Graham Wilson, chair of the political science department and an expert on American politics. He is also the author of Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Politics. He can be reached at 617-523-2540; gkwilson@bu.edu.

Laurence Kotlikoff, professor of economics and an expert on macroeconomics and fiscal and monetary policy. He is the author of Jimmy Stewart is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague With Limited Purpose Banking. He is also a regular contributor to Bloomberg and served as senior economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors. He can be reached at 617-353-4002; kotlikoff@bu.edu.

Tom Whalen, associate professor of social science and an expert on American politics and the American presidency. He can be reached at 978-888-3131; tjw64@comcast.net.

Tom Fiedler, Dean of the College of Communication and an expert on American politics and political reporting. He is the former executive editor of the Miami Herald and a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-3488; tfiedler@bu.edu; Twitter: @BUCOMDEAN

Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy and a former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors. He can be reached at 617-353-5427; ckhurley@bu.edu; Twitter: @ckhurley

Laurence Kotlikoff, professor of economics, an expert on macroeconomics and fiscal and monetary policy. He is the author of Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague With Limited Purpose Banking. He is also a regular contributor to Bloomberg and served as senior economist on President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. He can be reached at 617-353-4002; kotlikoff@bu.edu.

Kevin Lang, professor of economics, an expert on labor economics. He can be reached at 617-353-5694; lang@bu.edu.

Tom Whalen, associate professor of social science, an expert on American politics and the American presidency. He is also a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 978-888-3131; tjw64@comcast.net.

Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy. He is a former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors and a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-5427; ckhurley@bu.edu; Twitter: @ckhurley.

Contact Hurley at 617-353-5427; ckhurley@bu.edu; Twitter @ckhurley

Contact Williams at 617-358-2789; williams@bu.edu

“Governor Perry’s talk of treason and his thinly veiled boast of treating someone ‘ugly’ in Texas is horrifying to the many of us with still vivid memories of November 22, 1963. In the race for less than 48 hours and the governor has already debased presidential politics.”

Contact Hurley at 617-353-5427; ckhurley@bu.edu; Twitter @ckhurley

“You add it up, our bond rating shouldn’t be AA+, it should be CCC at this point. I’m not kidding…It’s a scary mix of ingredients…If the market drops any more, this could lead to a double dip. At some point, all hell can break loose on our bond market. If people realize how broke the country is, they may start dumping bonds. This could be a catalyst and interest rates would shoot up. Bank assets would drop and banks would start to fail. People might panic and take money out of their money-market accounts.” (Boston Herald, Markets brace for worst after credit downgrade)

–Laurence Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics

“We’ve consistently done too little too late, looked too-short term, said the future would take care of itself, we’ll deal with that tomorrow. Well, guess what? You can’t keep putting off these problems.” (NPR “All Things Considered”, A national debt of $14 trillion? Try $211 trillion)

–Laurence Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics

“Everybody has decided that everybody is panicking. So everybody is screaming and getting up and running our of the theater.” (Boston Globe, An avalanche of worry)

– Laurence Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics

“What is surprising about the downgrade is not that it happened but that the administration was apparently taken by surprise when it did. After all, S&P had warned the markets in April that US debt was on watch for a possible downgrade. And that was long before Congress and the administration made a spectacle of themselves over the debt-ceiling issue.” (Boston Globe, OPINION: A ham-handed response from the White House)

– Cornelius Hurley, Professor of Law

“Does anyone seriously think that, if by some miracle the economy began to grow again, the Fed would not raise rates to stem inflation?

“The FOMC gave the credulous equity markets what they wanted to hear, but at what cost? The credibility of the Fed? So asked the three dissenting Federal Reserve Bank presidents.

“Perhaps it would have been better and more transparent for the Fed to have described the ‘policy tools’ it has in its closet.”

Contact Hurley at 617-353-5427 or ckhurley@bu.edu; Twitter: @ckhurley

“The president’s tactical errors were obvious. First, he failed to embrace his own Deficit Commission’s report and thereby yielded the high ground to the GOP on the debt issue. Second, he abandoned the bully pulpit by not calling out the tea party zealots for what they are – financial terrorists. Finally, he took the 14th Amendment alternative off the table without the slightest pressure to do so. Mr. Obama may yet get reelected in spite of his incompetence. In the meantime, he has hung congressional Democrats out to dry.”

Graham Wilson, chair of BU’s Department of Political Science and author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective.” Contact Wilson at 617-353-2540 or gkwilson@bu.edu

“This is more or less game, set and match to the Republican right — a stunning defeat for President Obama.”

