[PEN-L:3553] Re: The Unbalanced Budget, Cont'd

[Rosser Jr, John Barkley]

    Is this to say that recent growth in the US and in East 
Asia is "extensive"?  Doubtful in my book.
Barkley Rosser
On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 11:29:30 -0500 Max Sawicky 
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Colleagues:
> 
> I am pleased to report that we have 65 signatures
> to the petition, with some additional celebrities
> to follow next week.
> 
> If you agree with the statement, don't fail to
> forward your endorsement to:
> 
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> Questions may be addressed to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> A single sentence has been added to the first
> paragraph to provide those who disagree with
> secondary points in the petition to come
> on board.  Below is the full statement with
> the revision.
> 
> ----------------------------------
> 
> AN OPEN LETTER ON THE CLINTON BUDGET
> 
> We, the undersigned professional economists, offer our views on
> certain basic features of the Federal budget released by the
> Clinton Administration for Fiscal Year 2000.  While we do not
> necessarily agree on every particular
> of the following statement, we strongly endorse its basic thrust.
> 
> 1. We support the Administration's rejection of large tax cuts
> targeted on upper-income taxpayers, and their refusal to cut
> Social Security benefits.
> 
> 2. But we do not support the commitment of budget surpluses
> expected over the next 15 years to reduction of the national
> debt.  We believe this policy is economically unwarranted and
> indeed self-defeating: it is likely to undermine the national
> economic growth and high employment on which achievement of the
> projected surpluses depends.
> 
> 3. For the past decade, we have objected repeatedly to a proposed
> constitutional amendment that would mandate balanced budgets.
> Like mandated balanced budgets, mandated surpluses work to slow
> growth, and to lengthen, deepen, and multiply recessions.  When
> unemployment is high, the right policy is to run deficits, not
> surpluses.
> 
> 4. The surplus mandate would prevent increased public investments
> that are needed to support economic growth in the future.  Growth
> in public investment can and should be significantly larger than
> the President's budget allows, even at the cost of a reduced
> surplus.   Also, the 1996
> welfare repeal will require new initiatives from the Federal
> government soon. These actions will be made much more difficult
> if surplus mandates remain in place. We believe that the
> well-being of children in poverty is a higher priority than
> savings of interest on the public debt.
> 
> 5.  The notion that budget surpluses -- if they indeed
> materialize -- will be translated dollar for dollar by the
> capital markets into increased long-term private business
> investments lacks foundation in either fact or theory.
> 
> 6.  A policy of national debt elimination also entails the
> repurchase of the safest financial assets now available to
> private investors.  Such a policy implies that private investors
> seeking safe assets will be pushed toward foreign markets (such
> as for the euro) and poses high risks to the stability of
> financial markets and of the dollar.
> 
> 7.  Finally, nothing in this proposal is relevant to the
> financial condition or future viability of Social Security, since
> future retirement incomes can only be paid out of future
> production.  If benefits do exceed payroll taxes in future years,
> the difference can only be resolved by raising taxes, reducing
> benefits, or increasing once again the national debt -- exactly
> as at present, and irrespective of any steps that may be taken
> now.
> 
> 8.  In sum, we oppose a policy of buying down the national
> debt -- as unlikely to succeed, as unlikely to do good if
> successful, as unneeded to preserve Social Security, and as an
> inferior use of our public resources. We urge policymakers, the
> press, and our professional colleagues to refrain from embracing
> this simplistic approach to this important issue.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Randy Albelda, Professor of Economics, University of
> Massachusetts, Boston
> Teresa Amott, Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell
> University
> Ron Baiman, Assistant Professor of Economics, Roosevelt
> University
> Dean Baker, Senior Research Fellow, Preamble Center
> Brigitte Bechtold, Professor of Sociology, Central Michigan
> University
> Barbara R. Bergmann, Professor Emerita of Economics, American
> University
> Jared Bernstein, Economist, Economic Policy Institute
> Peter Bohmer, Professor of Economics, Evergreen State College
