America is facing a gradual decline as debt accumulates and makes it harder to grow the economy, boost living standards and address social needs. At the same time, critical investments are lagging and many people are being left behind even as overall prosperity is growing. In “Fiscal Therapy: Curing America's Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future,” William G. Gale, a leading authority on federal tax and budget policy, examines the severe fiscal problems faced by the U.S.
At this event, Gale discussed his book and described a fiscal plan to balance today's needs against tomorrow's obligations in order to make the economy and nation stronger. This event was sponsored by the Baker Institute Center for Public Finance.
A book signing followed the presentation. Copies of the book were available for purchase courtesy of the Rice University Campus Store. Follow @BakerInstitute on Twitter and join the conversation online with #BakerFinance.
Agenda
6:00 p.m. — Reception
6:30 p.m. — Presentation
Featured Speaker
William G. Gale, Ph.D., is the Arjay and Frances Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy and a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on tax policy, fiscal policy, pensions and saving behavior. He is also the co-director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, and the director of the Retirement Security Project. From 2006 to 2009, he served as vice president of the Brookings Institution and director of the Economic Studies Program. Prior to joining Brookings in 1992, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a senior economist for the Council of Economic Advisers under President George H.W. Bush. Gale is the author of “Fiscal Therapy: Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future,” and he has written extensively in policy-related publications and newspapers. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University, and he attended Duke University and the London School of Economics as an undergraduate.
