Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and 1992 Nobel Prize winner in Economics
Position:
Con to the question "Should the Big Three car manufacturers be bailed out by the US government?"
Reasoning:
"I believe bankruptcy is better than a bailout for American consumers and taxpayers... Bankruptcy would help GM and Ford become more competitive by abrogating significant parts of their labor contracts with the UAW [United Auto Workers]. One of the greatest needs would be sizable reduction in their health costs through sharp increases in the deductibility and co-payments, and a reduced coverage of medical procedures. Bankruptcy should also help bring the wage rates of GM and Ford in line with those of foreign producers in the US. Some of their pension liabilities may be shifted onto the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp, but even that would be preferable to an overall bailout...
Is GM 'too big' to fail? I do not believe the company is too big to go into a reorganization -- which is what bankruptcy would involve. Such reorganization would abrogate its untenable labor contracts, and give it a chance to survive in long run. A bailout, by contrast, would simply postpone the needed reforms in these labor contracts, the business model of GM, and its management."
"Bail Out the Big Three Auto Producers? Not a Good Idea," The Becker-Posner Blog website, Nov. 16, 2008
Experts
Individuals with JDs, PhDs, other relevant advanced degrees, CEO's of major car manufacturing companies, and government officials with significant involvement in, or related to, automotive, business, and bankruptcy issues. [Note: Experts definition varies by site]
Involvement and Affiliations:
Rose-Marie and Jack R. Anderson Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, 1990-present
Professor, Departments of Economics, Sociology, and the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, 1983-present
Recipient, Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2007
Recipient, Medal of the Italian Presidency, 2004
Member, Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense, 2001-2004
Member, Board of Directors, Manhattan Institute, 1997-2003
Recipient, National Medal of Science, 2000
Recipient, Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences, 1992
Member, Academic Advisory Board, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1987-1991
Columnist, Business Week, 1985-2004
Research Associate, Economics Research Center, National Opinion Research Center (NORC), University of Chicago, 1980
Member, Board of Publications, University of Chicago Press, 1971-1975
Ford Foundation Visiting Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, 1969-1970
Professor of Economics, Columbia University, 1960-1969
Member, Senior Research Associate and research policy advisor to the Center for Economic Analysis of Human Behavior and Social Institutions, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1957-1979
Education:
PhD, University of Chicago, 1955
AM (Master's degree), University of Chicago, 1953
AB (Bachelor's degree), summa cum laude, Princeton University, 1951
"The Case Against the Draft", Hoover Digest, Summer 2007
Cowritten with Casey Mulligan, "Deadweight Costs and the Size of Government," Journal of Law and Economics, Oct. 2003
Cowritten with Kevin M. Murphy, Social Economics, 2000
Cowritten with Guity Nashat-Becker, The Economics of Life, 1996
"Habits, Addictions and Traditions," Kyklos, 1992
A Treatise on the Family, 1981
The Economic Approach to Human Behavior, 1976
Cowritten with I. Ehrlich, "Market Insurance, Self-Insurance, and Self-Protection," Journal of Political Economy, July/Aug. 1972
"Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," Journal of Political Economy, Mar./Apr. 1968
Human Capital and the Personal Distribution of Income: An Analytical Approach, 1967
Other:
Recipient of Honorary Degrees from Hitotsubashi University (2005), Harvard University (2003), University of Athens (2002), University d'Aix-Marselles (1999), Hofstra University (1997), University of Rochester, University of Miami, University of Economics in Prague, Warsaw School of Economics (1995), University of Palermo, Columbia University (1993), Princeton University (1991), State University of New York at Stony Brook (1990), University of Illinois at Chicago (1988), Knox College, and Hebrew University (1985)
