The 2011 Bazzani Lecture in Public Affairs was held on February 24 at the Urbana-Champaign campus. Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin is former director of the Congressional Budget Office and is currently a commissioner on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. Dr. Holtz-Eakin delivered a lecture (click here to see video) on America’s most pressing concern: economic recovery.
Dr. Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum served as chief economist of the President's Council of Economic Advisers (2001-2002), and recently served as director of domestic and economic policy for the 2008 presidential campaign of John McCain. Dr. Holtz-Eakin discussed strategies to increase economic stability in order to improve America’s position as a global leader, and strengthen national security.
Dr. Holtz-Eakin said that after a traumatic economic period, growth has been extremely slow. In response, the government should focus on pro-growth strategies in all policymaking.
“Growth incentives should trump all other policy incentives,” Dr. Holtz-Eakin said, pointing to business as the only promising source of growth when compared to households, government, and exports.
However, Dr. Holtz-Eakin said that in order to have growth in the future, we must make sacrifices today. Dr. Holtz-Eakin said that controlling the deficit should be the United States' most urgent priority. He cited projections demonstrating that by 2020, the U.S. will still face a deficit in the trillions if the current budget is maintained. Rather than implement more of the same, Dr. Holtz-Eakin argued for a pro-growth investment strategy that would address the deficit by cutting spending. 
Dr. Holtz-Eakin’s plan includes cuts to federal programs across the board and long-term reforms:
- Social Security reform is the top priority, despite its political unpopularity
- New health care legislation must take a hard look at Medicare and Medicaid reform
- Defense must also be on the table for cuts
- Tax reform must first address the inequality between the payroll and income taxes, and second, alleviate multinational corporations from paying taxes on world-wide income, thereby opening markets for international trade
Dr. Holtz-Eakin said this plan will put us on a solid ground for inevitable competition with China and other growing economies. He said that multi-lateral negotiations are vital to maintaining stature in a global economy, and the only way to gain the respect of allies is to strengthen the nation’s economy by decreasing debt.
“I’ve always felt optimistic about America’s future,” Dr. Holtz-Eakin said, “we solve our problems. It might not be pretty, but I believe we will solve these self-inflicted problems with hard work.”
The 2011 lecture was co-sponsored by the Center for Business and Public Policy at the College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
