Here are my Tweets, in reverse chronological order, from the Presidential Economic Advisers Forum 2012, which took place at Columbia University here in New York tonight.
On hand were Mitt Romney’s Senior Economic Adviser, R. Glenn Hubbard, and Jeffrey Liebman, who holds that position under President Obama.
Columbia president Lee Bollinger made some introductory remarks. Reuters’s Chrystia Freeland moderated, and the panelists included Joseph Stiglitz, Sharyn O’Halloran, and Michael Woodford.
My overall impression: Both advisers were, naturally, measured in their remarks. Those familiar with the business and economics arguments involved in the presidential race probably won’t find much surprising here. But it may be interesting to see how the campaigns continue to frame the issues.
Oh, and go @macolumbiajourn biz/econ program. Last question, on corp tax rate, came from our very own @sameepa.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
That’s it, folks. Thanks for reading and RTing.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard: Romney will reduce size of gov’t. We can have defense, education, growth but we can’t have “exploding welfare state.”
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Closing statements: Liebman: Obama has saved auto industry, helped with homes, undertaken health care reform, enacted dream act.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Stiglitz: not sure who won debate but says it’s surprising how hard it is to pin down answers on how tax cuts would be paid for.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard on China trade rules and IP protection: tells Chinese leaders it’s not about their duty to us but about their duty to themselves.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman: Obama has been vocal: China needs to appreciate its currency. Has brought cases to WTO.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman: won’t comment on Fed but attacks don’t help. Hubbard: Fed has politicized itself but we do need cooling down of Fed discussions.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard to question from Stiglitz: tax cuts don’t pay for themselves but they create feedback on micro (household) level & raise growth.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard to Q from Sharyn O’Halloran: major problem with Dodd Frank is failure to address too big to fail.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman to Q from Michael Woodford on mortgage debt: prez has worked hard on this. Romney said we should’ve let market work itself out.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard, responding to question from Joseph Stiglitz on middle class: growth crucial; health care costs, education and training too.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard: if president reelected, would likely be divided House. Think we would run risk of going off fiscal cliff.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard: if Romney elected, likely scenario is unified house. Would tackle govt spending, entitlement reform, etc.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman: Obama wants bi-partisan budget deal. Also thinks we should have agreement not to use routine debt limit debates to play politics.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Glenn Hubbard vs Jeffrey Liebman. The economic advisors debate @columbia Low Memorial Library @columbiajourn twitter.com/sameepa/status…
— Sameepa Shetty (@sameepa) October 8, 2012
Also tweeting tonight about Hubbard vs. Liebman @columbia: @newley, @sameepa, @bykhadeeja, @columbiasocsci
— Annalyn Censky (@AnnCensky) October 8, 2012
Liebman: there is no justification for thinking Romney tax cuts will increase growth. Romney not being honest about how to pay for cuts.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman: Romney’s proposed $5 trillion in tax cuts can’t be paid for by eliminating tax credits, deductions, etc.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Liebman: recession was worst since Great Depression. Obama left with Bush tax cuts, spending on wars, prescription drug benefit.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard: structural problems include uncompetitive tax code, bad fiscal policy, short shrift to free trade, and more.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
Hubbard: this has been weakest recovery of last ten recessions. Obama misjudged character of downturn.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
2. I’ll be Tweeting interesting tidbits. Lots to discuss.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012
1. Am at Columbia U. forum w/ R. Glenn Hubbard, senior econ advisor to Mitt Romney, and Jeffrey Liebman, Obama’s senior econ adviser.
— Newley Purnell (@newley) October 8, 2012