McCain Campaign Press Release - Economists' Statement on John McCain's Jobs for America Economic Plan

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today released a statement signed by over 300 professional economists in support of John McCain's Jobs for America economic plan. The list includes Nobel Prize winners, business economists with experience in the private sector, policy economists with experience in government and academic economists from major universities and state and community colleges.

Those signing the statement include Nobel Prize winners in Economics (Gary Becker, James Buchanan, Robert Lucas, Robert Mundell and Vernon Smith), former Presidents of the American Economic Association (Gary Becker, Martin Feldstein, Anne Krueger and Robert Lucas), economists who have served in the U.S. Treasury as Secretary or Under Secretaries (George Shultz, Beryl Sprinkel and John Taylor), former Chairs and other Members of the President's Council of Economic Advisers (Michael Boskin, Martin Feldstein, Glenn Hubbard, Paul MacAvoy, Burton Malkiel, Paul McCracken, William Poole, Harvey Rosen, Beryl Sprinkel, John Taylor and Murray Weidenbaum), former OMB Directors and other officials (John Cogan, James Miller, George Shultz and Amy Smith), former CBO Directors (Dan Crippen, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and June O'Neill), former Chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Wendy Gramm), former Chairs of the Federal Trade Commission (James Miller and T im Muris) and economists who have served as Under Secretary of Commerce (Kathleen Cooper and Tony Villamil).

Economists' Statement:

We enthusiastically support John McCain's economic plan. It is a comprehensive, pro-growth, reform agenda. The reform focuses on the real economic problems Americans face today and will face in the future. And it builds on the core economic principles that have made America great.

His plan would control government spending by vetoing every bill with earmarks, implementing a constitutionally valid line-item veto, pausing non-military discretionary government spending programs for one year to stop their explosive growth and place accountability on federal government agencies.

His plan would keep taxes from rising, because higher tax rates are exactly the wrong policy to restore economic growth, especially at this time.

His plan would reduce tax rates by cutting the tax that corporations pay to 25 percent in line with other countries, by completely phasing out the alternative minimum tax, by increasing the exemption for dependents, by permitting the first-year expensing of new equipment and technology, and by making permanent a reformed tax credit for R&D.

His plan would also create a new and much simpler tax system and give Americans a free choice of whether to pay taxes under that simple system or the current complex and burdensome income tax.

His plan would open new markets for American goods and services and thereby create additional jobs for Americans by supporting good free trade agreements, such as the one with Colombia, and working with leaders around the world to avoid isolationism and protectionism. His plan would also reform education, retraining, and other assistance programs so they better help those displaced by trade and other changes in the economy. His plan addresses problems in the financial markets and housing markets by calling for increased transparency and accountability, by targeted assistance to deserving homeowners to refinance their mortgages, and by opposing so-called reform plans which would raise the costs of home-ownership in the future.

The above actions, as well as plans to address entitlement programs -- especially Social Security, Medicare and other government health care programs -- and his regulatory reforms -- especially in the area of health care -- constitute a broad and powerful economic agenda. Because of John McCain's experience working with the American people in all walks of life, with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, and with leaders around the world, we are optimistic that these plans will become a reality and will create jobs and restore confidence and strong economic growth.

Economists Who Have Signed The Statement:

Burton Abrams, University of Delaware

James D. Adams, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Douglas K. Adie, Ohio University

Richard Agnello, University of Delaware

William Albrecht, University of Iowa

Constantine Alexandrakis, University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth

William Alpert, University of Connecticut

Wayne Angell, Former Fed Governor

Fernando E. Alvarez, University of Chicago

Geoffrey T. Andron, Austin Community College

George R. Averitt, Purdue University North Central

Charles Baird, California State University, East Bay

Howard Beales, George W ashington University

Stacie E. Beck, University of Delaware

Gary Becker, University of Chicago

Donald Bellante, University of South Florida

Daniel K. Benjamin, Clemson University

John J. Bethune, Barton CollegeSanjai Bhagat, University of Colorado

Andrew G. Biggs, American Enterprise Institute

Robert G. Bise, Orange Coast College

Michael K. Block, University of Arizona

Donald Booth, Chapman University

Karl J. Borden, University of Nebraska

Michael Bordo, Rutgers University

George H. Borts, Brown University

Mich ael Boskin, Stanford University

Daniel P. Brandt III, Washington, D.C.

