USC Holds Fiscal Challenges Discussion

Elizabeth Garrett joins talk on "Managing Budget Policy in Times of Economic Turmoil"

—By Gilien Silsby

Kitty Felde, a correspondent with KPCC, will moderate a May 1 discussion on the financial and budgetary struggles facing Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Hosted and conceived by Provost C.L. Max Nikias, the event will take place at Town & Gown.

USC Vice President  and Law Professor  Elizabeth Garrett

The symposium will feature USC Vice President and Law Professor Elizabeth Garrett, School of Policy, Planning and Development Professor Elizabeth Graddy and Harvard Law Professor Howell Jackson, who co-edited Fiscal Challenges: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Budget Policy, published by Cambridge University Press.

The discussion will provide timely and rigorous analysis that could help shape the laws that will be enacted in the next few months and are at the forefront of the presidential campaign. California's fiscal crisis will be addressed as well, including discussion of what reforms might help avert similar budget crises in the future and the likelihood that a responsible budget will be enacted this year.

“This book is an example of USC’s commitment to producing scholarship that impacts society,” Garrett said. “Through the chapters in the book and our discussion, we hope to help voters understand the fiscal issues facing lawmakers both in California and throughout the country. Budget realities will play a large role in determining which solutions are most likely to address the serious challenges facing our country and our state. Fiscal policy, as well as tax and entitlement reform, will be on the top of the new President’s agenda when he or she takes office in January.”

The book brings together leading experts from several disciplines to explore budget policy at the state, federal and international levels. Among them are the costs and benefits of transparency in the budget process, current research on the impact of budget process reforms in the 50 states, the way that budget procedure and accounting affects substantive tax and other policy, and the influence of the judiciary in the budget process.

The editors will be available to sign copies of Fiscal Challenges: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Budget Policy during the reception following the discussion.

The event is free and open to the public. It will be held at 4:30 p.m. on May 1 at USC’s Town & Gown.

For further information, please call Gilien Silsby of USC Law at (213) 740-9690.