Field position – Putnam assumes key sponsorship at Gillette Stadium, raising its profile (Boston Globe): “It’s a perceptional investment. There are lots of ancillary things that can come out of it.” Christopher Cakebread, Assistant Professor of Advertising, College of Communication

Mitt Romney, president might have Rock-y run-in (Boston Herald): “These candidates say they’re one with the common man, but then they end up at these elite playgrounds. They could have a ‘This island isn’t big enough for the two of us’ moment.” Tom Whalen, Associate Professor of Social Science, College of General Studies

Patrick hits the road campaign style (Boston Globe): ”To govern, you need to campaign. Day to day politics sure acts like its a battle, and a battle for the public.” Virginia Sapiro, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences

Does public understand debt debate? (Patriot Ledger): “Mainstream news media and the new media have been paying a lot of attention to this, so people say they are following it, but I think it’s too arcane and too political for people to really have a clear understanding as opposed to a push-button ideological understanding.” Tobe Berkovitz, Associate Professor of Advertising, College of Communication

Leaders in Congress scramble toward deal (Boston Globe): “The markets have kind of assumed that rationality would prevail. But every hour it’s seeming less and less likely that that will be the case.” Cornelius Hurley, Professor of Law, School of Law

Hospital charges $9.2 million to dead patient’s estate (ABCNews.com): “This is tragic. I think that the aim of health care might be something like…confidence that every American will get needed, competent, and timely care without having to worry about the bill when we are sick and, and without having to ever worry about losing our insurance coverage. That’s what we can get for $2.7 trillion a year.” Alan Sager, Professor of Health Policy & Management, School of Public Health

Anti-addiction drugs face more than medical issues (New Scientist): “Before any vaccine is put on the market we need to get these ethical considerations worked out. It should always be the individual’s choice to be immunized. The treatments will only be successful if the individual is motivated to quit, otherwise they will find ways to get around it.” Kathleen Kantak, Professor of Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences

Cornelius Hurley, a professor in the School of Law, is the Director of BU’s Center for Finance, Law & Policy and a former counsel to the Fed Board of Governors.  He is also a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu, or Twitter: @ckhurley

Graham Wilson, chair of BU’s political science department and the author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective.” He can be reached at 617-353-2540 or gkwilson@bu.edu

Laurence Kotlikoff, professor of economics, is an expert in macroeconomics and fiscal and monetary policy. He is the author of “Jimmy Stewart Is Dead: Ending the World’s Ongoing Financial Plague With Limited Purpose Banking.” He is also a regular contributor to Bloomberg. He can be reached at 617-353-4002 or kotlikoff@bu.edu

Daniel Berman, a professor in the School of Law, is the Director of  the Graduate Tax Program. He is an expert in tax policy and tax legislation. He can be reached at 617-353-3105 or bermand@bu.edu

Tom Whalen, an associate professor of social sciences, is an expert in American politics and the American presidency. He is also a regular contributor to PoliticoArena. He can be reached at 978-888-3131 or tjw64@comcast.net

“The debt ceiling is the tea party’s war of choice just as Iraq was Bush’s war of choice.

“Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has gotten a lot of mileage out of mischaracterizing the issue by saying the U.S. doesn’t have a revenue crisis, it has a spending crisis. However, as Martin Wolf pointed out in a recent Financial Times op-ed, revenue as a percent of U.S. GDP was 18.2 at the end of Ronald Reagan’s terms (sans wars) versus 14 percent today (avec wars). So, yes Virginia, it is a revenue problem and a spending problem.

“Most economists will tell you that if the U.S. went cold turkey on spending right now, the impact on the economy would be simply awful. For example, in June the Fed at its FOMC meeting was discussing a new round of monetary stimulus. Radical fiscal measures would be the anti-stimulus. Simply stated, the debt ceiling is a long-term issue and the deficit is a short-term issue.

“So why threaten to blow up the economy now? Well, as they say, there’s no zeal like that of a new convert and the same folks who applauded multiple debt ceiling increases, two wars and an unfunded prescription drug benefit, have gotten religion. If the tea partiers are nothing else, they’re zealous.

“Again, quoting from Wolf, the tea party has an unstated motto: “Fiat justitia, et pereat mundus” – let right be done even if the world perishes. But they’re not even right on the issue. So why do the rest of us have to drink their “no taxes” Kool Aid? Hang tough, Mr. President!”

Contact Cornelius Hurley at 617-353-5427, ckhurley@bu.edu, Twitter: @ckhurley