Bucknell students present 'A Solution to the Federal Budget Problem'
Posted: April 19, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. — A panel of Bucknell University students will present "America is Drowning in Debt: A Solution to the Federal Budget Problem," Thursday, April 26, at 7 p.m. in Trout Auditorium of the Vaughan Literature Building at Bucknell.
The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy and the Office of the Provost.
Following the presentation, Bucknell faculty will discuss the students' solution: Matthew Slater, assistant professor of philosophy; Nancy White, professor of economics; and Amy Wolaver, associate professor of economics. Questions from the audience will be invited.
The students are enrolled in the course, "Federal Budget Deficits and Debt," taught this spring by Greg Krohn, associate professor of economics. Krohn said he designed it as an experiment in deliberative democracy.
"During the first half of the course, students studied the economic and ethical problems of the projected long-term federal budget deficits. At the end of spring break, they traveled to Washington, D.C., where they met with legislative aides and scholars to explore options for addressing the long-term deficits," he said.
Students met with Tyler Badgley, aide to Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, Alan Viard at the American Enterprise Institute, Alice Rivlin at the Brookings Institution, Michael Ettlinger and Michael Linden at the Center for American Progress, and Ethan Pollack at the Economic Policy Institute.
"The class is required to develop a proposal for solving the federal budget deficit problem that a majority of the class agrees to," said Krohn, who added, "I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with, how they defend it, and how people react to it."
Contact: Division of Communications