Ike Brannon, Department of the Treasury

David P. Brown, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jeff Brown, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Joseph Brusuelas, Merk Investments

Phillip J. Bryson, Brigham Young University

Andrzej Brzeski, University of California, Davis

James Buchanan, George Mason University

Todd Buchholz, Two Oceans Management

Richard Burdekin, Claremont McKenna College

Richard V. Burkhauser, Cornell University

James B. Burnham, Duquesne University

Andr ew B. Busch, BMO Capital Markets

James L. Butkiewicz, University of Delaware

Mark Calabria, United States Senate

James Carter, Vienna, VA

Don Chance, Louisiana State University

Barry R. Chiswick, University of Illinois at Chicago

Bhagwan Chowdhry, UCLA

Richard Clarida, Columbia University

Candice Clark, Economic consultant

Kenneth W. Clarkson, University of Miami

Warren Coats, IMF, retired

John Cogan, Hoover Institution

Boyd D. Collier, Tarleton State University

Michael Connolly, University of Miami

Kathleen B. Cooper, Southern Methodist University

Joshua Coval, Harvard University

Ted Covey, McLean, Virginia

Nicole Crain, Lafayette College

W. Mark Crain, Lafayette College

Dan Crippen, Former CBO Director

Thomas D. Crocker, University of Wyoming

Robert L. Crouch, University of California, Santa Barbara

Mario J. Crucini, Vanderbilt University

Ward S. Curran, Trinity College

Coldwell Daniel III, The University of Memphis

Antony Davies, Duquesne University

Steven Davis, University of Chicago

Clarence R. Deitsch, Ball State University

Richard DeKaser, National City Corporation

Stephen J. Dempsey, University of Vermont

Christopher DeMuth, American Enterprise Institute

David B.H. Denoon, New York University

William G. Dewald, Ohio State University

Arthur M. Diamond Jr., University of Nebraska at Omaha

John Diamond, Rice University

David L. Dickinson, Appalachian State University

Francis X. Diebold, University of Pennsylvania

Jeffrey H. Dorfman, University of Georgia

Thomas J. Duesterberg, Manufacturers Alliance/MAPI

Parnell Duverger, Broward Community College

Isaac Ehrlich, SUNY at Buffalo

Martin Eichenbaum, Northwestern University

Jeffrey A. Eisenach, Criterion Economics

Michael A. Ellis, Kent State University

Joachim G. Elterich, University of Delaware

Kenneth Elzinga, University of Virginia

Stephen J. Entin, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation

T.W. Epps, University of Virginia

Michael G. Erickson, The College of Idaho

Paul Evans, Ohio State University

Dino Falaschetti, Hoover Institution

Frank Falero Jr., California State University

Susan K. Feigenbaum, University of Missouri, St. Louis

Martin Feldstei n, Harvard University

Eric Fisher, California Polytechnic State University

Arthur A "Trey" Fleisher III, Metro State College of Denver

James Forcier, University of San Francisco

William F. Ford, Middle Tenn. State U.

Michele Fratianni, Indiana University

Luke Froeb, Vanderbilt University

Kenneth C. Froewiss, NYU Stern School of Business

Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Hudson Institute

Timothy S. Fuerst, Bowling Green State University

Lowell Gallaway, Ohio University

B Delworth Gardner, Brigham Young University

Dave Garthoff, The University of Akron

Ilhan K. Geckil, Anderson Economic Group

Rick Geddes, Cornell University

Joseph A. Giacalone, St. John's University

Adam Gifford, California State University, Northridge

David Gillette, Truman State University

Micha Gisser, University of New Mexico

Amy Jocelyn Glass, Texas A&M University

Charles J. Goetz, The University of Virginia

Claudio Gonzalez-Vega, The Ohio State University

Lawrence Goodman, Bergen City, NJ

Barry K. Goodwin, North Carolina State University

Eric S. Graber, Independent Economist

Douglas H. Graham, The Ohio State University

J. Edward Graham, University of North Carolina Wilmington

Phil Gramm, Former U.S. Senator

Teresa Beckham Gramm, Rhodes College

Wendy Lee Gramm

William B. Green, Sam Houston State University

Kenneth Greene, Binghamton University

Paul Gregory, University of Houston

Earl Grinols, Baylor University

Gary Hansen, UCLA

Eric Hanushek, Hoover Institution

Stephen Happel, Arizona State University

James E. Hartley, Mount Holyoke College

Kevin Hassett, American Enterprise Institute

Joel W. Hay, University of Southern California

Jared E. Hazleton, Texecon: A Texas Economic Consulting Firm

Charles E. Hegji, Auburn University Montgomery

Robert H. Heidt, Indiana University School of Law

Harold M. Hochman, CUNY Graduate Center and Lafayette College

Robert J. Hodrick, Columbia Business School

Stuart G. Hoffman, The PNC Financial Services Group

Arlene Holen, Washington, D.C.

