In conjunction with the upcoming conference on the future of U.S. economic growth, the Cato Institute has organized a special online forum to explore possible avenues for pro-growth policy reforms. We have reached out to leading economists and policy experts and challenged them to answer the following question:
If you could wave a magic wand and make one or two policy or institutional changes to brighten the U.S. economy’s long-term growth prospects, what would you change and why?
Their responses will all be made available here. We will post a few new essays each day in the run-up to the conference.
Assembling this impressive roster of contributors was a lot of fun. I strove for real diversity in outlooks – diversity not only in ideological orientation but in specific domains of expertise as well. I did this for a couple reasons. First, the U.S. economy’s growth slowdown is a serious and underappreciated problem and I want to spread awareness of the challenges ahead as broadly as possible. My hope is that a diverse set of writers will attract a broad set of readers. Furthermore, the problem of improving long-term U.S. economic performance is incredibly complex: there are no silver bullets, so meaningful progress will take the form of policy reforms on a whole host of different fronts. It makes sense then to look for promising approaches from as many different angles as possible.
No doubt the participants in this forum disagree about a great deal, and you will likely disagree with some of their proposals. The point of this forum, though, is to look past this and search for surprising areas of convergence and agreement. Back in the 1970s, during another protracted period of poor economic performance, the wholesale elimination of damaging price and entry controls came about as a result of an unusual left-right coalition: don’t forget that Ted Kennedy and Ralph Nader were major supporters of airline and trucking deregulation. It is my hope that similar coalitions can emerge to lift us out of our current predicament.
With that said, here are the first four essays:
1. Arnold Kling proposes alternatives to the regulatory status quo at the FCC and FDA, respectively: a spectrum arbitration board and prize-grants for medical research.
2. Robert Litan calls for more high-skill immigration and higher pay for teachers in exchange for an end to tenure.
3. Douglas Holtz-Eakin provides an overview of structural reforms needed to reduce government debt levels and restore growth.
4. Lee Drutman argues that tripling the budget for congressional staff can lead to improved policymaking.
