‘’It’s the Economy Stupid!”A Study Group led by IOP Fellow Nina Easton Tuesday, 4-5:30, FDR
In 1992-when those words were famously etched on the Clinton campaign wall – an election defined by economic distress led to the defeat of a formerly popular incumbent president˳ In 2012, a presidential election is again being fought through the prism of a struggling economy˳ What’s different this time around? What are the similarities to 1992 and previous elections—including 1980 and 2008-where the economy played a major role?
FORTUNE senior editor, author and TV analyst Nina Easton will guide students through a discussion of how economic trends are both driving the shape of the Democratic and Republican campaigns at the presidential level—and affecting voters’ views˳ This will be an especially exciting group because we will be able to analyze the election in real time—as it’s happening—and then turn to insider expertise to provide insights post-Election Day 2012˳ Prominent guests from both parties will speak, with special access to insiders from the Romney campaign˳
Sept˳ 25: Students know Greg Mankiw for Ec10, but he is also top economic adviser to Mitt Romney and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bush˳ Mankiw will walk us through his views on how to jump-start the economy—and give students a glimpse of life inside the inner sanctum of both the White House and presidential campaigns˳
Oct˳ 2: No class
Oct˳ 9: Wall Street – two words that loom large in today’s conflict-ridden political culture˳ Greg Baer is at the center of that conflict as the man in Washington for JP Morgan Chase, and, before that, BankAmerica˳ A former Clinton official, he brings a wry politico’s sensibility to his job˳ Find out what Wall Street really thinks of the White House and members of Congress˳ Go behind the scenes with Jamie Dimon’s right hand in a talk that will bring to life all those pitched political battles over controlling the nation’s banks˳
Oct˳ 16: (Presidential debate night) Not since the Depression has a President been re-elected with unemployment over 8 percent˳ But this presidential race is too close to call, suggesting more complicated factors at work˳ On the afternoon of the presidential town hall debate, veteran GOP pollster Bill McInturff, co-producer of the legendary NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, goes inside the numbers, with a deep (and historical) look at American public opinion four years after an economic collapse˳
Oct˳ 23: Elaine Kamarck, a founder of the New Democrat movement that helped elect Bill Clinton in 1992 and Al Gore’s right hand in 2000, tells the inside story of those two campaigns—and the role that the economy played˳ In the White House during the 1990s, she led the effort to reinvent and streamline government, and brings a veteran’s perspective to today’s efforts to control federal spending˳
Oct˳ 30: In 2007, when most thought the economy was doing fine, global financial guru David Smick was writing a book filled with warning signs: The World is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy˳ Smick will take students on a hard-headed tour of today’s global economy: How bad is it, really? The founder of International Economy magazine travels in a world of governmental leaders and central bankers, and intimately understands both the potential—and the limits—of political leadership˳
Nov˳ 6 ELECTION DAY Pre-election analysis from Larry Summers, architect of President Obama’s economic policies and Clinton Treasury Secretary during the 2000 election (and former Harvard president)˳ Summers will treat students to a candid insider’s view of the struggles between White House economic decision-making—and political reality˳
Nov˳ 13: With the election behind, Congress now faces a “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts that could crash the economy˳ We’ve invited senators at the center of this crisis to explain the hard choices—and what Congress is likely to do˳
Nov˳ 20 & 27: TBD
