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Prospects for the US Economy
OECD Economic Survey of the United States, 2005
Moderator:
Representative Jim Kolbe, (R-AZ),
US House of Representatives |
Presentation:
Jean-Philippe Cotis, Chief Economist and Head of the OECD Economics Department
Discussant:
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director, Congressional Budget Office
The event took place on Thursday, October 27, 2005
8:30 AM Registration - 9.00-10.00 AM Presentation
Capitol Hill Club,
Capitol Room, 300 First Street, SE,
Washington, DC 20003,
(202) 484-4590
Jean-Philippe Cotis, Chief Economist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), travelled to Washington DC on October 27, 2005 to unveil the OECD Economic Survey of the United States, 2005.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, was present to offer commentary on the survey.
Mr. Cotis presented the OECD's assessment of the US economic performance in a global perspective and discussed growth prospects and the challenges ahead. They was also offer a number of policy recommendations in various areas such as tax reform, public finances and labor market policies.
A Note on the OECD Economic Surveys
Every 12 to 18 months, the OECD publishes an Economic Survey of each Member country. This Survey is published on the responsibility of the OECD's Economic and Development Review Committee (EDRC), and as such, represents the consensus of all OECD Member countries. In the process of preparing the US survey, which is the responsibility of the OECD Secretariat, a delegation visits the United States to hold talks with senior officials and experts. This visit includes meetings with the Council of Economic Advisers, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve Board, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and several private think tanks. Topics discussed during those talks include challenges for monetary and fiscal policy as well as structural policies such as health system reform, education, or competition policy.
Representative Jim Kolbe is serving his eleventh term in the United States House of Representatives. He was first sworn into Congress in 1985, becoming the first Republican to represent southern Arizona since statehood. He represents the people of Arizona's Eighth Congressional District, which includes most of Tucson, eastern Pima County, all of Cochise County and parts of Pinal and Santa Cruz Counties.
Representative Kolbe is one of eight Members of Congress from Arizona and ranks 57th in seniority in the House. Representative Kolbe is the acknowledged Republican leader for free trade and open markets, an impassioned advocate of Social Security reform including the creation of personal accounts, a leader and proponent of immigration reform and strengthening border security, and a fierce proponent of smaller government, lower taxes and more individual responsibility.
Jean-Philippe Cotis is currently Chief Economist and Head of the Economics Department at the OECD in Paris. Previously Director of the Economics Department at the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry since 1997, Mr. Cotis joined the Ministry in 1982 after graduating from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA). He held the position of Economic Advisor to the Minister in 1993-1994. Mr. Cotis was also an economist at the IMF from 1986 to 1988.
During his career, Mr. Cotis has frequently worked with international institutions. He was formerly chair of the Economic Policy Committee of the European Union (2001-2002) and of OECD’s Working Party No.1. Mr. Cotis' research work has mainly concerned labour markets, macroeconomic policies and taxation. He has had various teaching assignments, including the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, Paris I Sorbonne, ESSEC, Ecole des Mines and Harvard (Kennedy School of Government).
Douglas Holtz-Eakin is the sixth Director of the Congressional Budget Office, where he was appointed for a four-year term beginning February 4, 2003. Dr. Holtz-Eakin previously served for 18 months as Chief Economist for the President's Council of Economic Advisers, where he also served as Senior Staff Economist in 1989 and 1990. Dr. Holtz-Eakin is Trustee Professor of Economics at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, where he has served as Chairman of the Department of Economics and Associate Director of the Center for Policy Research. He also has served as editor of the National Tax Journal, associate editor of the Journal of Human Resources, and as a member of the editorial board for Public Budgeting & Finance, Economics and Politics, Journal of Sports Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and Public Works Management and Policy.
In the past, he has held academic appointments at Columbia University and Princeton University. Since 1985, he has been a faculty research fellow and research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Dr. Holtz-Eakin has a long-standing and broad interest in the economics of public policy. He has studied the role of federal taxes in home ownership, the contribution of inventories to the business cycle, and a wide variety of topics in state and local government finance. Much of his research has centered on the economics of fundamental tax reform, productivity effects of public infrastructure; income mobility in the United States; and the role of families, capital markets, health insurance, and tax policy in the start-up and survival of entrepreneurial ventures.
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