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.

“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

“You add it all 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.”

Interviewed on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Kotlikoff added, “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.’

Kotlikoff is an expert in macroeconomics and fiscal 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

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