Martin Feldstein
Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard, was Chairman of President Ronald Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors and President of the National Bureau for Economic Research.
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2010-02-25
| Chinese officials and private investors around the world have been worrying aloud about whether their dollar investments are safe. But, while trepidation about the dollar’s future is driven by several different but related concerns, the bottom line is that these fears are exaggerated. ... read |
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2010-01-25
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Although the strength of the US economy in 2010 is still uncertain, it is important to look ahead to its likely performance in the coming decade. Adding up all the key components of GDP, annual economic growth is likely to be about 1.9%, or roughly the same as the average rate over the past ten years.... read |
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2009-12-25
| Many gold buyers want a hedge against the risk of inflation or possible declines in the value of the dollar or other currencies. But gold is an exceptionally poor hedge against both of these risks, particularly compared to the alternatives, such as inflation-protected government bonds and currency futures, that are available to investors.... read |
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2009-12-09
| Many people view 2009 as the year of counter-revolution against the small-government principles of privatization, low taxation, and de-regulation that motivated Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. But the dramatic policy changes in the US and Britain under Reagan and Thatcher brought about such profound improvements that there is no going back.... read |
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2009-11-25
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The economic recovery that the euro zone now anticipates in 2010 could bring with it new tensions. Indeed, in the extreme, some countries with lingering high unemployment could find themselves considering whether to leave the single currency altogether.... read |
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2009-10-26
| Barack Obama’s health-care proposals are meeting strong opposition at home, owing to their potential impact on future fiscal deficits. And, because those deficits are the primary cause of America’s current-account deficit – and thus of global imbalances – the US health-care debate’s outcome will affect governments and investors around the world.... read |
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2009-09-17
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When the heads of the G-20 countries gather in Pittsburgh, they will promise not only to reverse the explosive monetary and fiscal expansion of the past two years, but that they will do it neither too soon nor too late and in a coordinated way. These are the right things to promise, but what will such promises mean?
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2009-08-25
| Although it is tempting to think of the downward spiral in US house prices as a purely domestic problem, nothing could be further from the truth. If the decline continues, the value of mortgage-backed securities held by financial institutions around the world will continue to decline, and the further erosion of household wealth will mean lower US import demand.... read |
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2009-07-24
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American households' saving rate has increased sharply since the beginning of the year, as falling equity and home prices have rapidly eroded their wealth. But, while that should lead to a lower dollar, which would narrow America's trade deficit and stimulate employment, the sharply higher US fiscal deficit will complicates matters considerably.... read |
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Will Cap-and-Trade Incite Protectionism?
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Martin Feldstein 
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In contrast to a carbon tax, there is a serious danger that the international adoption of cap-and-trade legislation to limit carbon-dioxide emissions would trigger a new round of protectionist measures. As a result, cap-and-trade policiescould produce significant harmful economic effects in the near term that would continue into the future.... read
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2008-09-23
| Less than two months remaining before America’s presidential election, the US finds itself in the middle of a financial crisis, with the economy sliding into recession, monetary policy already at maximum easing, and fiscal transfers impotent. That is an unenviable situation, to say the least, for any incoming president.... read |
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2008-07-23
| The key determinant of the dollar’s long-term value is that it must decline enough to shift the US trade balance from today’s deficit to a surplus. Over the longer run, however, because the US trade deficit depends on the dollar's real value, inflation differentials could be a more significant force in determining the path of its exchange rate.... read |
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2008-09-23
| Less than two months remaining before America’s presidential election, the US finds itself in the middle of a financial crisis, with the economy sliding into recession, monetary policy already at maximum easing, and fiscal transfers impotent. That is an unenviable situation, to say the least, for any incoming president.... read |
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2010-02-25
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Chinese officials and private investors around the world have been worrying aloud about whether their dollar investments are safe. But, while trepidation about the dollar’s future is driven by several different but related concerns, the bottom line is that these fears are exaggerated. ... read |
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2009-12-25
| Many gold buyers want a hedge against the risk of inflation or possible declines in the value of the dollar or other currencies. But gold is an exceptionally poor hedge against both of these risks, particularly compared to the alternatives, such as inflation-protected government bonds and currency futures, that are available to investors.... read |
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2008-03-13
| Investors around the world have good reasons to want to reduce their dollar holdings. Instead of simply wishing that the dollar would stop falling, European governments need to take steps to stimulate domestic demand to replace the loss of sales and jobs that will otherwise accompany America's more competitive exchange rate.... read |
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2008-07-23
| The key determinant of the dollar’s long-term value is that it must decline enough to shift the US trade balance from today’s deficit to a surplus. Over the longer run, however, because the US trade deficit depends on the dollar's real value, inflation differentials could be a more significant force in determining the path of its exchange rate.... read |
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2008-05-23
| The dollar is declining because only a more competitive dollar can shrink the US trade deficit to a sustainable level. Thus, as rising global demand for energy pushes oil prices higher in the years ahead, it will become more difficult to shrink America’s trade deficit, inducing more rapid dollar depreciation.... read |
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2008-11-24
| The European Economic and Monetary Union is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary, having functioned well since its introduction in 1999. But the current economic crisis may provide a more severe test of the euro’s ability to survive than any it has faced so far.... read |
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2009-01-26
| Governments around the world are now developing massive fiscal stimulus packages that will cause unprecedented budget deficits – a sharp change from the reliance on monetary policy that was used to deal with previous recessions. But the emphasis on fiscal policy is justified, because the current recession is much deeper than and different from previous downturns. ... read |
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2009-02-25
| The massive downturn in the US economy will last longer and be more damaging than previous recessions, because it is driven by an unprecedented loss of household wealth. While the fiscal stimulus package will boost activity in the short term, those who expect a sustained recovery to begin in the second half of 2009 are almost certainly overly optimistic.... read |
2010-02-25
