Nation’s Leading Experts Discuss Economy at USC Law

Conference draws more than 100; viewed via webcast by another 200

-By Gilien Silsby

Some of the nation's leading economists, budget policy experts and tax authorities gathered at USC Law recently to assess the nation's looming fiscal crisis and look at the challenges facing the United States’ economy in the next decade.

The Jan. 15 conference, hosted by USC-Caltech Center for the Study of Law and Politics (CSLP) and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, brought together experts from a range of disciplines to evaluate the causes of the current crisis, the magnitude of the challenge facing the country in the next decade, and possible responses by the federal government and the states.

More than 100 academics, students and members of the public attended the day-long conference that included four panel discussions related to the country’s toughest fiscal challenges. The live webcast was viewed by more than 200 people in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and around the country.  Panels looked at the anatomy of the crisis; the federal budget process and demand for revenue; the fiscal crisis in the states; and the role of health entitlements in the fiscal crisis at all levels of government.

 "National and state fiscal policy is an issue important to us now and to future generations of Americans," said Elizabeth Garrett, co-director of the USC-Caltech CSLP and a professor of law, political science and public policy at USC Law. "The country's most rigorous and creative scholars studying these issues shared views about the causes of the crisis and possible solutions.  This conference has provided an intellectual foundation for change."

Each panel presented two papers, a comment on those papers by a discussant, and time for audience discussion on the topic. The papers will be published in the National Tax Journal.

Mathew McCubbins, co-director of the CSLP and a professor at USC’s Marshall School of Business, College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Gould School of Law, spoke on “Making Mountains of Debt out of Molehills: The Pro-cyclical Effects of Tax Limitations on State Revenue and Debt;” Prof. Dana Goldman of the School of Policy, Planning, and Development discussed “Population Health and Longevity as a Driver of Fiscal Imbalance,” and Prof. Edward Kleinbard of USC Law and former chief of staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation in Washington, D.C., described “Tax Expenditure Framework Legislation.”

Other participants included: Alan Auerbach, University of California -- Berkeley; Leonard Burman, Maxwell School of Syracuse University; Rosanne Altshuler, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center; Joshua Rauh, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; and Donald Marron, Congressional Budget Office.

To view the sessions, go to:

Morning Session
http://lawmedia.usc.edu/LawMedia4/Viewer/?peid=f2e9ad6b55a44aa2a0f2ff5d3af6d4e1

Afternoon Session
http://lawmedia.usc.edu/LawMedia4/Viewer/?peid=3193b5bb165b4785bf3468db49add8cd