Federal Debt: The Baseline and Options for Reform
Alex Brill, Andrew G. Biggs, and Sita Nataraj Slavov | Upcoming AEI Event
Join Alex Brill on Monday, May 13 online or in person at AEI. RSVP details can be found here.
Event Summary
With federal debt levels reaching unprecedented heights, deficits continuing to grow, and insolvencies of major federal spending programs like Medicare and Social Security looming on the horizon, concern is mounting across the political spectrum about the United States’ fiscal trajectory. How did we get here? How does this affect the economy? And what can we do about it?
In a conference co-organized by AEI, the Penn Wharton Budget Model, the Brookings Institution, and the Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, experts from academia, government, and industry will discuss the federal government’s current fiscal track, its causes and consequences, and what can be done to put us back on a sustainable path.
Submit questions to John.Mantus@aei.org or on Twitter with #AEIFiscalPath.
Agenda
8:30 a.m.
Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
Introduction
Susan Guthrie, Managing Director, Penn Wharton Budget Model, University of Pennsylvania
9:05 a.m.
Discussion: The Growing Debt: Fiscal and Economic Challenges
Participants:
Alan J. Auerbach, Director, Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, Berkeley
Phillip Swagel, Director, Congressional Budget Office
9:40 a.m.
Q&A
9:50 a.m.
Break
10:00 a.m.
Panel I: A View from the Street
Panelists:
Michael Feroli, Chief Economist, JPMorgan
Michelle Meyer, Chief Economist, Mastercard
Torsten Slok, Chief Economist, Apollo
Moderator:
Lisa Abramowicz, Cohost, Bloomberg Surveillance, Bloomberg Television
10:50 a.m.
Break
11:00 a.m.
Panel II: Social Security
Panelists:
Andrew G. Biggs, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Louise Sheiner, Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Sita Nataraj Slavov, Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Moderator:
Shai Akabas, Executive Director, Economic Policy Program, Bipartisan Policy Center
11:40 a.m.
Q&A
11:50 a.m.
Break
12:00 p.m.
Lunch Session: The Modern Life Cycle Approach for Analyzing Fiscal Policy
Speaker:
Kent Smetters, Director, Penn Wharton Budget Model, University of Pennsylvania
Moderator:
Alan J. Auerbach, Director, Burch Center for Tax Policy and Public Finance, University of California, Berkeley
12:55 p.m.
Q&A
1:05 p.m.
Break
1:15 p.m.
Panel III: Reform Options
Panelists:
Alex Brill, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Wendy Edelberg, Director, Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution
William G. Gale, Arjay and Frances Fearing Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy, Brookings Institution
Moderator:
George A. Callas, Executive Vice President of Public Finance, Arnold Ventures
2:15 p.m.
Q&A
2:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Kent Smetters, Director, Penn Wharton Budget Model, University of Pennsylvania
2:45 p.m.
Adjournment
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