226
The Death Penalty
The Economics of Capital Punishment	p. 237
On the Economics of Capital Punishment	p. 241
The Death Penalty: No Evidence for Deterrence
Reply to Donohue and Wolfers on the Death Penalty and Deterrence	p. 257
Letter: A Reply to Rubin on the Death Penalty	p. 261
Reply: The Death Penalty Once More	p. 264
Real Estate
Long-Term Perspectives on the Current Boom in Home Prices	p. 269
The Menace of an Unchecked Housing Bubble	p. 288
What to Do About Fannie and Freddie?	p. 296
Index	p. 305
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