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The Making of Economic Policy in the White House

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The Making of Economic Policy in the White House The Making of Economic Policy in the White House Spring 2020 Simon Bowmaker Tuesdays and Thursdays [email protected] 11:00 am - 12:15 pm Office: KMEC 8-58 Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Telephone: (212) 998-0478 Course Description This course shows students how economic policy gets made, and should get made, at the highest levels of federal government. It draws upon almost fifty years of economic policymaking, and the challenges that have confronted the men and women who have sat in positions of power in the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Economic Advisers, and the National Economic Council. These challenges include the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system and the transition to a predominantly floating exchange rate world, the era of rampant inflation, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to market economies, the shock of 9/11, the financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that followed, as well as the trade war of 2018/2019. Lectures and discussions will lead to in-class exercises, in which students will role-play as advisors to US presidents. What is it like to sit in the Oval Office and discuss policy with the president? To know that your input into his decisions will impact millions of people? To know that the wrong advice could be calamitous? Students will learn how to analyze policy problems and design solutions, taking into account the multi-dimensional aspects of making federal policy and the many constraints upon those decisions, including those of Congress. As part of the learning process, students will also have the opportunity to hear from guest speakers who have worked at the very top of economic policymaking in the executive branch of government. Pre-requisites Microeconomics Economics of Global Business Reading Simon W. Bowmaker, When the President Calls: Conversations with Economic Policymakers, MIT Press (2019) The schedule below also contains additional recommended readings to supplement this text. Assessment Class participation: 35% Midterm: 40% Group role play: 25% Course Website I will maintain a website for the course using NYU Classes. The website will include announcements and downloadable files with the class lectures. Classroom Norms Laptops, cell phones, Smartphones and other electronic devices are a disturbance to both students and professors. All electronic devices must be turned off prior to the start of each class meeting. Moreover, all electronic devices must be out of sight when we have a guest speaker in class. Class participation I strongly encourage students to participate in class by answering questions that I pose and by posing questions of their own. In the evaluation, quality is more important than quantity. In addition, the evaluation of class participation could be affected adversely by lack of attendance or creating negative classroom externalities (see Classroom Norms above). Ethical Guidelines All students are expected to follow the Stern Code of Conduct: (http://www.stern.nyu.edu/uc/codeofconduct) A student’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. A duty to acknowledge the work and efforts of others when submitting work as one’s own. Ideas, data, direct quotations, paraphrasing, creative expression, or any other incorporation of the work of others must be clearly referenced. 2. A duty to exercise the utmost integrity when preparing for and completing examinations, including an obligation to report any observed violations. Students with Disabilities Students whose class performance may be affected due to a disability should notify me immediately so that arrangements can be made in consultation with the Henry and Lucy Moses Center for Students with Disabilities http://www.nyu.edu/csd/ to accommodate their needs. Course Schedule and Readings (to be completed before class) Tuesday, January 28: Introduction Bowmaker, Simon W. (2019), ‘Introduction,’ When the President Calls: Conversations with Economic Policymakers, MIT Press, pp. 1-6. Thursday, January 30: The Presidential Establishment Brianne Gorod (2019), ‘The Need for Congressional Oversight Goes Far Beyond Impeachment,’ The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/future-congressional-oversight-risk/598996/ Tuesday, February 4: The Treasury, CEA, OMB, and NEC Porter, Roger B. (1997), ‘Presidents and Economists: The Council of Economic Advisers,’ American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 87, No. 2 (May), pp. 103-106. Porter, Roger B. (2017), Remarks from “The Council of Economic Advisers: 70 years of advising the president.” https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/remarks-from-the-council-of-economic-advisers-70-years- of-advising-the-president/ Thursday, February 6: The Evolution of the American Presidency John Dickerson (2018), ‘The hardest job in the world,’ The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/05/a-broken-office/556883/ Tuesday, February 11: Guest Speaker (Brad Setser) Brad W. Setser is the Steven A. Tananbaum senior fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise includes macroeconomics, global capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis, sovereign debt restructuring, and the management of financial crises. Dr. Setser served as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the U.S. Treasury from 2011 to 2015, where he worked on Europe’s financial crisis, currency policy, financial sanctions, commodity shocks, and Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. He was previously the director for international economics, serving jointly on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. Dr. Setser was an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in 2003, and a fellow from 2007 to 2009. He also has been the director of global research for Roubini Global Economics and a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund. He holds a BA from Harvard University, a master’s from Sciences-Po, and an MA and PhD in international relations from Oxford University. Thursday, February 13: The Presidency of Richard Nixon Bowmaker, Simon W. (2019), ‘Richard Nixon Administration,’ When the President Calls: Conversations with Economic Policymakers, MIT Press, pp. 9-39. McCracken, Paul W. (1996), ‘Economic Policy in the Nixon Years,’ Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 165-177. Tuesday, February 18: The Presidency of Gerald Ford Bowmaker, Simon W. (2019), ‘Gerald Ford Administration,’ When the President Calls: Conversations with Economic Policymakers, MIT Press, pp. 41-57. Moran, Andrew D. (2011), ‘More than a Caretaker: The Economic Policy of Gerald R. Ford,’ Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 39-63. Thursday, February 20: Guest Speaker (Amias Gerety) Amias Gerety is a Partner at QED Investors. Most recently, he served as President Obama’s nominee and as Acting Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the Department of the Treasury. In that role, he was the lead advisor to the Secretary on policies affecting financial institutions. He also oversaw a number of programs focused on supporting small business lending and community development. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Financial Stability Oversight Council, an interagency group of financial regulators charged with monitoring and mitigating potential threats to financial stability. Prior to his eight-year career at the Treasury, Mr. Gerety was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman. He also served in a number of policy roles and worked in East Africa for Save the Children. Mr. Gerety is a recipient of the Alexander Hamilton award, the Treasury’s highest honor. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University with a BA in Social Studies. Tuesday, February 25: Role Play (Nixon and Ford) Thursday, February 27: The Presidency of Jimmy Carter Bowmaker, Simon W. (2019), ‘Jimmy Carter Administration,’ When the President Calls: Conversations with Economic Policymakers, MIT Press, pp. 59-111. Tuesday, March 3: Guest Speaker (Steve Hanke) Steve H. Hanke is a Professor of Applied Economics at The Johns Hopkins University. He is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Troubled Currencies Project at the Cato Institute, a Senior Advisor at the Renmin University of China’s International Monetary Research Institute in Beijing, a Special Counselor to the Center for Financial Stability in New York, a contributing editor at Central Banking in London, and a contributor at Forbes. In the past, Professor Hanke taught economics at the Colorado School of Mines and at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as a Member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisers in Maryland in 1976 – 77, as a Senior Economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers in 1981 – 82, and as a Senior Advisor to the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress in 1984 – 88. Professor Hanke served as a State Counselor to both the Republic of Lithuania in 1994 – 96 and the Republic of Montenegro in 1999 – 2003. He was also an Advisor to the Presidents of Bulgaria in 1997 – 2002, Venezuela in 1995 – 96, and Indonesia in 1998. He played an important role in establishing new currency regimes in Argentina, Estonia, Bulgaria, Bosnia‐Herzegovina, Ecuador, Lithuania, and Montenegro. Professor Hanke has also held senior appointments in the governments of many other countries, including Albania, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates, and Yugoslavia. Thursday, March 5: Guest Speakers (David Kamin and Michael Pyle) David Kamin is Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. His scholarship focuses on budget and tax policy. Prior to joining NYU, Kamin worked in President Obama’s administration from 2009 to 2012. There, he served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy at the White House, working to coordinate tax and budget policy. Prior to that, Professor Kamin worked as special assistant, and later adviser, to the Director of the US Office of Management and Budget. He has also worked at the Committee for Economic Development and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, focusing on deficit projections, tax legislation and social security reform in those positions.
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