> Heather Boushey, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, New York City
> Housing Authority
> Byron Brown, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Southern Oregon
> University
> Doug Brown, Professor of Economics, Northern Arizona University
> William S. Brown, Professor of Economics, University of Alaska,
> SE (Juneau, AK)
> Neil Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of
> Wisconsin, Milwaukee
> Paul D. Bush, Professor of Economics, California State
> University, Fresno
> Robert Cherry, Professor of Economics, Brooklyn College, CUNY
> David H. Ciscel, Professor of Economics, University of Memphis
> Charles M. Clark, Professor of Economics, St. John's University
> Ellen J. Dannin, Professor of Law, California Western School of
> Law
> Paul Davidson, Holly Chair of Excellence in Political Economy,
>     University of Tennessee
> James Devine, Professor of Economics, Loyola Marymount University
> Peter Dorman, Professor of Economics, Evergreen State College
> Gerald Epstein, Professor of Economics, University of
> Massachusetts, Amherst and Co-director of Political Economy
> Research Institute
> Marianne A. Ferber, Professor of Economics and Women's Studies,
>     University of Illinois, Champaign
> Deborah M. Figart, Associate Professor of Economics, Richard
> Stockton College
> Mathew K. Forstater, The Jerome Levy Economics Institute of Bard
> College
> Ellen Frank, Professor of Economics, Emmanuel College
> William Hildred, Professor of Economics, Northern Arizona
> University
> James K. Galbraith, Professor of Economics, University of Texas,
> Austin
> Karen J. Gibson, Assistant Professor of Urban Studies and
> Planning, Portland State University
> Helen Lachs Ginsburg, Professor Emerita of Economics, Brooklyn
> College, CUNY
> David Gleicher, Associate Professor of Economics and Finance,
> Adelphi University
> Eban Goodstein, Associate Professor of Economics, Lewis and Clark
> College
> Jim Grant, Associate Professor of Economics, Lewis and Clark
> College
> John T. Harvey, Associate Professor of Economics, Texas Christian
> University
> John F. Henry, Professor of Economics, California State
> University, Sacramento
> Ric Holt, Associate Professor of Economics, Southern Oregon
> University (Ashland, OR)
> Ellen Houston, Center of Economic Analysis, New School for Social
> Research
> Andrew Larkin, Professor of Economics, St. Cloud State University
> Catherine Lynde, Associate Professor of Economics, University of
> Massachusetts, Boston
> Arthur MacEwan, Professor of Economics, University of
> Massachusetts, Boston
> Ann Markusen, Director of Project on Regional and Industrial
> Economics, Rutgers University
> Gwendolyn Mink, Professor of Politics, University of California,
> Santa Cruz
> Edward J. Nell, Malcolm B. Smith Professor, New School University
> Reynold F. Nesiba, Assistant Professor of Economics, Augustana
> College
> Christopher J. Niggle, Professor of Economics, University of
> Redlands
> Paulette Olson, Professor of Economics, Wright State University
> Michael Perelman, Professor of Economics, California State
> University, Chico
> Sumner M. Rosen, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Columbia
> University
>     and Vice-Chair, National Jobs for All Coalition
> J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., Professor of Economics, James Madison
> University
> Roy J. Rotheim, Professor of Economics, Skidmore College
> Dawn M. Saunders, Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics,
> University of Vermont
> Max B. Sawicky, Economist, Economic Policy Institute
> James R. Stanfield, Professor of Economics, Colorado State
> University
> James Sturgeon, Professor of Economics, University of Missouri,
> Kansas City
> Marc R. Tool, Professor Emeritus of Economics, California State
> University, Sacramento
> Gunnar Tomasson, Economist for International Monetary Fund
> (1966-1989)
> Andres Torres, Professor of Economics, University of
> Massachusetts, Boston
> William Waller, Professor of Economics, Hobart and William Smith
> Colleges
> Mark Weisbrot, Research Director, Preamble Center
> Delane E. Welsch, Professor of Applied Economics, University of
> Minnesota
> Julie M. Whittaker, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, Rutgers
> University
> Karl Widerquist, Resident Research Associate,
>     The Jerome Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
> L.  Randall Wray, Senior Scholar, The Jerome Levy Economics
> Institute of Bard College
> Michael Yates, Professor of Economics, University of Pittsburgh,
> Johnstown
> June Zaccone, Associate Professor Emerita of Economics, Hofstra
> University
> Michael Zweig, Professor of Economics, SUNY, Stony Brook
> 

-- 
Rosser Jr, John Barkley
[EMAIL PROTECTED]