Mac R. Holmes, Troy University

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, John McCain 2008

C. Thomas Howard, University of Denver

E. Philip Howrey, University of Michigan

Glenn Hubbard, Columbia University

James L. Huffman, Lewis & Clark Law School

J. Christopher Hughen, University of Denver

E. Kingdon Hurlock, Calvert Investment Counsel

Stephen L. Jackstadt, University of Alaska, Anchorage

Joseph M. Jadlow, Oklahoma State University

Sherry L Jarrell, Wake Forest University

Michael C. Jensen, Harvard Business School

Dennis A. Johnson, University of South Dakota

Shane A. Johnson, Texas A&M University

Richard Just, University of Maryland

Tim Kane, Washington, D.C.

Steven Kaplan, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

Alexander Katkov, Johnson and Wales University

Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland

Joe Kennedy, Arlington, Virginia

Lawrence W. Kenny, University of Florida

Calvin A. Kent, Marshall University

E. Han Kim, University of Michigan

Robert G. King, Boston University

Paul R. Koch, Olivet Nazarene University

Meir Kohn, Dartmouth College

James W. Kolari, Texas A&M University

Roger C. Kormendi, Kormendi/Gardner Partners

Marvin Kosters, American Enterprise Institute

Robert Krol, California State University, Northridge

Anne Krueger, Johns Hopkins University

Deepak Lal, University of Cal ifornia, Los Angeles

Douglas Lamdin, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Daniel L Landau, University of Connecticut

