More Events

OECD Congressional Seminar:
US Economic Outlook

Tuesday, December 9 2008
9:00AM-12:00PM
*Change of Location*
2322 Rayburn House Office Building

While the series is free of charge, space is limited. 
We ask you to please register by Monday, December 8.

Event Description:

The up-coming 2008 edition of the OECD's periodic survey of the US economy assesses recent economic developments and examines challenges the US faces including a special chapter devoted to its healthcare system. This seminar offers one panel discussion to present the macroeconomic analysis of the US economy and a second panel discussion focusing on the US healthcare system.

Session One: Overcoming the Financial Crisis
9:00-10:00am
  
Moderator:
Pier Carlo Padoan, Deputy-Secretary General, OECD
Presentation:
Robert Ford, Deputy Director, OECD Country Studies
Panelists:
Donald Marron, Council of Economic Advisors
David A. Smith , House Financial Services Committee

Coffee Break: 10:00-10:30AM

Session Two: Financing Health Care – Lessons from Home and Abroad
10:30-12:00am

Moderator:
Edward Kleinbard, Joint Committee on Taxation
Presentation:
Robert Ford, Deputy Director, OECD Country Studies
Panelists:
Diane Lim Rogers, Chief Economist, Concord Coalition
Michael J. O’Grady, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, National Opinion Research Center
Nicole Tapay, Senior Health Policy Advisor, Office of Senator Ron Wyden

Session 1: Overcoming the Financial Crisis
The 2008 OECD Survey of the United States is published by the Economic Development and Review Committee of the OECD.

Chapter 1 discusses the macroeconomic outlook for the United States, focusing on the effects of the financial market turmoil that, in September, erupted into a full-scale crisis. It also discusses selected other issues, notably rising income inequality in the United States and the policy challenges of climate change. Chapter 2 discusses in detail the genesis of the financial crisis and recommends policies for dealing with the pressing short-term issues that have been thrown up, as well as the longer-term reforms of financial sector supervision and regulation. Chapter 3 examines the US health care system, set against those of other OECD countries. It proposes reforms to improve the financing of health insurance, extend insurance coverage, contain Medicare costs and reduce costs stemming from inefficient treatments.

Session 2: Financing Health Care – Lessons from Home and Abroad
Two of the key challenges facing the US health care system are: the relatively low, by the standards of other OECD countries, rate of insurance coverage and, therefore, uneven access to health care; and much higher spending, again compared to OECD countries. The discussion will focus on: the sources of spending pressures; policies to contain such pressures (an issue facing all OECD countries, not just the United States); and policies that could raise coverage rates, which are essentially 100 percent in almost all other OECD countries. The emphasis will be on the commonality of the economic forces driving the health care sector across OECD countries, and on the economic tradeoffs involved in meeting the two key challenges mentioned above.

Biographies:

Pier Carlo Padoan, a Deputy Secretary-General of the OECD, is responsible for developing the future strategic vision of the OECD and is in charge of OECD’s relations with other international organisations.  Prior to joining the OECD, Mr. Padoan was Professor of Economics at the University La Sapienza of Rome, and Director of the Fondazione Italienieuropei, a policy think-tank focusing on economic and social issues.  From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Padoan was the Italian Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund, with responsibility for Greece, Portugal, San Marino, Albania and Timor Leste.  He has also served as Economic Adviser to the Italian Prime Ministers, Massimo D’Alema and Giuliano Amato, in charge of international economic policies.  He was personally responsible for co-ordinating the Italian position in the Agenda 2000 negotiations for the EU budget, Lisbon Agenda and bilateral meetings, and G8 Summits.  Mr. Padoan has a degree in Economics from the University of Rome and has held various academic positions in Italian and foreign universities, including at the University of Rome, College of Europe (Bruges), Université Libre de Bruxelles, University of Urbino, Universidad de la Plata, and University of Tokyo.

Robert Ford was appointed Deputy Director of the Country Studies Branch in the OECD Economics Department in June 2008. Mr. Ford, a Canadian national, worked at the IMF as an Advisor in the European Department from 2003 and was Mission Chief for Norway and Ukraine and Departmental Co-ordinator for monetary and fiscal issues. He was also a representative for IMF work on Sovereign Wealth Funds.  Mr. Ford held the positions of Deputy Division Chief and Division Chief in the European 1 Department from 1998 to 2003 and the positions of Deputy Division Chief and Senior Economist in the Research Department from 1992 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998 Mr. Ford worked at the OECD in the Economics Department as a Head of Division in the Policy Studies Branch and as Counsellor to the Head of Department.  He was Senior Economist in both the Country Studies Branch (USA and Iceland Desk) and the Policy Studies Branch from 1988 to 1992.  Prior to the IMF and the OECD, Mr. Ford held several positions at the Bank of Canada.

