Budget battles continue in Washington even after the White House and Congress cut a last-minute deal to avert the so-called “fiscal cliff.” With the imminent threat of default removed for now, the next potential challenge to the economy could come from sequestration, set to go into effect on March 1.
The Hamilton Project asked experts from a variety of backgrounds—the policy world, academia, and the private sector—and from both sides of the political aisle, to provide innovative, pragmatic proposals for lowering the deficit by reducing expenditures or raising revenues, and that take into account impacts to the economy at large.
The resulting 13 proposals range across budget groups, and include options to reduce mandatory and discretionary programs, to improve economic efficiency, and touch on topics as wide ranging as immigration, transportation, healthcare, and mortgage interest. This diverse group of authors convened in at a forum on February 26th in Washington, DC to discuss their ideas in a series of roundtable discussions.
The first forum in this series was held on February 22nd at the Brookings Institution and focused on opportunities to create greater efficiency in the defense budget.
Agenda
Introduction
Robert E. Rubin
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
The State of the Budget: Prospects, Challenges, and Opportunities
Discussant: Donald Marron
Director, Tax Policy Center
Discussant: Robert D. Reischauer
Distinguished Institute Fellow and President Emeritus, The Urban Institute
Discussant: Alice M. Rivlin
Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution
Facilitator: Roger C. Altman
Founder & Chairman, Evercore Partners
Overview of the Budget Book
Michael Greenstone
Senior Fellow and Director, The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution
Panel 1: An Enduring Social Safety Net
Author: Michael Chernew
Professor of Health Care Policy in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School
Author: Edward Thomas
President, Natural Hazard Mitigation Association
Author: Jonathan Gruber
Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Author: Jeffrey B. Liebman
Malcolm Wiener Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Discussant: Paul N. Van de Water
Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Moderator: Laura D’Andrea Tyson
S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Working Lunch
Lunch will be provided for registered attendees
Panel 2: Innovative Approaches to Tax Reform
Author: Joseph E. Aldy
Assistant Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Author: Karen Dynan
Vice President and Co-Director, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Author: Diane Lim
Chief Economist, Pew Charitable Trusts
Author: Alan Viard
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Discussant: Adam Looney
Policy Director, The Hamilton Project
Moderator: Robert Greenstein
President, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Panel 3: New Sources of Revenue and Efficiency
Author: Tyler Duvall
Associate Principal, McKinsey & Company
Author: Benjamin H. Harris
Senior Research Associate, The Urban Institute
Author: Adele Morris
Fellow and Policy Director, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Author: Pia Orrenius
Assistant Vice President and Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Author: Phillip Swagel
Professor of International Economics, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland
Moderator: Michael Greenstone
Senior Fellow and Director, The Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution
