Liberal, Libertarian Economists to Debate Merits of Stimulus Package Oct. 5
Liberal, Libertarian Economists to Debate Merits of Stimulus Package Oct. 5
Was the $787 billion federal stimulus package an enlightened act of government intervention that averted economic catastrophe or a colossal waste of taxpayer money that has done more harm than good?
That provocative question will be the subject of the latest installment in UVM's Janus Forum, a popular debate series now in its second year that matches prominent thinkers with opposing views on important social issues.
The debate, titled "$787 Billion: Stimulus or Sedative," will take place Monday, Oct. 5 at 4 p.m. in the Davis Center's Grand Maple Ballroom. The approximately 60-minute debate, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer period.
Arguing for the benefits of the stimulus will be Justin Wolfers, associate professor of business and public policy at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Arguing against will be Jeffrey Miron, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
"I expect a civil exchange of ideas between two highly insightful economists with polar opposite views that sheds light, instead of generating the usual heat, on this vital issue," said James Gatti, a finance professor in UVM's School of Business Administration, who founded the Janus Forum with Arthur Woolf, an economics professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Richard Vanden Bergh, also of the School of Business Administration.
Wolfers, a regular guest contributor to the The New York Times Freakonomics blog, has authored more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals, is a regular commentator on American Public Radio's Marketplace, is a regular contributor of op eds to the Wall Street Journal Online, and has published opinion pieces in The New York Times and the Washington Post.
Before coming to Wharton, Wolfers taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and was an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia. He earned his doctorate in economics at Harvard.
Miron, whose area of expertise is the economics of libertarianism, is the author of a popular blog called Libertarianism: A to Z, a Small Government Perspective. He has published more than 35 articles in refereed journals and numerous op-eds in the Boston Herald, Boston Business Journal, Boston Globe, The New York Times Room for Debate blog, Forbes.com, and CNN.com.
Before coming to Harvard, Miron was on the faculty at the University of Michigan and was a visiting professor at the MIT's Sloan School of Management. Miron received a doctorate in economics from MIT.
The goal of the debate series, said Gatti, "is to examine the important and controversial policy issues of the day and to challenge individuals to reexamine their views in the light of well articulated contrary positions. People who have a strongly held position on an issue sometimes dismiss opposing points of view out of hand," he said. "We want to expose the audience to vigorous arguments on both sides of the debate."
Funding for the Janus Forum was provided by Fred and Sally Hackett, Eugene and Joan Kalkin, Angelo Pizzagelli, James and Judith Pizzagalli, Remo and Donna Pizzagalli, Ernest and Dee Pomerleau, the Prospect Hill Foundation, and Evan and Natalie Salmore.
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