Global Financial Crisis Continues

Harvard Economists React

The following is a dynamic listing of the latest views and news from Harvard Economics Department Faculty regarding the crisis. Please bookmark this page and check back frequently for the very latest on the situation.

Professor	Media Source
Alberto Alesina, Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy	The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Let's Stimulate Private Risk Taking," January 21, 2009, co-authored with Luigi Zingales.
Robert Barro, Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics	The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Pandemics and Depressions," May 5, 2009. The Browser, "Robert Barro on Lessons of the Great Depression," May 3, 2009. CNBC, Fast Money, "History Reveals Odds of Recession Snowballing Into Depression," March 5, 2009. (video) The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "What are the Odds of a Depression?," March 4, 2009. The Atlantic, Business, "An interview with Robert Barro," February 5, 2009. The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Government Spending Is No Free Lunch," January 22, 2009.
John Campbell, Morton L. and Carole S. Olshan Professor of Economics	Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “Improving Resolution Options for Systemically Relevant Financial Institutions” October 26^th, 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “Regulation of Retirement Savings” July 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “Credit Default Swaps, Clearinghouses, and Exchanges” July 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “A Systemic Regulator for Financial Markets” May 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “An Expedited Resolution Mechanism for Distressed Financial Firms: Regulatory Hybrid Securities” April 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “Reforming Capital Requirements for Financial Institutions” April 2009. Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “A New Information Infrastructure for Financial Markets” February 2009
Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics	Financial Times, Opinion, "Why the renminbi has to rise to address imbalances," October 29, 2009. Denver Post, Opinion, "Cap and Trade: It's an economic catastrophe," June 21, 2009. Taipei Times, Editorials, "Improvements in the Economy are not sustainable," June 1, 2009. The Washington Post, Columns, "Cap-and-Trade: All Cost No Benefit," June 1, 2009. The Post Chronicle, Business News, "U.S. Recovery May Come in 2010," May 26, 2009. The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Tax Increases Could Kill the Recovery," May 14, 2009. The Star, Business, "Deflation doldrums?," May 2, 2009. Financial Times, Opinion, "Inflation is looming on America's horizon," April 19, 2009. Taipei Times, Editorials, "Fall in US household wealth likely to spur a long recession," March 3, 2009. The Washington Post, Opinion, "An $800 billion mistake," January 29, 2009. National Public Radio, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, "Feldstein on Our Economic Fix," January 26, 2009. Reuters, "Ex-NBER Feldstein: Recession may not end in 2009," January 4, 2009. CNBC, "Economy May Be Worse A Year From Now: Feldstein," January 2, 2009. The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Defense Spending Would Be Great Stimulus," December 23, 2008. Stabroek News, "Will the euro survive the current crisis?," November 26, 2008. (Printer friendly version) Salt Lake Tribune, "The stimulus plan we need, when we need it," November 3, 2008. The Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "The Stimulus Plan We Need Now," October 30, 2008. National Public Television, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, "World Leaders Pledge Aid to Curb Financial Turmoil," October 13, 2008. (video) (text version) Bloomberg, "Feldstein says U.S. Recession to Be Longer Than Usual," October 8, 2008. (video) The Wall Street Journal, "The Problem Is Still Falling House Prices," October 4, 2008. Ha'aretz, "Where the spiral might lead," October 3, 2008. (Printer friendly version) Project Syndicate, "America's Problems Run Deeper than Wall Street."
Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics	The New York Times, Economix, "A Failure of Regulation, Not Capitalism," June 9, 2009. The Boston Globe, Opinion, "The problem with bailouts," June 5, 2009. The Boston Globe, Opinion, "Building walls with US trading partners," March 6, 2009. The New York Times, Economix, "The Big Three? Try the Small Many," March 3, 2009. The New York Times, Economix, "Killing (or Maiming) a Sacred Cow: Home Mortgage Deductions," February 24, 2009. The New York Times, Economix,"If You Got Money, It's Time to Spend Some," February 17, 2009. The New York Times, Economix, "Subsidizing Home Buying: Could Be Worse," February 10, 2009. Boston Globe, Opinion, "Infrastructure needs bill of its own," February 6, 2009. The Boston Globe, Opinion, "Who should get the federal stimulus funds," January 5, 2009. Glaeser, Edward L. and Joseph Gyourko, The New York Times, Economix, "Two Ways to Revamp U.S. Housing Policy," December 16, 2008. The Boston Globe, Opinion, "New lending deals won't bring back 2006," December 5, 2008. The New York Times, Economix, "First Bankruptcy, and Then a Possible Bailout," November 19, 2008. The Boston Globe, Ideas, "This old house policy," November 2, 2008. Glaeser, Edward L. and Gyourko, Joseph (2008) "The Case against Housing Price Supports," The Economists' Voice: Vol. 5 : Iss. 6, Article 3. The New York Times, Economix, "Beter, Not Just More, Regulation," October 28, 2008. The New York Times, Economix, "Why We Should Let Housing Prices Keep Falling," October 7, 2008. The New York Times, Economix, "Housing Prices in the Three Americas," September 30, 2008. The New York Times, Economix, "Where Are Home Prices Headed? (Or: What Are Those "Bad" Mortgages Treasury Wants to By Actually Worth?)," September 23, 2008.
Claudia Goldin, Henry Lee Professor of Economics	NPR- WBUR, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, "The Wealth Gap After the Crash," March 9, 2009.(Audio file) WBUR, Here and Now, "Unemployment Figures," December 30, 2008. (Audio file)
Oliver Hart, Andrew E. Furer Professor of Economics	Wall Street Journal, Opinion, "Economists Have Abandoned Principle," December 3, 2008. NECN, "What if the Senate does not pass the plan?," October 2, 2008. (Video) France 24, "How to Spend $700 billion," October 1, 2008. NECN, "Economists urge lawmakers to slow down," September 26, 2008. (Video)
Dale Jorgenson, Samuel W. Morris University Professor	The Wall Street Journal, Real Time Economics, "Productivity Paradox Result of Freaked Out Economy," February 5, 2009. (quoted in article) NECN, "Summing up the economic year of 2008," December 31, 2008. (quoted in story) Newsweek, "All that Money You've Lost--Where did it go?," October 11, 2008. (Printer friendly version)
Lawrence Katz, Elizabeth Allison Professor of Economics	NPR- WBUR, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, "The Wealth Gap After the Crash," March 9, 2009.(Audio file) WBUR, Here and Now, "Unemployment Figures," December 30, 2008. (Audio file)
David Laibson, Harvard College Professor, Robert I. Goldman Professor of Economics	Bennet, Drake, Boston Globe, Paradigm Lost, December 21, 2008. (Quoted in article)
Gregory Mankiw, Robert M. Beren Professor of Economics	The New York Times, Economic View, "That Freshman Course Won't Quite Be the Same," May 23, 2009. The New York Times, Economic View, "It May Be Time for the Fed to Go Negative," April 18, 2009. The Washington Post, Opinion, "Soaking the Rich?," March 8, 2009. (One of the opinions) The New York Times, Economic View, "It's No Time for Protectionism," February 7, 2009. The New York Times, Opinion, "Questions for Mr. Geithner," January 20, 2009. (Asked one of the questions) National Public Radio, Fresh Air from WHYY, "A Critical View Of Increased Government Spending," January 13, 2009. The New York Times, Economic View, "Is Government Spending Too Easy an Answer?," January 10, 2009. The New York Times, Economic View, "What Would Keynes Have Done?," November 28, 2008. The New York Times, Economic View, "But Have We Learned Enough?," October 25, 2008. Greg Mankiw's Blog: Random Observations for Students of Economics
