Fiscal consolidation will go too far if it pushes the economy towards a ?bad equilibrium? with high and growing fiscal deficits and debt, high risk premia on sovereign debt, slumping economic activity and plummeting confidence. In this paper we examine the possible conditions under which fiscal...

In this paper we develop a simple analytical framework to analyze “good” and “bad equilibria” in public-debt and growth dynamics. The “bad equilibrium” is characterised by the simultaneous occurrence, and adverse feedbacks between, high and growing fiscal deficits and debt, high risk...

Remarks before the Society of American Business Editors and Writers 2011 Annual Conference, Dallas, Texas, April 8, 2011 ; In the fall of 2006, I was asked to draw upon some 30 years of experience in Germany and speak at the American Academy in Berlin, addressing the question: “Is Germany’s...

Remarks before the Dallas Friday Group, Dallas, Texas, October 21, 2011 ; "Absent some shock, I envision a slow but steady improvement in the economy into 2012. That is, if our fiscal authorities will remove their stranglehold on clarifying fiscal initiatives. If not, then, in my view, I expect...

Remarks before the Dallas Friday Group, Dallas, Texas, October 21, 2011 ; "Absent some shock, I envision a slow but steady improvement in the economy into 2012. That is, if our fiscal authorities will remove their stranglehold on clarifying fiscal initiatives. If not, then, in my view, I expect...

Remarks before the Dallas Friday Group, Dallas, Texas, April 11, 2006 ; "Competition brings benefits to the public sector the same way it does the private sector. Because factors of production are increasingly mobile in an era of globalization, governments vie to gain and hold onto them. Mobile...

Remarks before the 2010 Pre-Session Legislative Conference, Austin, Texas, December, 2010 ; "With each passing year, Texas has consistently outperformed the rest of the nation in growing economic prosperity. Over the past three especially difficult years, the Texas economy has outperformed all...

"While it appears urgent, if not agreeable, to use massive public spending to stimulate an economy under duress, an economy cannot sustain long-term growth under the weight of significant fiscal burdens." ; Remarks before the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas, Texas, February...

Remarks before the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association Financial Institutions Conference, Irving, Texas, April 16, 2007 ; "Yes, we remain the biggest player on the global stage, but if we fail to get our fiscal house in order, we could bequeath our descendants unconscionable debt and slow...

Remarks to the 2007 Annual Conference of the Investment Adviser Association, Austin, Texas, April 26, 2007 ; "Many options would improve the fiscal fitness of our entitlement system and reduce the need for drastic action elsewhere in the federal budget. But let's be honest. These remedies work...