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Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > News Topics > Public Policy & Politics > Presidential Politics & Campaign Issues >

Economic Policy & Politics

Unemployment, job creation, consumer confidence, tax reform and international trade are just a few of the economic policy issues at the heart of the 2004 political campaign. Faculty listed below are available to discuss various economic policy issues as they relate to the campaign. For a broader list of faculty with expertise in economic issues, visit the main news topic for Economic Policy.
| Faculty Experts: |
Showing Economic Policy & Politics Experts 1 through 5 of 8.
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Adam Rosenzweig
 Associate Professor of Law

Adam Rosenzweig has done extensive work in the area of tax law and policy. He previously worked as a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Law and clerked for Judge James L. Dennis, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. While working in New York, Rosenzweig ...

Direct contact: (314) 935-4419
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arosenzweig@wulaw.wustl.edu

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Michele Boldrin
 Joseph Gibson Hoyt Distinguished Professor in Arts and Sciences and chair of the Department of Economics

Professor Boldrin is an economist with a broad range of interests. His work includes research in business cycles and asset pricing; growth and demographic change; innovation and intellectual property; and public policy and the welfare state. Boldrin is a fellow of the Econometric Society. He is also ...

Expertise: Public policy, foreign policy, economic crisis, economic growth, innovation, business cycles, intellectual property, …

Direct contact: (314) 935-5636
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mboldrin@artsci.wustl.edu

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David K. Levine
 John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor, economics

Levine has a particular interest in voter participation; issues relating to intellectual property including copyright, patent and Internet policy; and asset markets and credible payment schemes. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society and president of the Society of Economic Dynamics. Levine and ...

Expertise: Game theory, general equilibrium theory, microeconomic theory, intellectual property and asset markets

Direct contact: (314) 935-5648
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levine@wustl.edu

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Cheryl Block
 Professor of Law

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| Cheryl Block |
Cheryl Block is an expert in tax law and policy. Author of a leading book on corporate taxation, she has also written numerous articles on taxation, public policy relating to federal bailouts, legislative voting rules, social choice theory, federal budget process, and the interplay between tax and ...

Expertise: federal budget, tax law and policy, corporate taxation, federal bailouts

Direct contact: (314) 935-6444
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cblock@wulaw.wustl.edu

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Murray Weidenbaum
 Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor

Weidenbaum is honorary chairman of the Weidenbaum Center and Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor at Washington University. He is known for his research on economic policy, taxes, government spending, and regulation. In 1981-82, he served as President Reagan's first Chairman of the Council ...

Expertise: economy, government, public policy, President Reagan, Federal Trade Deficit Review Commission, economic policy, taxes, …

Direct contact: (314) 935-5662
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moseley@wustl.edu

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Showing Economic Policy & Politics Experts 1 through 5 of 8.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing Economic Policy & Politics Stories 1 through 3 of 47.
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Holiday cheer or holiday hunger?
 Nearly half of all U.S. children will use food stamps, says poverty expert

Nov. 2,
2009 -- Holidays and tables full of delicious food usually go hand in hand, but for nearly half of the children in the United States, this is not guaranteed. "49 percent of all U.S. children will be in a household that uses food stamps at some point during their childhood," says Mark R. Rank, Ph.D., poverty expert at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. "Food stamp use is a clear sign of poverty and food insecurity, two of the most detrimental economic conditions affecting a child's health." Rank's study, "Estimating the Risk of Food Stamp Use and Impoverishment During Childhood," is published in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Video available.

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U.S. health care reform
 Employer-based insurance is less extensive than believed, says health insurance expert

July 29,
2009 --
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| Bernstein |
"Private employment provides less health insurance than believed," says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding board member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. Bernstein is available to discuss health insurance in the U.S.

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College Savings Initiative aims to advance college success for all families
 The New America Foundation and Washington University in St. Louis will examine innovative ways to create more inclusive 529 college savings plans

May 21,
2009 --
The New America Foundation and Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis announce a new College Savings Initiative to examine and improve 529 college savings plans so more people have the opportunity to attend and complete college. "Saving money is not easy, but research shows many people can save when they have incentives and a way to do so. More low-income families may save with well-designed 529s and incentives," said Margaret Clancy, Policy Director at CSD. "We will study 529 innovations to see which ones are effective. This will inform 529 policy so that it can benefit families of all income levels."

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Showing Economic Policy & Politics Stories 1 through 3 of 47.
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U.S. Census Bureau data on the medically uninsured simply can't be denied
Los Angeles Times

Sept. 17,
2009 -- Michael Hiltzik says the medically uninsured iin America have become a political football. Opponents and supporters of healthcare reform toss assertions about them back and forth.
The report, which says 46.3 million people lacked coverage as of the end of 2008, makes the case for reform stronger than ever by punching holes in arguments that minimize the plight of the uninsured.
Includes comments by WUSTL social work and public health professor Timothy McBride.

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Save the Whales! Abolish Patents!
Huffingtonpost.com

Sept. 16,
2009 -- WUSTL economics professor David Levine says abolishing 'intellectual property' won't solve all social ills, but it would be a big step in the right direction for solving a range of problems from the high cost of health care, to innovating our way out of the current recession. In a series of posts with his co-author, WUSTL economics professor Michele Boldrin, they will be posting here about green technology, entertainment, free speech, multinationals, and innovation over the next weeks.

