The Romney Program for Economic Recovery, Growth, and Jobs

The U.S. economy has the talent, ideas, energy, and capital for the robust economic growth that has characterized much of Americaís postwar experience. Our living standards going forward, and the nation's standing as a world power, depend on restoring that growth and broadly shared prosperity.
 
We are presently in the most anemic economic recovery in the memory of most Americans, with significant joblessness and long-term unemployment, as well as lost income and savings. We are stuck in a low-growth trap following the 2007-2009 recession and financial crisis. The anemic job growth and tragically high unemployment are a consequence of that low-growth trap. The recent second quarter 2012 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimate of 1.5 percent, following 2 percent growth in the first quarter, makes a stark fact clear: The economy is not getting stronger, it's getting weaker.
 
Read more: The Romney Program for Economic Recovery, Growth, and Jobs

Q&A for Hubbard-Mayer Mortgage Refinancing Proposal

Professors Mayer and Hubbard's plan to lower mortgage rates will not only provide a sizeable economic stimulus but also stem the decline in house prices, protecting the government — and taxpayers — from future losses. “Fundamentally, our proposal is about restoring normally functioning credit markets,” says Mayer. (This is the FAQ for original Hubbard-Mayer proposal from 2008 )

Read more: Q&A for Hubbard-Mayer Mortgage Refinancing Proposal

Streamlined Refinancing for up to 30 Million Borrowers

Frictions in the mortgage market have restricted the ability of tens of millions of borrowers from refinancing their mortgages, hampering monetary policy, slowing the economic recovery, and leading to excessive numbers of foreclosures. We propose a streamlined refinancing program that may benefit up to 30 million borrowers with government-backed mortgages, leading to possible savings of $70 billion per year in lower mortgage payments. Below we describe the current barriers to refinancings, how our plan would overcome these barriers, and why this plan is in the interest of taxpayers, the GSEs, and other mortgage service providers. We also discuss possible critiques and implementation issues and how such issues can be addressed.

Read the paper "Streamlined Refinancings for up to 30 Million Borrowers- (pdf)

CBO Analysis Strengthens Case for Major Refinancing Program - (pdf)

Stimulation results supporting our policy estimates - (Excel)

Mortgage savings by state - (Excel)

Mortgage savings by Congressional District - (Excel)

Bridging Board Gaps - Report of the Study Group on Corporate Boards

Download a PDF of this paper "Bridging the Gaps - Report of the Study Group on Corporate Boards"


Letter from the Chairs:


Recent institutional failures, surrounded by general economic turmoil, once again sparked the familiar question: Where were the boards? Although the root causes of the financial crisis went well beyond governance, boards have been a focus of many reforms. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the Dodd-Frank Act), a 2,319-page law, required federal agencies to conduct 81 studies, submit 93 reports, and pass more than 500 rules – including rules directly impacting the boards of all public companies. But the new rules for public company boards are focused on board process. In addition, boards need a renewed focus on their aspirational purpose and guidance for achieving it. They need to recognize the gaps between governance ideals and governance realities – recognizing which gaps can be closed and which may continue, given the process and structure fundamental to our market’s operation.

To identify and address the most critical board gaps, we assembled a group of significant participants in the current governance system, including leaders from academia and the accounting and legal professions, as well as individuals who have led major corporations and boards. Our group also includes a former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, a former Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and of the Council of Economic Advisers, and the former general counsel of the SEC (serving ex officio). As a diverse group of leaders and experts, we sought to contribute to what we see as a continuing process of improvement in board practices and standards and director attitudes, while acknowledging that board work is an art as well as a science. Our Report aims to show how boards can fulfill their potential in various critical areas. After discussing dozens of general governance topics, we identified seven core problems. Then we drew solutions from the laboratory of real life, based on our own experience.

Our solutions are intended to be practical – new routines boards can adopt (and adapt) to improve the way they operate. We want to give boards a fighting chance to succeed. We hope to contribute to what we see as the gradual but positive improvement of board practices and standards and director attitudes. We hope that this Report will be a guide to boards, stakeholders, and policy makers in order to set rigorous yet realistic expectations for boards and for those who depend on them to deliver. We are grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for financial support for the Study Group.

Co-Chairs

Charles M. Elson, Edgar S.Woolard, Jr. Chair in Corporate Governance; and Director of the John L.Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware; Of Counsel, Holland & Knight, LLP

Glenn Hubbard, Dean and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School; and Professor of Economics, Columbia University

Vice-Chair

Frank Zarb, Senior Advisor, Hellman and Friedman; and Non-Executive Chairman, Promontory Financial Group

 

 

Cost Shifting From the Uninsured: Assessing the Evidence



By Glenn Hubbard, John F. Cogan, and Daniel P. Kessler


One of the most controversial provisions of the recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is the mandate on individuals to obtain insurance.  A basic premise behind the mandate is that privately insured individuals bear a large financial burden from health care services provided to the uninsured.  According to the premise, doctors and hospitals, by charging insured individuals systematically higher prices for health care services, shift the costs of treating the uninsured onto the insured.  These higher charges are manifested in higher health insurance premiums.  The core of the law's view that the mandate is a necessary and proper exercise of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution is that it reduces or eliminates this cost shift. 

Download a PDF of this paper "Cost Shifting From The Uninsured: Assessing the Evidence" by John F. Cogan, R. Glenn Hubbard, and Daniel P. Kessler [Adobe Acrobat PDF - 224.85 KB]