Richard La Near, Missouri Southern State University

Nicholas A. Lash, Loyola University

Don R. Leet, California State University, Fresno

Norman B. Lefton, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville

Tom Lehman, Indiana Wesleyan University

Thomas M. Lenard, Technology Policy Institute

Noreen E. Lephardt, Marquette University

Adam Lerrick, Carnegie Mellon University and the American Enterprise Institute

Philip I. Levy, American Enterprise Institute

W. Cris Lewis, Utah State University

Andrew Light, Liberty University

Jane Lillydahl, University of Colorado at Boulder

Zheng Liu, Emory University

Luis Locay, University of Miami

John R. Lott Jr., University of Maryland

Lawrence W. Lovik, Alabama Policy Institute

Robert Lucas, University of Chicago

John Lunn, Hope College

R. Ashley Lyman, University of Idaho

Paul W. MacAvoy, Yale School of Management

Glenn MacDonald, Washington University in St. Louis

John Makin, American Enterprise Institute

Burton Malkiel, Princeton University

David Malpass, Encima Global LLC

Michael Marlow, California Polytechnic State University

Donald J. Marshall, Consulting Engineer and Economist

Aparna Mathur, American Enterprise Institute

Timothy Matthews, Kennesaw State University

John Matsusaka, University of Southern California

Bennett McCallum, Carnegie Mellon University

Paul W. McCracken, University of Michigan

Martin C. McGuire, University of California-Irvine

W. Douglas McMillin, Louisiana State University

Roger Meiners, University of Texas - Arlington

Will Melick, Kenyon College

Allan Meltzer, Ca rnegie Mellon University

John Merrifield, University of Texas at San Antonio

Paul Merski, Independent Community Bankers of America

Jim Mietus, Great Falls, VA

Todd Milbourn, Washington University in St. Louis

Geoffrey P. Miller, New York University Law School

James Miller, George Mason University and The Hoover Institution

William C. Miller, Pioneer Analytics LLC

David E. Mills, University of Virginia

Velma Montoya, National Council of Hispanic Women

Michael Moore, George Washington University

Charles Britt Moss, University of Florida

Robert Mundell, Columbia University

Tim Muris, George Mason University

David B. Mustard, University of Georgia

Richard F. Muth, Emory University

Anthony N. Negbenebor, Gardner-Webb University

Charles Nelson, University of Washington

Robert J. Newman, Louisiana State University

Michael P. Niemira, International Council of Shopping Centers

Tom O'Brien, University of Connecticut

Lee E. Ohanian, UCLA

June O'Neill, Baruch College, CUNY

Steve Parente, University of Minnesota

Randall Parker, East Carolina University

Douglas Patterson, Virginia Tech

Tim Perri, Appalachian State University

Mark J. Perry, University of Michigan-Flint

Tomas Philipson, University of Chicago

William Poole, University of Delaware

Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School

Barry Poulson, University of Colorado Boulder

James Prieger, Pepperdine University

R. David Ranson, H. C. Wainwrigth & Co. Economics Inc.

Richard Rawlins, Missouri Southern State University

Martin A. Regalia, Gaithersburg, Maryland

Barrie Richardson, Centenary College

Christine P. Ries, Georgia Institute of Technology

Aldona Robbins, Fiscal Associates

Gary Robbins, Fiscal Associates

Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University

Richard Roll, UCLA

Harvey Rosen, Princeton University

Larry L. Ross, University of Alaska, Anchorage

Robert Rossana, Wayne State University

Timothy P. Roth, The University of Texas at El Paso

Charles Rowley, George Mason University

Paul H. Rubin, Emory University

Roy Ruffin, University of Houston

Gary J. Santoni, Ball State University

T.R. Saving, Texas A&M University

Mike Schuyler, Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation

Anna Schwartz, National B ureau of Economic Research

Loren C. Scott, Louisiana State University

Robert Haney Scott, California State University, Chico

Carlos Seiglie, Rutgers University

Richard Selden, University of Virginia

John Semmens, Laissez Faire Institute

Sol S. Shalit, University of Wisconsin

Alan Shapiro, University of Southern California

Judy Shelton

William F. Shughart II, The University of Mississippi

George Shultz, Hoover Institution

Jerome Siebert, University of California, Berkeley

John Silvia, Wachovia

Chuck Skipton, University of Tampa

Scott B. Smart, Indiana University

Amy Smith, Former OMB Chief Economist

James F. Smith, The University of North Carolina

Vernon Smith, Chapman University

Sean M. Snaith, University of Central Florida

Douglas Southgate, Ohio State University

Frank Spreng, McKendree University

Beryl W. Sprinkel, Retired

Stan Spurlock, Mississippi State University

George J. Staller, Cornell University

Craig A. Stephenson, Babson College

Houston Stokes, University of Illinois at Chicago

Courtenay C. Stone, Ball State University

Scott Sumner , Bentley College

James Sweeney, Stanford University

Richard Sweeney, Georgetown University

Robert Tamura, Clemson University

Clifford Tan, Stanford Center for International Development

John A. Tatom, Indiana State University

John Taylor, Stanford University

Paul Taylor, Vienna, VA

Teresa Tharp, Valencia Community College

Clifford F. Thies, Shenandoah University

Henry Thompson, Auburn University

Walter N. Thurman, North Carolina State University

Jerry G. Thursby, Georgia Institute of Technology

Robert D Tollison, Clemson University

William N. Trumbull, West Virginia University

Kamal Upadhyaya, University of New Haven

Charles W. Upton, Kent State University

Peter J Van Blokland, University of Florida

T. Norman Van Cott, Ball State University

Richard Vedder, American Enterprise Institute

George J. Viksnins, Georgetown University

J. Antonio Villamil, The Washington Economics Group

Richard E. Wagner, George Mason University

William B. Walstad, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Murray Weidenbaum, Washington University in St. Louis

Marc D. Weidenmier, Claremont McKenna College

Finis We lch, Texas A&M University

James B. Whitaker, Centreville, VA

John Wicks, University of Montana

Wayne H. Winegarden, Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics

Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale College

DeVo L. Yoho, Ball State University

Nancy A. Yonge, Smith Center for Private Enterprise

Paul J. Zak, Claremont Graduate University

Mokhlis Y. Zaki, Northern Michigan University

Mark Zandi, Malvern, PA

Arnold Zellner, University of Chicago

Kate Zhou, University of Hawaii

Joseph Zoric, Franciscan University of Steubenville

Benjamin Zycher, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research

* Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only.