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Why capitalism fails
The Boston Globe

Sept. 15,
2009 -- U. of Georgia historian Stephen Mihm writes about the late WUSTL economist Hyman Minsky, who "has begun emerging as perhaps the most prescient big-picture thinker about what, exactly, we are going through. A contrarian amid the conformity of postwar America, an expert in the then-unfashionable subfields of finance and crisis, Minsky was one economist who saw what was coming. He predicted, decades ago, almost exactly the kind of meltdown that recently hammered the global economy. "

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Elusive price tag for universal health coverage
MSNBC.com

Sept. 10,
2009 -- How much is it going to cost to provide health care for all Americans? Until the details are complete, the only honest answer is: no one knows, reports John Schoen. "We know that the underinsured tend to be healthier," said Timothy McBride, associate dean for WUSTL's public health. "So if they were to get insured they would not be as expensive as the rest of us."

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The Princeton Review gives 623 colleges financial aid ratings
The Princeton Review

July 28,
2009 -- The Princeton Review -- an education services company that helps students choose and get in to colleges -- this year collected a wealth of data to help applicants and parents find the highly-coveted financial aid that a majority of them will need to pay for college. WUSTL was among 13 of which received the highest possible score of 99.

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Union boss returns some of $1.2 million pay
The Washington Times

May 12,
2009 -- Controversy over compensation received by the president of the shipyard workers union, much of which was returned after it was disclosed to the government. Several labor analysts expressed concern about the union's pay practices and the changes it made in its financial reports. Labor consultant and WUSTL law professor emeritus Neil Bernstein comments.

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Justices Limit Use of Identity Theft Law in Immigration Cases
The New York Times
and 3 others

May 5,
2009 -- The Supreme Court rejected a favorite tool of prosecutors in immigration cases, ruling unanimously that a federal identity-theft law may not be used against many illegal workers who used false Social Security numbers to get jobs. WUSTL immigration law professor Stephen Legomsky comments.

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Flu control tests Obama balancing skills
Associated Press
and 47 others

May 4,
2009 -- When it comes to swine flu, Obama is trying to strike the right balance between protecting public and economic health. That's resulted in some doublespeak and spin, evidence of the inextricable ties between a looming epidemic and a listing economy. Includes comments by WUSTL American culture studies director Wayne Fields, who is an expert on presidential rhetoric.

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Obama takes more questions than Bush
The Washington Times

April 28,
2009 -- President Obama has gotten off to a busy start, fielding more questions in formal press conferences in his first months in office than the American people saw from his predecessor. WUSTL history professor Peter Kastor comments.

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States rebel against Washington
The Christian Science Monitor

March 27,
2009 -- Just as California under President Bush asserted itself on issues ranging from gun control to medical marijuana, a motley cohort of states — from South Carolina to New Hampshire — are presenting a foil for President Obama's national ambitions. WUSTL political science professor Steve Smith, who is director of WUSTL's Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government and Public Policy, comments.

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Break It to 'Em Gently: Telling Kids About Financial Woes
The Wall Street Journal

March 25,
2009 -- Advice for parents explaining to children what changes may need to take place when a family faces economic hardship. WUSTL senior consultant and author Karen Levin Coburn.

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Get ready for a wave of bank failures
CNNMoney.com

Feb. 23,
2009 -- In less than two months, regulators have seized 14 banks. Experts think many more banks will collapse before the financial crisis is over. "We'll have a banner year [of failures] this year," said Stuart Greenbaum, retired dean and professor emeritus at the WUSTL's Olin Business School.

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Stimulus fight gives Obama lessons early
USA Today
and 1 others

Feb. 12,
2009 -- WUSTL political science professor Steve Smith comments on some lessons learned by Obama and his team in the push for the stimulus bill.

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Who Gets What: Billions to colleges and students
Associated Press
and 56 others

Feb. 9,
2009 -- The stimulus plan emerging in Washington could offer an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar boost in financial help for college students. Both the House and Senate bills call for the largest-ever funding increase for Pell Grants, the government's chief college aid program for low-income students. It could also hand out billions to the states to kick-start idled campus construction projects, including new dorms at WUSTL.

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Financial Aid Applications Rise by 10 Percent
U.S. News & World Report online

Jan. 14,
2009 -- Like a tornado, the economic downturn appears to be touching down and wreaking financial aid havoc for some colleges while leaving others unscathed. Financial aid officers at Boston College and Washington University in St. Louis report no dramatic increase in requests for scholarships.

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SPIN METER: Obama stresses dire economy at start
Associated Press
and 32 others

Jan. 14,
2009 -- In hard times, the man in the Oval Office usually is the cheerleader-in-chief, looking ahead optimistically. Not Barack Obama, who is taking office full of gloom and doom about the nation's economy, warning that things are dire and bound to get worse. WUSTL American culture studies director and political rhetoric expert Wayne Fields comments.

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Business welcomes talk of tax breaks in stimulus
TheHill.com (DC) online

Jan. 7,
2009 -- The news that President-elect Obama may include more than $300 billion in tax cuts as part of an economic recovery package was preceded by a lobbying push by businesses, which argued that providing tax relief may be a better way of reviving the economy than simply directing money to pay for road and bridge construction. Includes comments by WUSTL economics professor Steven Fazzari.

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Economists Duke It Out over Stimulus Plan
NPR Morning Edition

Jan. 5,
2009 -- Experts disagree on how to fix the economy. Advisers to President-elect Barack Obama are assembling a huge plan to stimulate the economy. Some experts doubt this is a good idea. David Kestenbaum talks with some experts, including WUSTL economics professor Steve Fazzari.

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Immigration raids may have aided unionization
Associated Press State & Local Wire
and 7 others

Jan. 2,
2009 -- Immigration raids that purged the world's largest pork slaughterhouse of illegal Hispanic workers may have made it ripe for unionization. Includes comments by WUSTL labor law expert Marion Crain.

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A wealth of ideas for Obama's stimulus program
Los Angeles Times

Dec. 1,
2008 -- The next president has yet to offer details of his economic stimulus plan. Its size and scope, and how he'll address housing and the auto industry, are up for debate. WUSTL economics professor Steven Fazzari comments.

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