Jeffrey Miron, Senior Lecturer on Economic	RealClearPolitics, "The Case for Doing Nothing," July 10, 2009. Reason.tv, "Jeffrey Miron on The Financial Crisis and The Case For Doing Nothing," April 27, 2009 (podcast) Harvard International Review (Winter 2009), "Path to Recovery," Vol. 30 (4). CNN, "Commentary: Bailing out homeowners is a mistake," March 2, 2009. WBZ Channel 38 News, "Stimulus Plan Will Do More Harm Than Good," February 16, 2009. (Video link of featured story) The New York Times, Opinion: Room for Debate, "Geithner's Multitrillion Dollar Bailout: The Receivership Option," February 10, 2009. The Reason.com, "Economic Change We Can Believe In," February 6, 2009. CNN, "Cut taxes, don't raise spending," December 30, 2008. CNN, "Why this bailout is as bad as the last one," October 14, 2008. New York Post, "Infusions for Ailing Banks in Rescue Revamp," October 11, 2008. (Printer friendly version) CNN, "Commentary: Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer," September 29, 2008. NECN, "Collapse of the bailout," September 29, 2008. (Video)
Kenneth Rogoff, Thomas D. Cabott Professor of Public Policy	PBS Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Paul Solmon reports, Arrogance and Ignorance Recurring in Economic History (podcast), (full program, Report begins 27:26), November 2, 2009 National Public Radio, On Point with Tom Ashbrook, Fixing Too Big To Fail (podcast), November 2, 2009 Canadian Broadcasting Company, The Current, Comparison with the Crash of 1929 and Other Deep Financial Crises (podcast), October 29, 2009 Bloomberg News, Tom Keene interviews Ken Rogoff and Niall Ferguson on their recent books and the global economy, October 28, 2009 BBC World Service, Newshour, Interview on Banking Reform (starts at 14:00 mins.), October 26, 2009 American Public Media and NPR, Marketplace, Interview on This Time Is Different with Kenneth Rogoff (starts at 8:30 mins.), October 19, 2009 Danish TV, Deadline, Debate between Joseph Stiglitz and Kenneth Rogoff on the Financial Crisis (starts at 11:36 mins.), October 10, 2009 Financial Times, Review by Martin Wolf, This Time Will Never Be Different (pdf), September 28, 2009 CNBC News, WSJ Report with Maria Bartiromo, Discussion of THIS TIME IS DIFFERENT: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, September 25, 2009 National Public Radio, All Things Considered, President's Comments on Economy Examined (podcast), September 14, 2009 The Economist, What If Lehman Had Not Failed? (pdf), (Economics Focus), September 10, 2009 Financial Times, Why We Need to Regulate the Banks Sooner, Not Later (pdf), August 18, 2009 PBS, Nightly Business Report with Susie Gharib, Analysis on Outlook for the Economy (starts at 5:42 mins.), August 10, 2009 National Public Radio, Morning Edition, Will U.S. Move Towards European Capitalism (podcast), August 3, 2009 Project Syndicate, The Confidence Game (pdf), August 2009 National Public Radio, Morning Edition, G-8 Summit Picks Up Where G-20 Left Off, July 8, 2009 Project Syndicate, Will Europe's Economies Regain their Footing? (pdf), July 2009 National Public Radio, On Point, Re-Regulating Financial Markets, June 18, 2009 CNBC News, Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo, Bank Stability and Oil's Run, June 12, 2009 Project Syndicate, Rebalancing the US-China Economic Relationship (pdf), June 2009 Boston Globe, Business, "Stop the financial bleeding," May 19, 2009. ABC, Good Morning America, Bank Profits and the Recovery, April 18, 2009 Newsweek, Don't