November 30, 2012

A Financial Transaction Tax: Raising Revenue and Restraining High-Speed Trading

3:30 p.m.
Capitol Visitor Center
Room SVC 203-02
Southeast Drive
Washington, D.C. 20004

The fiscal debate has focused attention on the need for new revenue sources. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation calculates that a very small tax on Wall Street financial transactions would raise more than $350 billion over the next decade. Such a tax can curb the growth of dangerous high-speed trading while imposing no more than a trivial cost on traditional investors. Support for the idea is growing. AFL-CIO, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Communications Workers of America and Public Citizen co-hosted a discussion on a financial transaction tax. Presenters included Jared Bernstein – Senior Fellow at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, former Chief Economist for Vice President Joe Biden; David Borris – Small business owner, Hel’s Kitchen Catering, Chicago/North Shore Illinois; Damon Silvers – Director of Policy and Special Counsel, AFL-CIO; and Wallace Turbeville – Senior Fellow at Demos, former Vice President of Goldman Sachs.

A video of the event is available here.

November 28, 2012

The Future of Social Security and Medicare

12 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
University of Minnesota
Center for the Study of Politics and Governance
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

As the rhetoric of the election fades, America needs an honest discussion on entitlements. Must Social Security and Medicare be cut or can that be avoided through more revenue or other reforms? If benefits are reduced, how should that be done? Two prominent national experts – CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker and AEI's Kevin Hassett – joined AARP and the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School on Public Affairs to discuss the options and momentous decisions facing Congress and the next President over the future of these two important federal programs.

November 19, 2012

TransAfrica presents the Cabral/Truth Circle: "In Haiti, Cholera and Homelessness in the Midst of Storms"

Busboys and Poets
14th and V Streets NW
Washington, D.C.

January 12, 2013 will mark three years since Haiti experienced the devastating earthquake which claimed more than 230,000 lives.  Housing for those who lost their homes that day is still a critical problem-over 400,000 people are still living in tents. The Cabral/Truth Circle held an event with CEPR's Alex Main, attorney Nicole Phillips from the Institute of Justice and Democracy and Melinda Miles, Director of TransAfrica's Let Haiti Live project to discuss the situation in Haiti.

November 14, 2012

The Downturn: How We Got Here and Why it Will Be Long

10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
University of Utah
Hinckley Caucus Room, OSH 253
260 S. Central Campus Drive
Salt Lake City, UT

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a discussion on the causes of the Great Recession and why recovery has been slow. The event was co-sponsored by the University of Utah Department of Economics and Masters of Public Policy Program. More event info can be found on the Hinckley Institute of Politics' event calendar

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November 7, 2012

The Fiscal Cliff: New Heights of Sensationalism

7:00 p.m.
Dickinson College
Anita Tuvin Schlechter Auditorium
333 West High Street
Carlisle, PA, 17013

The media have endlessly raised fears of the government falling off the "fiscal cliff." CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker participated in a talk that explained why such talk fundamentally misrepresents the short-term budget problem and how the longer-term problem has been misrepresented as well. This event was sponsored by The Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of Economics and Policy Studies and the Keystone Research Center. For more information, visit the event website.

November 5, 2012

Stage Performance of 'We Live in Financial Times'

6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Busboys and Poets, 5th and K
1025 5th Street Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20001

"We live in Financial Times" is a darkly funny theatrical shell game wherein the conventions of character and story, (in the form of Mike and James, investment bankers alone with an angry female voice they do not understand) collapse and attempt to frantically reassemble. It's global capitalism as tragic farce. The performance was followed by a talk back featuring playwright Julia Barclay and macroeconomist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Dean Baker. For more information, visit Busboys and Poets' website.

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October 28, 2012

Community Cinema Screening of “As Goes Janesville”

5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Busboys and Poets, 14th and V
2021 14th Street Northwest
Washington, D.C. 20009

When bankrupt General Motors shut down Janesville, Wisconsin’s century-old plant in 2008, thousands of jobs were lost. While many workers were forced to leave their families in search of decent jobs, local business leaders worked to bring new companies to town with the promise of lower wages, reduced regulation, and tax breaks. They formed a powerful alliance with newly elected Republican governor Scott Walker, whose pro-business, anti-union stance ripped apart the state, triggering a historic recall election. CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a Q & A following a screening of Brad Lichtenstein "As Goes Janesville." The event was presented by ITVS, with WHUT, Washington DCJCC, Busboys and Poets and Center for Social Media at American University.

October 16, 2012

Threats to Medicare: The Election and the Lame Duck Congress

7:30 p.m.
Beth Israel's Phillips Ambulatory Care Center
2nd Floor Auditorium
10 Union Square East
New York, NY 10003

The structure of Medicare may be put at serious risk following the election. Governor Romney has explicitly called for turning it into a voucher program. If President Obama is re-elected, there are also major risks to the program, some of which may arise as early as the lame duck Congressional session in the fall, if there is an effort to reach a "grand bargain" on the deficit. CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a forum on the threats Medicare faces post-election and during a lame duck Congress. 

October 8, 2012

Future of Retirement Security

10:40 a.m.
Loews Ventana Canyon
7000 North Resort Drive
Tucson, AZ 85750

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker took part in a panel discussion on the "Future of Retirement Security" as part of the National Council on Teacher Retirement's Annual Convention. Other participants included David John, senior research fellow in retirement security and financial institutions at the Heritage Foundation, and Michael P. Kreps, Esq., pensions counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Leigh Snell, NCTR's federal relations director, moderated.

October 6, 2012

FDL Book Salon on "The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use ‘Plain English’ to Rob You Blind"

5:00 p.m.
Firedoglake

CEPR Co-Director Dean Baker hosted a book salon on Firedoglake with David Cay Johnston on his new book, "The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use 'Plain English' and Other Tricks to Rob You Blind." In the book, Johnston shares solutions you can use to fight back against the hundreds of obscure fees and taxes that line the pockets of big corporations, and to help end these devious practices once and for all. You can find more information on Firedoglake.