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News from 110 New York Economists . . . . |
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Over 110 economists from throughout New York state say Lazio tax cut proposals are economically and socially irresponsible, jeopardizing Social Security and Medicare. Here is the full statement, followed by a list of the economists who have endorsed it.
ECONOMISTS’ STATEMENT OPPOSING THE LAZIO TAX PROPOSAL Several weeks ago, eight Nobel laureates and over 300 other economists issued a public statement opposing the large-scale tax cuts that are the centerpiece of presidential candidate George W. Bush’s economic proposals. We, the undersigned, as economists who live and/or work in New York State, believe that it is necessary to point out that the tax cuts that have been proposed by senatorial candidate Rick Lazio are similarly flawed. While the Lazio and Bush plans differ in a number of their specifics, they share the following shortcomings: First, the cost of the Lazio tax cuts, combined with his proposed spending increases, would more than exhaust the portions of the projected federal budget surplus that are not attributable to, and needed for the long term solvency of, Social Security and Medicare. Second, like any long-term economic projection, estimates of sustained budgetary surpluses over the next ten years are at best educated guesses. Should projected surpluses fail to materialize, Lazio’s tax cuts would risk returning us to the era of running chronic deficits to meet routine operating expenses of the federal government. It would seriously reduce the capacity of the federal government to maintain future Social Security and Medicare benefits. Third, a large tax cut is the wrong priority. Even after a decade of solid economic growth, important public needs remain to be met. These include investment in education, health care, basic research, and other areas essential for long-term prosperity and social well-being. Rick Lazio's tax cut would leave little room for such investments. Fourth, Lazio's proposals would shift after-tax income to high-income persons who have already gained the most from the current economic boom. These additional tax benefits for the wealthy would come at the expense of middle- and low-income Americans. Targeting the surplus to these families as proposed by Hillary Clinton makes more sense. The prospect of a sustained budget surplus – should it materialize – provides America with the opportunity to invest in its future and to help more of its citizens participate in prosperity. To waste that opportunity with this tax scheme would be economically and socially irresponsible.
List of Economists Endorsing Statement, as of October 28 Affiliations provided for identification purposes only.
David Andrews HAMILTON COLLEGE Said Atri SUNY OSWEGO Hamid Azari SUNY NEW PALTZ Christopher B. Barrett CORNELL UNIVERSITY Sandra Baum SKIDMORE COLLEGE William Baumol NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Lourdes Beneria CORNELL UNIVERSITY Peter Birckmayer SUNY EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE Theodore F. Byrley SUNY BUFFALO STATE Mariam K. Chamberlain NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN J. Dennis Chasse SUNY BROCKPORT Howard Chernick HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY Robert Cherry BROOKLYN COLLEGE, CUNY Paul Christensen HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Ken Christiansen ITHACA COLLEGE and BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, SUNY Clifford D. Clark BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, SUNY Doug Criscitello ( Former Director, NYC Independent Budget Office) Jayne Dean WAGNER COLLEGE Gregory DeFreitas HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Thomas DelGiudice SUNY OLD WESTBURY Padma Desai COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Ranjit S. Dighe SUNY OSWEGO Romesh Diwan RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE Matthew P. Drennan CORNELL UNIVERSITY William D. Duncombe SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Debra S. Dwyer SUNY STONY BROOK Linda N. Edwards CUNY GRADUATE CENTER Joseph G. Eisenhauer CANISIUS COLLEGE Marianne C. Fahs NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY Massoud Fazeli HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Gary Fields CORNELL UNIVERSITY Judith Fields LEHMAN COLLEGE, CUNY Frederick G. Floss SUNY BUFFALO STATE Harold O. Fried UNION COLLEGE Alan Frishman HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES William Ganley SUNY BUFFALO STATE Irv Garfinkel COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Christophre Georges HAMILTON COLLEGE Helen Lachs Ginsburg BROOKLYN COLLEGE, CUNY William Goldsmith CORNELL UNIVERSITY Ulla Grapard COLGATE UNIVERSITY Robert Guttman HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Mitchell Harwitz UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SUNY Curtis Haynes SUNY BUFFALO STATE Robert Heilbroner NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY Joan Hoffman JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE, CUNY Elizabeth Holtzman HERRICK FEINSTEIN (Former NYC Comptroller) David Howell NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY Vedit Inal HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Joseph Jamison NYS AFL - CIO Bernard Jump, Jr SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Alfred E. Kahn CORNELL UNIVERSITY John Kane SUNY OSWEGO Lawrence Jay Kaplan JOHN JAY COLLEGE, CUNY Christopher Kilby VASSAR COLLEGE Terrence Kinai UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY J. Douglass Klein UNION COLLEGE Tim Koechlin SKIDMORE COLLEGE Edward C. Kokkelenberg BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY< SUNY Doug Koritz SUNY BUFFALO STATE Nicholas K. Kozlov HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Mark Levinson UNITE Irene Lurie UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY Malgosia Madajewicz COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Christopher Magee BARD COLLEGE Larry Malone HARTWICK COLLEGE Jay Mandle COLGATE UNIVERSITY Frank Mauro FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE Roberto Mazzoleni HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Alan K. McAdams CORNELL UNIVERSITY Patrick A. McGuire HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES Martin Melkonian HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Jo Beth Mertens HOBART AND WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES Thomas Michl UNION COLLEGE and COLGATE UNIVERSITY Jerry Miner SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Fatemeh Moghadam HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Simin Mozayeni SUNY NEW PALTZ Thomas Muench SUNY STONY BROOK Charlotte Muller CUNY GRADUATE CENTER Bill Mulrow GABELLI ASSET MANAGEMENT Edward Nell NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY Dick Netzer NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Egon Neuberger SUNY STONY BROOK Carol O’Cleireacain BROOKINGS INSTITUTION William O'Dea SUNY ONEONTA Mehmet Odekon SKIDMORE COLLEGE James Parrott FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE Steve Pendleton SUNY BUFFALO STATE Kenneth R. Peres COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICA Alex Ratkowski SUNY BUFFALO STATE Cordelia Reimers HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY Trudi Renwick FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE Carl Riskin QUEENS COLLEGE, CUNY Leonard Rodberg QUEENS COLLEGE, CUNY Jean-Paul Rodrique HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY Elizabeth Roistacher QUEENS COLLEGE, CUNY Sumner Rosen COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Roy Rotheim SKIDMORE COLLEGE Sid Saltzman CORNELL UNIVERSITY Amin Sarkar SUNY FREDONIA Michael Schleifer HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY Amy Ellen Schwartz NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Elliott Sclar COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Anwar Shaikh NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY Richard Shirey SIENA COLLEGE Timothy Smeeding SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY David Sturges COLGATE UNIVERSITY William Tabb QUEENS COLLEGE, CUNY Jill Tiefenthaler COLGATE UNIVERSITY Marc Tomljanovich COLGATE UNIVERSITY Christina Trees SUNY COBLESKILL Scott Trees SIENA COLLEGE A. Dale Tussing SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Ashok Vora BARUCH COLLEGE, CUNY Shaianne T. Osterreich Warner ITHACA COLLEGE Stephen Walsh SUNY ONEONTA Stanislaw Wellisz COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY James Wyckoff UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY, SUNY Michael Zweig SUNY STONY BROOK
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