I like to hear what this professor says because of his far ranging mind and fierce independence of thought. Kotlikoff doesn’t tow the party line, Democratic or Republican. The Obama Admin and CBO both dislike and fear him because he calls them on their economic conjuring tricks.
From biographical sources:
“Laurence J. Kotlikoff is a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Professor of Economics at Boston University, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and President of Economic Security Planning, Inc., a company specializing in financial planning software. Professor Kotlikoff received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1977.
From 1977 through 1983, he served on the faculties of economics of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Yale University. In 1981–82, Professor Kotlikoff was a Senior Economist with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Professor Kotlikoff is author or co-author of 14 books and hundreds of professional journal articles. His most recent books are Jimmy Stewart is Dead (John Wiley and Sons), Spend ‘Til the End, (co-authored with Scott Burns, Simon & Schuster), The Healthcare Fix (MIT Press), and The Coming Generational Storm (co-authored with Scott Burns, MIT Press).
Professor Kotlikoff publishes extensively in newspapers and magazines on issues of financial reform, personal finance, taxes, Social Security, health care, deficits, generational accounting, pensions, saving, and insurance.
Professor Kotlikoff has served as a consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Harvard Institute for International Development, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Swedish Ministry of Finance, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Italy, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England, the Government of Russia, the Government of Ukraine, the Government of Bolivia, the Government of Bulgaria, the Treasury of New Zealand, the Office of Management and Budget, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the American Council of Life Insurance, Merrill Lynch, Fidelity Investments, AT&T, AON Corp., and other major U.S. corporations.
He has provided expert testimony on numerous occasions to committees of Congress including the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee.”
On Taxes
Kotlikoff has been a supporter of the FairTax proposal as a replacement for the federal tax code, contributing to research of plan’s effects and the required rate for revenue neutrality. In 2010, Kotlikoff offered his own tax proposal, titled the Purple Tax (a blend of red and blue), a consumption levy that he says cleans up some problems with the FairTax.
His plan calls for a 15% final (17.5% nominal) sales tax. The FICA tax ceiling is gone and the 7.65% of the employees contribution is applied on everything after $40,000 but the employer pays 7.65% on the employees entire salary.
On Healthcare
In his 2007 book, The Healthcare Fix, Kotlikoff proposed a major reform of the U.S. healthcare system, subsequently dubbed “The Purple Health Plan”, that would do away with Medicare, Medicaid, employer-based healthcare, and health exchanges established under the Affordable Care Act.
In their place, every American would receive a voucher for a basic health insurance policy, whose coverages would be established by a panel of doctors such that the total cost of all vouchers remained within a fixed share, e.g., 10 percent, of GDP. The voucher would be provided by the government at no cost and its amount would be individually risk-adjusted, i.e., sicker people would receive larger vouchers. No health insurance company providing the basic insurance plan could turn anyone away and those who could afford supplemental health insurance plans would be free to purchase them.
On Finance
Kotlikoff’s proposed reform of the financial system, discussed in his book “Jimmy Stewart Is Dead,” called Limited Purpose Banking, transforms all financial companies with limited liability, including incorporated banks, insurance companies, financial exchanges, and hedge funds, into pass-through mutual funds, which do not borrow to invest in risky assets, but, instead, allows the public to directly choose what risks it wishes to bear by purchasing more or less risky mutual funds.
According to Kotlikoff, Limited Purpose Banking keeps banks, insurance companies, hedge funds and other financial corporations from borrowing short and lending long, which leaves the public to pick up the pieces when things go south. Instead, Kotlikoff argues Limited Purpose Banking forces financial intermediaries to limit their activities to their sole legitimate purpose—financial inter-mediation. It would substitute the vast array of extant federal and state financial regulatory bodies with a single financial regulator called the Federal Financial Authority (FFA), which would have a narrow purpose namely to verify, disclosure, and oversee the independent rating and custody off all securities purchased and sold by mutual funds.
On Politics
Kotlikoff fervently dislikes both political parties and has called for a third party, which he hopes will save America. In January 2012, Kotlikoff announced his plans to run as a third party candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Kotlikoff said he would seek the presidential nomination of the non-partisan advocacy group “Americans Elect.” He announced in May that he would also seek the nomination of the Reform Party of the United States, but ended the bid after the Americans Elect board decided to not field a 2012 presidential ticket.
(from your post)
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On Politics
Kotlikoff fervently dislikes both political parties and has called for a third party, which he hopes will save America. In January 2012, Kotlikoff announced his plans to run as a third party candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Kotlikoff said he would seek the presidential nomination of the non-partisan advocacy group “Americans Elect.” He announced in May that he would also seek the nomination of the Reform Party of the United States, but ended the bid after the Americans Elect board decided to not field a 2012 presidential ticket.
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Just saying. The guy is in politics.
This may be good, or may be bad.
He sounds like he gets it, but just pointing out he’s dabbling anyway.
Both parties are completely sold out to China though, so he just might be completely on the right track, as well.
for later reference