IOP Honors Galbraith

Walburg Professor of Economics Emeritus John Kenneth Galbraith offered advice to save the troubled economy during a question-and-answer session and birthday celebration sponsored by the Institute of Politics yesterday.

Under a bouquet of "Happy 85th Birthday" balloons, Galbraith answered questions from Marvin Kalb, director of the Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

Galbraith spoke before a packed Arco Forum, addressing topics ranging from his experience as a speechwriter for Franklin D. Roosevelt '04 to proposing ways to end the recession.

"The government needs substantial stimulus activity designed to help the unemployed do useful work," he said.

"We also need to lower the interest rates to encourage investment and consumer borrowing," he said.

Galbraith added that when the economy recovers, government should "reverse the process" by increasing taxes, lowering the deficit and implementing a restraining policy.

Offering advice for the future decision-makers of the twenty-first century, Galbraith said there should be a "safety net to which people can't sink below into poverty."

He also said there should be a "redirection of spending from military to the social sector."

In addition to policy suggestions, Galbraith reminisced about his start in economics during the Great Depression.

"I was the only member of the Harvard staff who got my first degree in agriculture and who specialized in animal husbandry," he said. "I discovered that it's not a hell of a lot of use to create better livestock and vegetables if you can't sell it so I shifted from trying to improve to the problems of the economy."