University of Texas at Austin faculty are available to provide expert perspectives on issues related to President Barack Obama’s $787 billion plan to stimulate the economy, including healthcare reform, the impact on financial and auto industries, and federal funding for advancements in green technology.
Obama’s Bumpy Path to Economic Recovery
Bruce Buchanan
Professor of Government
College of Liberal Arts
512-232-7212
bruceb@mail.la.utexas.edu
An expert in presidential politics, Buchanan specializes in public policy and political behavior. Numerous media outlets have tapped his expertise for commentary on Obama’s successes and future challenges. His books include “The Presidential Experience,” “The Citizen’s Presidency,” “Electing A President” and “Presidential Campaign Quality.”
Unemployment Insurance Benefits
Daniel Hamermesh
The Sue Killam Professor in The Foundations of Economics
College of Liberal Arts
512-475-8526
hamermes@eco.utexas.edu
Hamermesh examines social programs, particularly unemployment insurance. His other areas of research concentrate on time use, labor demand, academic labor markets and unusual applications of labor economics. He is widely quoted in the major print media on topics ranging from the auto industry bailout to unemployment rates to consumer spending.
What Obama Can Learn from FDR
H.W. Brands
The Raymond Dickson, Alton C. Allen and Dillon Anderson Centennial Professor of History
College of Liberal Arts
512-475-7238
hwbrands@mail.utexas.edu
Brands draws parallels between Franklin D. Roosevelt’s and Barack Obama’s economic recovery policies. He has discussed the lessons FDR’s presidency holds for the Obama administration with a number of media outlets, including NPR, CNN and PBS NewsHour. Brands is the author of more than 20 books on American history and culture, including “Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.”
Auto Industry Bankruptcies
Jay Westbrook
The Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Business Law
School of Law
512-232-1303
jwestbrook@law.utexas.edu
Westbrook is one of the nation’s most distinguished scholars in the field of bankruptcy. He can discuss the potential bankruptcy of General Motors as well as other high-profile companies that have filed or might file for bankruptcy court protection. Westbrook also teaches and writes on commercial law and international business litigation. He is co-author of “The Law of Debtors and Creditors,” “As We Forgive Our Debtors: Bankruptcy and Consumer Credit in America” and “The Fragile Middle Class.”
Predicting Possible Outcomes
James Galbraith
The Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
512-471-1244
galbraith@mail.utexas.edu
Galbraith, a liberal economist, studies the free-market economy, the subprime crisis, economic and social disparities and the future of the dollar. In numerous commentaries and interviews, he has shared insights into the problems with the recession, the banking bailout and stimulus bill priorities. He is the author of six books and contributes to the American political magazines, including Mother Jones, The American Prospect, The Nation and The Texas Observer, as well as op-ed pages of major newspapers.
Ray Marshall
Professor Emeritus and holder of the Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
512-471-6242
ray.marshall@mail.utexas.edu
Marshall served for four years as U.S. Secretary of Labor in the Carter administration, where he dealt with a troubled economy and brokered financial rescue plans, including the one that saved auto giant Chrysler. He was a member of the Clinton administration’s National Skills Standards Board and the Advisory Commission on Labor Diplomacy. He also is co-chair of the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a member of the board of the Economic Policy Institute and a member of the Commission on State and Local Public Service.
Changes in Welfare Reform
Benjamin Sasse
Assistant Professor of Public Affairs
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
512-471-3033
sasse@mail.utexas.edu
Sasse examines leadership, management and reorganization of large governmental, nonprofit and for-profit American institutions. He was chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy. He is available to provide commentary on how the stimulus bill affects health and welfare reforms.
Flaws in Banking System Regulation
Robert Auerbach
Professor of Public Affairs
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
512-475-8751
auerbach@mail.utexas.edu
Auerbach served for 11 years as an economist for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Financial Services, where he assisted chairman and ranking member Henry B. Gonzalez in carrying out oversight functions of the nation’s central bank led by Alan Greenspan. He is the author of “Deception and Abuse at the Fed: Henry B. Gonzalez Battles Alan Greenspan’s Bank.”
Accountability in Financial Institutions
Michael Granof
The Ernst and Young Distinguished Centennial Professor in Accounting and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Business and Public Affairs
McCombs School of Business
512-471-4678
michael.granof@mccombs.utexas.edu
Granof’s research and teaching interests include accounting in governmental and nonprofit organizations and financial accounting. In a New York Times op-ed, he stressed the need for transparency in financial reporting and accountability from large banks funded by the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Michael Brandl
Senior Lecturer in Finance
McCombs School of Business
512- 232-3355
michael.brandl@mccombs.utexas.edu
Brandl is active in studying and addressing the economic issues surrounding the recession and the stimulus plan. His research interests include economic growth, financial economics and labor economics. He also examines the role of financial institutions in long-run economic growth.
Funding for Alternative and Renewable Energy
John Goodenough
The Virginia H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
512-471-1646
jgoodenough@mail.utexas.edu
Goodenough, one of the nation’s most highly respected battery researchers, can provide commentary on advances in battery technology, an industry that will receive funding from the stimulus package. He has developed the cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, which have enabled the wireless revolution and will be used in tomorrow’s electric vehicles and hybrid cars.
Arumugam Manthiram
The Bfgoodrich Endowed Professor in Materials Engineering and Cockrell Family Chair in Engineering Excellence and Josey Professor in Energy
Cockrell School of Engineering
512-471-1791
rmanth@mail.utexas.edu
Manthiram is a renowned battery researcher whose work is focused on developing efficient, low-cost fuel cell technology that drives hybrid vehicles, such as materials for lithium-ion batteries and supercapacitors. He recently demonstrated a low-cost route to making materials for advanced batteries in electric cars and hybrids.
Michael Webber
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
512-475-6867
webber@mail.utexas.edu
Webber is the associate director of the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, which seeks to inform the energy and environmental policy-making process with scientific and engineering expertise. Some of his research topics include: biofuels, waste-to-energy and alternative and renewable energy. Webber has published op-eds on American energy policy and international affairs in numerous newspapers, and was featured in a documentary about biofuels in the PBS national weekly newsmagazine NOW.