Buy the Chirpy Forecasts (pdf), from issue dated March 30, 2009 Public Radio International, The World, Geithner Plan for Financial Overhaul (podcast), March 26, 2009 CBS Evening News, The True Costs of Recovery, March 19, 2009 Public Radio International, The World, More Anger Directed at AIG (podcast), March 17, 2009 National Public Radio, On Point, G-20 to the Rescue (podcast), March 16, 2009 National Public Television, NOW with David Brancaccio, Previewing the Superpower Summit, March 13, 2009 Project Syndicate, "What is the Deficit Endgame," March 2009. National Public Radio, All Things Considered, Examining if Banks Are Too Big to Fail, March 9, 2009 BBC Radio, Newshour (podcast), Evaluating the Stimulus and Bank Bailout Plans, February 11, 2009 National Public Television, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Will the Rescue Plan Work? (podcast), February 10, 2009 BBC, HARDTalk, Nationalization, Trade Protectionism and the Global Financial Crisis, February 9, 2009 Wall Street Journal, Op Ed, What Other Financial Crises Tell Us (pdf) (with Carmen Reinhart), February 3 2009 New York Times Blogs, Davos World Economic Forum, The Exuberance of India, The Global Credit Drought, Cautiously Pessimistic, January 2009 National Public Television, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Banking Sector, Bailout Reform, May Top Obama Agenda (podcast), January 21, 2009 National Public Radio, Planet Money, Are Any Countries Benefitting from the Financial Crisis? (podcast), January 16, 2009 National Public Radio, Morning Edition, Money Mystery: Who's Holding U.S. Currency?, January 9, 2009 Bloomberg News, Night Talk with Mike Schneider, World May Be in Worse Recession since WWII, January 8, 2009 The Economist, Drastic Times (Economics Focus), January 8, 2009 pdf For earlier articles, please see Ken Rogoff's home page.
Jeremy Stein, Moise Y. Safra Professor of Economics	Squam Lake Working Group on Financial Regulation, “Improving Resolution Options for Systemically Relevant Financial Institutions,” October 26^th, 2009 Mihm, Stephen, The New York Times, Magazine, "Capital Insurance," December 12, 2008. Quotes Professor Jeremy Stein. The New York Times, Opinion, "This Bailout Doesn't Pay Dividends," October 20, 2008. WNYC Radio, The Brian Lehrer Show, "Going Global," October 10, 2008. WBZ News Radio, "Making the case for patience on the bailout." Bloomberg, "Harvard's Stein Says Fed Shares Blame for Credit Crisis," September 29, 2008. (Video) The New York Times, Opinion, "The $700 Billion Question," September 22, 2008.
Lawrence Summers, Charles W. Eliot University Professor	The Washington Post, Op-Ed, "A New Financial Foundation," (with Timothy Geithner) June 15, 2009. NECN, Business, "Larry Summers addresses Boston business leaders," October 30, 2008. (video) The Financial Times, "The pendulum swings towards regulation," October 26, 2008. The Financial Times, "The 700bn bail-out and the budget," September 28, 2008.

Harvard Affiliated Opinions:

Glen Weyl,
junior fellow in the Harvard Society
of Fellows at Harvard University and
post-doctoral fellow in Harvard's Department
of Economics

The Huffington Post, "Put the Bankers Back to Work," February 5, 2009.

The Boston Globe, Opinion, "Financial guidance from FDA," December 3, 2008.

General:
Harvard Crimson, "Economics Professors Split on Stimulus," February 17, 2009.
The New York Times, "In a Weak Climate, the dollar has surprising muscle," October 5, 2008
Harvard Crimson, "Experts attempt to parse the 'crisis in the markets'," October 2, 2008
USA Today, "Economists' forecasts get gloomier, predict more rate cuts," September 29, 2008
Harvard University Webcast, "Understanding the Crisis in the Markets: A Panel of Harvard Experts," September 25, 2008
Harvard Crimson, "Economics Professors Lament Financial Crisis," September 22, 2008
The New York Times, Business- Economic Scene, "Perhaps, It's Time to Play Offense," September 16, 2008.