Donald Marron was confirmed by the Senate on June 27, 2008 to serve as a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Dr. Marron has been at CEA since August 2007, serving first as a consultant and later as Senior Economic Adviser. Before coming to CEA, Dr. Marron served as Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office, including more than a year as its Acting Director. In that capacity, he led a team of approximately 230 economists, policy analysts, and other professionals who provide the Congress with objective, nonpartisan, and timely analyses of budgetary and economic issues. During his tenure, Dr. Marron testified frequently before Congressional Committees on budget and economic policy issues. Before joining CBO, Dr. Marron served as Chief Economist on the CEA staff. Earlier, he served as Executive Director and Chief Economist of the Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Dr. Marron has published articles on a broad range of topics, including budget policy, intellectual property, and energy and environmental policy. He received his B.A in Mathematics from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

David A. Smith is the Chief Economist of the House Financial Services Committee. Smith has experience handling a range of domestic and international issues, with an emphasis on economics. Most recently, Smith was Senior Fellow at Demos, a think tank focusing on public policy issues such as income inequality and corporate governance. Prior to that, Smith was Director of Public Policy and senior advisor to President John J. Sweeney at the AFL-CIO. In addition, he has held positions as senior deputy budget director and Commissioner of Business Development for the City of New York, and also served as a Senior Economist at the Joint Economic Committee and as an advisor to Senator Edward Kennedy. Mr. Smith has also held positions as a fellow at the Century Foundation, and has taught at the University of Massachusetts and the New School.

Edward Kleinbard is Chief of Staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation. Mr. Kleinbard regularly publishes on tax matters and received a 2006 Burton Award for Legal Writing for his article on the Business Enterprise Income Tax, and he is widely recognized as one of the elite tax lawyers in the United States. Mr. Kleinbard joined Cleary Gotlieb in 1977 and became a partner in 1984. His practice focused on federal income tax matters, including taxation of new financial products, financial institutions and international mergers and acquisitions. He received a J.D. degree in 1976 from Yale Law School, where he was an articles editor of the Law Journal. He received an M.A. degree and an undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1973. Mr. Kleinbard also regularly lectures at New York University, Practicing Law Institute and similar conferences.

Diane Lim Rogers recently joined the Concord Coalition as the organization’s first Chief Economist as well as their first “blogger” (EconomistMom.com). She was Chief Economist for the House Budget Committee from January 2007 to April 2008, where she served Chairman John Spratt and other Democratic members of the Committee. In 2006 she was Research Director of the Budgeting for National Priorities project at the Brookings Institution. While at Brookings she published several opinion pieces emphasizing the importance of fiscal responsibility and a paper on “Reducing the Deficit through Better Tax Policy.” She also participated in the Concord Coalition’s “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour” along with (now former) U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and scholars from other leading think tanks. From 2004 to 2006 Dr. Rogers served as Chief Economist for the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats, and prior to that was a Principal Economist covering tax and budget policies for the Joint Economic Committee Democrats. She was a Senior Economist on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers during the last year of the Clinton Administration and first 100 days of the Bush Administration, and in President Clinton’s final Economic Report of the President (2001) drafted the sections extolling the merits of fiscal discipline. Dr. Rogers has also worked at the Urban Institute and the Congressional Budget Office, and was Assistant Professor of Economics at Penn State University.  Dr. Rogers received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan in 1983, her M.A. from Brown University in 1984, and her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1991.

Michael J. O’Grady, Ph.D. is a Senior Fellow at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago and Principal of O’Grady Health Policy LLC.  He is a veteran health policy expert with 24 years working in Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).  He served as the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at DHHS and previously was a Senior Health Economist on the majority staff of both the Senate Finance Committee and the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. He also was a Senior Research Director at Project Hope’s Center for Health Affairs and a senior analyst for three Medicare Commissions established by Congress.  Prior to that time, he spent many years with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress developing econometric and actuarial models of social legislation.  Throughout his career, Dr. O’Grady has shaped significant health care legislation and a broad spectrum of health reimbursement issues.  He has been instrumental in the development of key Federal policy and programs tackling some of the most complex and controversial health issues facing the county.  He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of Rochester.

Nicole Tapay is the Senior Health Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), with responsibility for health care related legislation and policy, including issues before the Senate Finance, Budget and Aging Committees. She has been an Associate Research Professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute; the Director of the Division of Benefits, Coverage and Payment for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), with responsibility for key aspects of the SCHIP and Medicaid programs; Senior Legislative Counsel for Health Policy for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC); and an Associate in the health care practice of  the law firm Epstein, Becker and Green.  She also has worked in international health policy for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Novartis AG and the World Bank. Nicole has authored and co-authored a number of books and articles on health care financing and coverage in the U.S. and abroad.   She received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center in 1991 and an A.B. from Princeton University, magna cum laude, in 1986.

More Events