PoliTalk Student Dinner with Maya MacGuineas: A Conversation about the Federal Budget

Maya MacGuineas, a federal budget specialist, will be talking about the growing federal debt.

The United States government has continuously run a budget deficit over the course of current college students’ lives, which has resulted in a total debt in excess of $18 trillion. The US deficit is expected to grow at an increasingly rapid pace, which is the heart of the problem, according to federal budget specialists like Maya MacGuineas. The US government needs to take steps to ensure that debt is not growing faster than the economy. A ballooning federal debt limits the government’s ability to provide critical public investments and services. Professor Charlie Wheelan of the Economics Department, sees the federal debt as a major issue that will confront current students later in their lives and thus demands attention.

Maya MacGuineas is the President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and head of the Campaign to Fix the Debt. The Wall Street Journal described MacGuineas as “an anti-deficit warrior.” She regularly testifies before Congress on matters that fall within her expertise, which include: budget, tax and economic policy. As a political independent, MacGuineas has worked with both sides of congress on budgetary issues and advised a broad range of candidates. In addition to working at the Brookings Institution and on Wall Street, MacGuineas served on the editorial board of The Washington Post, where she covered economic and fiscal policy. MacGuineas received a Master in Public Policy from the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Charlie Wheelan ’88, Senior Lecturer and Policy Fellow, formerly a Senior Lecturer in public policy at the Harris School at the University of Chicago, will join Maya MacGuineas at Monday’s lecture. At Dartmouth, Professor Wheelan teaches economics and public policy courses. Wheelan has authored three books: Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data, and The Centrist Manifesto. Wheelan served as the Midwest correspondent for The Economist and has written freelance pieces for The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. In addition to his academic work, Wheelan has been a speechwriter, a Congressional candidate and founded the Centrist party. He earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College, his M.A. in public affairs from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

Please join us on Monday, October 19 at 4:30 PM in Rocky 3 for a conversation about the federal budget in honor of William Frenzel ’50 TU’51. A student dinner with both Maya MacGuineas and Charlie Wheelan will follow the public talk at 6:15 pm in Morrison Commons. Dinner info and sign up: https://dinnermayamacguineas.eventbrite.com

-Written by Olivia O'Hagan '16, Student Program Assistant